June-Bearing vs. Everbearing Strawberries: How to Choose

June-Bearing vs. Everbearing: The Short Answer

June-bearing strawberries produce one large crop a year, concentrated into two to three weeks in late spring or early summer. Everbearing strawberries produce two smaller crops, one in late spring and another in late summer to early fall. Choose June-bearing plants if you want a lot of fruit at once for jam or the freezer, and everbearing or day-neutral plants if you would sooner pick small amounts over a long season. Iowa State University Extension describes June-bearers as typically the largest and highest yielding of the three types.

A third type, day-neutral, is different again. It can flower and fruit continuously from early summer until frost as long as temperatures stay moderate. The two behave differently enough that it is worth checking the variety name against the lists below before buying.

The names mislead a little. June-bearers do not fruit in June everywhere. University of Maryland Extension gives May and June for Maryland, Ohio State University Extension gives late May to the end of June for Ohio, and Oregon State University Extension notes that harvest in eastern Oregon may be as late as July.

How the Three Types Compare

Trait	June-bearing	Everbearing	Day-neutral
Crops per year	One	Two	Continuous in moderate weather
Harvest timing	Late spring or early summer, two to three weeks	Late spring, then late summer to early fall	Early summer until frost
Yield	Typically the highest of the three	Smaller than June-bearers, spread over two periods	Steady supply over a long season
Runners	Many	Few	Relatively few
Usual planting system	Matted row	Individual plants, runners removed	Hill system or containers
First fruit	Full crop the season after planting	Can crop in the planting year	Same year as planting
Example varieties	Earliglow, Allstar, Jewel, Honeoye	Ozark Beauty, Quinault, Fort Laramie	Seascape, Tristar, Tribute, Albion

Sources differ slightly on the details. Illinois describes everbearers as usually producing three flushes, in spring, summer and fall, where Iowa State, Ohio State and Oregon State describe two crops. Oregon State puts the June-bearing season at around four weeks in Oregon, against the two to three weeks given by Iowa State and Illinois.

What Makes Each Type Fruit When It Does

The difference comes from when the plant forms flower buds. June-bearers form their buds in late summer and fall and carry them through winter. University of Maryland Extension pins it to late September, as the days shorten. Those buds open the following spring, all at about the same time, which is why the whole crop ripens in one short window.

Day-neutral plants are not strongly affected by day length. Oregon State University Extension notes that they produce fruit throughout the growing season except when it is too cool, below 40°F, or too hot, 90°F or higher. By that rule a spell of 90°F weather interrupts fruiting, so a midsummer gap in picking is to be expected. In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, day-neutral varieties generally fruit from May through early October.

This has a practical consequence for the first year. A June-bearing plant gives its first full crop the season after planting. Everbearing and day-neutral plants can produce fruit in the year they are planted.

Which Type Fits Your Garden

Start from what you will do with the berries. A two to three week flood of fruit suits jam, freezing and a household that wants strawberries on the table every day for a short season. It is a poor fit for someone who wants a handful for breakfast in August.

June-bearing plants also suit gardeners with room for a permanent bed. They produce the most runners, and in a matted row those runners root and fill the bed. The cost is yearly upkeep: Ohio State advises renovating June-bearing strawberries every year right after harvest, and Iowa State says they require renovation to stay vigorous and productive.

Everbearing and day-neutral plants suit containers and small beds because they make few runners. For pot sizes and materials, see the guide to containers for a balcony garden. Oregon State recommends day-neutral varieties for containers or for a hill system in the ground. They ask for more attention through the summer. Iowa State lists frequent watering, fertilization and removal of runners, and notes that day-neutrals are often grown as annuals in the Midwest.

With enough space, the two approaches combine well: a matted row of June-bearers for the main crop, and a few day-neutral plants in pots for picking through the rest of the season. If raspberries are next on the list, the same summer-versus-fall choice comes up there, and our guide to raspberry varieties for the home garden walks through it.

Varieties by Type

Variety lists are regional, so treat these as names to look for and confirm against your own state’s extension recommendations.

• June-bearing. University of Maryland Extension lists Annapolis, Allstar, Earliglow and Jewel. Oregon State’s June-bearing list shares Allstar, Earliglow and Jewel and adds Honeoye and Hood, among others.
• Everbearing. Oregon State names Quinault, Ozark Beauty and Fort Laramie.
• Day-neutral. Maryland lists Seascape, Tribute and Tristar. Oregon State lists Albion, San Andreas, Seascape and Sweet Ann.

June-bearing varieties do not all ripen together. Ohio State notes that their ripening season ranges from late May to the end of June in Ohio, so planting 2 or 3 varieties that ripen at different points stretches the harvest beyond the two to three weeks a single variety provides.

Spacing and Planting Systems

The types are planted differently, and the spacing changes how many plants you need. University of Maryland Extension gives these figures:

• Matted row, for June-bearers. Space the mother plants 18 to 24 inches apart, in rows at least 36 inches apart, and let the runners fill in.
• Hill system. Space plants one foot apart in all directions and remove all runners.
• Day-neutral varieties. Plant about 5 to 9 inches apart in all directions.

Ohio State’s numbers are close: June-bearing plants 12 to 24 inches apart, and day-neutral plants 8 to 12 inches apart in the row with 30 to 36 inches between rows. By Maryland’s figures, a row of day-neutral plants at 5 to 9 inches takes two to nearly five times as many plants as a matted row of the same length set at 18 to 24 inches.

First-Year Flowers

Removing early flowers sends the plant’s resources into roots and crowns, and the rule differs by type.

For June-bearers, University of Maryland Extension says to remove the flowers for the entire first season to build a large root system, and Ohio State gives the same instruction: remove the flower stalks as they appear throughout the first growing season. Oregon State takes a different view for its region, noting that June-bearers produce very little fruit in the planting year and that no flower pruning is necessary.

For day-neutral plants the wait is short. Maryland says to remove flowers for the first 4 to 6 weeks after planting and then allow the plants to fruit. Ohio State says 6 weeks, followed by harvest for the rest of the season, August through October in Ohio. Oregon State advises removing the first flower stem on new everbearing and day-neutral plants as it emerges.

If an established bed flowers poorly or sets little fruit after its first year, our guide to strawberry plants not fruiting goes through the common reasons.