A matted row 15 to 18 inches wide is best for weeding and harvesting. Plants in narrow rows have less infection from diseases than those in wide rows. The primary disadvantage of the matted row system is that too many plants are established, resulting in small berries and low yields. To prevent the row from becoming too matted, do not crowd plants into the row, and after runner plants have spread to the desired row width, remove surplus runners that grow into the aisles. This spaced system increases both plant and fruit size in the fruiting year and decreases rotting of the berries.
Harvest is easy because the berries are large and readily seen.
Other gardeners use the ribbon row system, which involves decreasing the spacing between plants at planting to 4 inches and clipping all the runners on the plants. Although the plants grown by this method are very productive and the berries are large, it is more labor intensive than the previously mentioned systems and requires the initial purchase of more plants. Several weeks after planting, newly set plants begin to flower from buds formed within the crown the preceding year. Although some strawberry cultivars produce only one flower cluster per plant, others produce several. It is thus necessary to go over the planting more than once to remove all flower clusters.