Ireland 
why do professinal gardners say to cut the leaves off strawberries plants in the autumn. when they all say to leave the leaves on the plants after flowers have flowered in order for the plant to build up its reserve.is this not contary information
1 Feb, 2012
Answers
Sounds like an "everbearing" variety, Bilbo. Those can bloom anytime it's above freezing. We never remove leaves, here, but in snowy country, I imagine that a pile of mushy leaves could lead to crown rot.
2 Feb, 2012
That would be my thought too and the old leaves may have a touch of mildew.
2 Feb, 2012
The larger leaves will absorb more energy, that should be going down to the roots and new future shoots for the spring. So the theory is that if you cut back the larger leaves in the autumn, this gives the plant more energy to produce new leaves for the spring, which will feed and power flowers for berries in the spring. I always cut back my strawberries in the autumn, and always have a very good crop. I also remove any branching stems at this time. It really depends on how big an area you wish to fill with strawberry plants, and then keep them contained to that area by cutting back the large leaf and branching stems every autumn once fruiting is over.
3 Feb, 2012
No it isn't you don't remove the leaves until autumn by which time they have feed back down into the roots of the plant.
1 Feb, 2012