The Allstar Strawberry, otherwise known as the Fragaria X Ananassa ‘Allstar’ or American Ash, Canadian Ash, White Ash, Biltmore Ash, Biltmore White Ash, is a somewhat well known tree plant native to the Rocky Mountains, Northeast, Southeast, and the Southwest of the United States.
Best known for its average maintenance and fast growth, this tree will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its dark green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Allstar Strawberry Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
In order to take proper care of your Allstar Strawberry you’ll need to keep in mind the following guidelines:
- Water: The Allstar Strawberry grows best with regular watering to keep the soil moist during the dry season. Reduce watering once the plant is established.
- Light: Keep your Fragaria X Ananassa ‘Allstar’ in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Allstar Strawberry in soil with moist but well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, loam, and clay.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Allstar Strawberry this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Allstar Strawberry belongs to the Oleaceae family, the genus Fraxinus and the species Americana, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Fragaria X Ananassa ‘Allstar’.
As with other Fraxinus’s, the Allstar Strawberry is a semi-evergreen plant, which means it will shed its leaves but only for a short period of time.
Growing Region
The Allstar Strawberry is a plant native to the Eastern North America and Mexico. This is why the Fragaria X Ananassa ‘Allstar’ is used to growing in specific regions such as the states in Rocky Mountains, Northeast, Southeast, and the Southwest of the United States.
As a rule of thumb, we recommend to always keep in mind your plants’ native region and environment, since these are the conditions that your Allstar Strawberry is most accustomed to, thus where it can most favorably.
With this in mind, the Fragaria X Ananassa ‘Allstar’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 6 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5b, 5a, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9b, 9a and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Allstar Strawberry is a relatively fast grower, which makes things tricky for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, what size of Allstar Strawberry are we talking about? What can you expect in terms of height, spread and spacing? Let’s dig in…
The Fragaria X Ananassa ‘Allstar’ can grow up to 60′ – 80′ (18m – 24m) in 60′ – 80′ (18m – 24m) and 60′ – 80′ (18m – 24m) in 60′ – 80′ (18m – 24m).
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful spreading shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
Water
In terms of watering, the Allstar Strawberry is a fairly complicated plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Fragaria X Ananassa ‘Allstar’ grows best with regular watering to keep the soil moist during the dry season. Reduce watering once the plant is established.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Allstar Strawberry in soil with moist but well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, and moist properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
However, in our experience, the best solution to knowing the right amount of water for your Allstar Strawberry is with the ‘thumb’ technique. Basically, you insert your finger into the soil, and based if you feel the soil moist or dry, you determine if it needs any water, which is the most appropriate way to go about watering your leafy friend.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Allstar Strawberry prefers to have soil with good drainage, and moist properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, loam, and clay.
This is why most experts agree that the Allstar Strawberry requires soil with high organic matter, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably neutral to acid soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Allstar Strawberry requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this tree will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Fragaria X Ananassa ‘Allstar’ in from full or deep shade (no direct sunlight or at most 2 hours per day), to little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more than 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a semi-evergreen plant, the Allstar Strawberry will shed its leaves but only for a short period of time.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), and during the fall.
Flowers
You can expect your Allstar Strawberry to flower around the spring months from April to June (spring).
In particular, this tree is well known for its showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Allstar Strawberry produces some beautiful white, or green and purple/lavender flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Allstar Strawberry have a beautiful dark green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a compound (pinnately, bipinnately, palmately) arrangement with a opposite organization in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Fragaria X Ananassa ‘Allstar’ to be around (> 6 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Allstar Strawberry is well known for being able to attract birds, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Fragaria X Ananassa ‘Allstar’ will be fine.
Garden
How should you then organize your garden to include your new Allstar Strawberry? Here are some recommendations by expert gardeners.
Most Fragaria X Ananassa ‘Allstar’ owners agree that this tree will look great in most cottage gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of prairie and meadow styles.
In particular, the Allstar Strawberry’s best use for landscaping within your garden is as container, or a woodland garden.
Conclusion
Even though we covered a lot of care information for your Allstar Strawberry, remember the basics: sunlight, soil and water, as these should be enough to grow a healthy plant at home.
