For Brits hoping to grow strawberries this year, gardening experts have warned that they must do one thing to get their crop going.

Strawberries aren’t a year-round fruit in the UK, although you can buy ones grown overseas when they’re out of season here. Nevertheless, even though January and February are both far from harvesting season there are important things you can do.

The gardening whizzes over at GardenersWorld.com have said that you’re well-advised to try and encourage early growth in your strawberry plants.

To do that, they say, you need to use a cloche or fleece. A cloche is a clear bell that you place over a plant to protect it and support growth – it acts like a mini-greenhouse.

A fleece is designed to help protect the crop, but won’t stimulate growth in the same way as a cloche.

If you’ve not get any strawberry plants in the ground, fear not – you can still grow them this year.

According to Gardeners’ World, you can plant strawberries in autumn or spring. However, there is one word of warning they give to anyone planting in Spring.

Strawberries don’t like cold, wet soil. So be careful before planting in early spring, make sure the soil is dry beforehand. You should be fine to plant bare-root runners in April, the experts say.

You can plant strawberry pot plants later in the year – any time from April to June.

Depending on when you plant, you should be able harvest delicious strawberries between June and July.