Strawberry plants do not last forever. If you look closely at them you will see there is a parent plant and lots of runners coming off them long thin stalks with small plants on them. Some will already have rooted, probably. Others will just be little plants with no obvious roots. These can be pegged down so they are in touch with soil. When they have rooted, you can separate from the parent plant. The old plants I usually discard after 3 years or so and replace with the New plants. First year plants have fewer fruits, but I find they are very sweet then more prolific in the next two years, then fall off and get rather seedy looking.
Straw and slugs are great companions! I find they are fine on dry compost. Have fun!
