How do I grow strawberries better?

My dad always covered with pine straw when he planted and we had more strawberries than we could eat or put up.

Use sprinkler hose turned upside down/holes down on ground(use hose stakes to secure) or soaker hose thru out plants. Keep plants tops dry, conserves water. can even put on timers if needed.

You need to keep the plants from being too close together. You can replace the soil, but make sure you put down something on top of the soil to help keep the moisture in, Kathy's suggestion of straw is really good. Because of critters eating my strawberries, I had to put them in hanging pots. You don't have to let all the babies take root, you want to make sure the bigger plants have plenty of room to spread out healthy root systems. Sometimes strawberries will only fruit well for a few years and you can replace them as they stop producing to get better crops.

there are many varieties of SB's ... be sure you are working with a type that is appropriate for your grow zone ... your local Agricultural Agency can advise you, as well as a good local greenhouse ( not a 'big box' store ).. https://www.bhg.com/gardening/vegetable/fruit/how-to-grow-strawberries/

I used to have two 20 ft long strawberry beds. If there are cracks in the dirt, you are not watering enough. Flood the beds weekly and use a lot of mulch over the whole bed. I would also say that your soil does not have enough compost in it. As far as the plants themselves, every three (or two) years, depending upon how prolific they are, cull (pull out) the mother plant by cutting it off from the babies. Do you know if you have Everbearing or June bearing berries?