Need help opinions on planting strawberry plants.

Hubby and I were walking lowes yesterday and came home with two pots of reduce priced strawberry plants. They are a bit wind beaten from the hectic weather last week. We didnt think much about it until we started making plans to get them into the cleared out raised bed in the back yard. With a little more thought we both realized that the plants are awfully tall. This is enough for the doubt to set in with me. I cant tell if these are runners or not. I dont know if I should trim them back/plant them deeper/let them just fall over/should I split up the roots /blah blah blah.

Interestingly enough, an hour after coming home my friend stopped by to gift me with more strawberry plants last night. This morning they look to be in shock.

As much as I would love to start putting them to bed, I need some advice from you all here on the best way to handle them. I am including some pictures so that you can see what I am speaking of. 1 and 2 are the first plant, 3 and 4 are the second plant and the last is the little container my friend dropped off.

I'm not good at explaining things but right off the bat I can say don't plant them deeper and don't trim them, except for leaves that are dead or damaged. The crown of the plant (where the leaf stems are coming out) should be at soil level or slightly higher. In my opinion it's ok to let them flop. The runners will get long and grow along the ground. They will have a tiny plant at the end. They will root themselves in the soil. Next year you will have more plants. I'm no expert, but I do have strawberries that pretty much grow like weeds, on their own with no help from me. They multiply by runners and seed. You'll get more detailed info if you google. Are the wilted ones in soil? They look like they need to be watered, plant them as soon as you can and see what happens. Hope this helps some.

No, don't plant hem deeper than they were - they are elongated from stretching for light while jammed into nursery flats. They will "tighten up" as they adjust to full light conditions and grow new leaves. Don't cut the runners off either.

Thank you BOTH! We put them into the ground as you both suggested and will just wait and see what happens. The little droppy plants from my friend bounced back quickly. The longer ones are struggling. Time will tell but at least I have a few plants that survived. Now to find a way to keep the pups out of the strawberries. :) I sincerely appreciate your opinions and have followed through according to your opinions.

Try a tomato cage to keep the pup out of the strawberries, and to add just a little support to the ones that grew so long when they were crowded together.

Diana, used the tomato cage for a different scenario in the garden so that was a very helpful hint. I appreciate the help. The plants all died back and a new tiny sprout took off from the center of them. Certain this will not give fruit for at least a year but the starters are in.