Strawberries grew like a weed, with very little human intervention. (This was in Rhode Island, so I'm not sure what your local climate is like.) The plants always grew back after the winter freeze, and the plants were so pervasive that my dad eventually ripped them out of the ground. That sucked, because there's nothing like a strawberry on a hot summer's day.

Anyway, in my opinion, I say leave the plants alone and let nature so it's thing. Each year, the plants grew back with a vengence, like a weed.

I once threw two plants that I thought to be dead and gone into a back corner of the lot and they survived (sitting sideways with half their roots open to the air (they had been in pots) and regrew the next year. For all that they make such a tender and easily ruined fruit, the vines themselves are astoundingly hearty.

are the dried up stems alive? If not, I'll trim them off for tidiness.