Asparagus question

[w33blegurl]

Afternoon all!

I am a bit of a veggie novice but fancy trying an asparagus bed. We don't have masses of space though and I wondered if it would be possible to put asparagus in the same bed as the raspberriles (to avoid losing any of my non-permanent-veg bed space)? The bed is about 3' wide by 7' long and has a single row of rasps against the fence. Would putting these plants together mean they have too much competition, am I onto a loser here? I don't mind giving new things a try even if they dont work out in the end. Any suggestions gratefully received!!
Thanks!

[MaureenHall]

I don't really know that much about mixing the two, but I would have thought not a good idea. don't raspberries put out runners/suckers? If so, then they'll disturb the asparagus crowns. At least I think so, but someone else will put me right if what I've said is off the mark

[Pumpkin Becki]

My boss and I have just been discussing this funnily enough.

He was growing asparagus and raspberries in rows next to each other but now both are becoming quite established he's had to dig out his raspberry canes because the roots were invading the asparagus bed.

I suppose you could try putting some sort of physical barrier in the ground, but I don't think much would stop a determined raspberry!

[Eyren]

My feeling is that Maureen is right. Raspberries are pretty invasive (a bit like brambles) - on our lottie they keep popping up in the veg beds near the perennials!

There are other things you can grow under asparagus - I've seen parsley recommended. Not sure any other perennials would be suitable though

[flowerofshona]

Nope its a bad idea !
Aspargus are in the ground about 20 odd years and raspberrys need digging up and thinning out every couple of years and has been said they send suckers up all over the place !!!
Asparagus likes a dose of salt and a top dressing of un washed seaweed boosts it big time

[Paulottie]

Welcome to the vine.

I would tend to agree that it is not that good an idea to mix them in a raspberry bed.

However, I would certainly not begrudge them space in another bed. A bit of initial effort and outlay but once established they are an excellent use of the land.... Expensive to buy; delicious to eat; available when things are lean in spring; productive and relatively low maintenance......and not everybody has sparrows grass, whereas when you've got courgettes or runners then everybody has!.....give away a bit of asparagus to the right people and you could be eating beans and lettuce all summer without planting any!!!

[Dottie]

Good companions are parsley, tomato and basil.

Poor companions are onions & garlic.

I grew basil in my asparagus bed last year, but it's not large enough to have tomato plants, which need quite a bit of space.

[w33blegurl]

Thanks for the help everyone! I might have to give some space in one of my raised beds to the asparagus then and try some more transient things with the raspberries!

Cheers!