asparagus bed help needed

[samrayner1971]

hi I have just bought 13 3 year old crowns of asparagus (blacklim and gijnlim) , could any one tell me what size bed I would need ,and min spacing between them as there are so many people giving different advice also how long I should harvest them for I dont have a huge amount of space, but I also do not want to cut corners and help would be great

[Paulottie]

Good Evening Sam,
Firstly welcome to the Vine...We always tell you to put a location in your profile as it helps us answer some questions...and get to know you.

It is unusual to be planting 3 YO crowns...(more usually 1 or 2) unfortunately you may still have to wait a bit, none this year or next, then limited to 6 weeks, and after that till Midsummers day.

Traditionally asparagus beds are 4ft wide in triple alternated rows. so that's 15" between rows (with 6" to the side of the bed in all cases) and about 12" between plants in the row. There would be a 2'-3' path all round.

so your middle row would contain 5 (outer rows 4) thus the bed would be 4'x6'

Though with just thirteen you might consider a double row...thus 2'6" (to be generous!) wide and 8' long.

[samrayner1971]

I bought the crowns I have rather a lot in each container coming up , when I bought them from the nursery I did ask how old they were and they said 3 years old . Does that mean I do not harvest any at all as they are looking fantastic. thanks for the advice its just what I needed , any more advice that you have would be great

[Paulottie]

I take it these are in pots then?..rather than bare rooted. and each 'container' contains just one crown already heading for fern.

No! no harvesting I am afraid...Doh!...need to let asparagus establish and then you cut everything (thick thin ..the lot) for the harvesting period. 2 years in good ground normally enough to settle them in.

The best advice is to put the effort in at the beginning. Prepare your bed well, lavish a load of muck on it ...this is a long term project. ( 25 years or so). It is a pain to weed the bed so make sure it is free from perennial nasties. do that and you will succeed and it will be little work thereafter

They don't like sitting in water so choose a well drained site (or grow on ridges like spuds if you must). after you cut down the yellowed ferns in Nov. mulch the bed with seaweed and muck and then once established each Feb give it rock salt at an oz per sqYd. (sparrows grass love it weds and slugs don't) and a dusting of bonemeal.

[samrayner1971]

thank you phew nearly picked them, thats cool, bed will be made today and I will leave them to establish in the raised bed with lots of loving care, we are quite lucky to have fantastic draining soil and everything that we have grown touch wood has never died . (I put that down to the old mole hill earth which we collect from the field behind us and also good compost . thankyou for the great advice . Im thinking I will make two beds for the asparagus with six in one and seven in the other and thats where they will stay

[bobleponge]

'tis a labour of love, asparagus.
The two things that Paulottie has said that I would reiterate are:
1. Dig out ALL traces of greenery and roots and weeds etc that you can. If it means turning the soil over a dozen times then thats what it should take. Once the crowns are in and established you cant dig in to pull out roots.
2. Chuck as much muck as you have into the bed, it really does help.

When I prepared my bed I dug it over several times to dig out all traces of weeds that I could find. I then chucked over a great pile of rotted manure and dug it in. I then waited until the spring and mulched again with manure and let the worms do the work.

Every year now, at the end of the growing season, I cover the whole bed in a layer of about 4 inches of well rotted manure and let nature take its course.


You will always get differing advice, I never put salt on mine for example, whereas Paulottie and probably many others do, but the basics for an asparagus bed are as he has said above.

[raine]

how many crowns do you need for 2 people? i've just put in 6 but i'm not sure if its enough!

[Paulottie]

Bit of a how high's a Chinaman that one!....depends how much you like sparrow's grass....I certainly never have much trouble finding folk that do if we can't manage it all.

If they are rocking they might produce 20 spears each over 3 months. so that's 120 or for two people 5 spears a week each (although it's not quite as regular as that in practice)...any how it's a bit mean I'd say...plant another 6 or 12 ...go on ...you won't regret it!

[Rhona]

I'm following this thread with interest - we're about to put in our bed, and I'm just deciding on whether to have it at home or the lottie.

I was wondering about how many crowns. I've gone for 18 in total.

Thanks for the info anyway.

[Paulottie]

I'm just deciding on whether to have it at home or the lottie.....I've gone for 18 in total.

Depends if you can foresee moving home or giving up the lottie and other factors might include how prepared, well drained, perennial weed-free and fertile the prospective site is..they might last 25 years....once established they are not that easy to move successfully or to weed around. Think 'serious investment of effort now will mean many years of plain sailing.'

18 sounds a good start...then plant another 18 at the other place next year...maybe try raising those from seed this year...it's not hard.

[Rhona]

We moved a year ago, and we're planning on staying here whilst children go through school, etc. Having waited 5 years for a lottie, definately not giving it up! So, both permanent plans. Both garden and lottie are good soil and very sunny.

The lottie wins I think - it's enormous, and our garden isn't! I'll prepare the bed this weekend.

I think I will have a bash at raising some from seed too - once we've got our crowns in the ground, we can take our time with the rest!

Thanks for the advice.

[raine]

right-better get the next 12 in then!

[Paulottie]

I never resent any space given over to 'grass. The yield is really good from the land occupied. no sowing etc each year and it's about when little else is. It is worthwhile having enough....I had three or four people salivating over my trugfull as I walked home tonight and I took a couple of bunches to some mates in the pub (you can pay endless favours with it...they are woodsmen so I am sorted for pea/bean sticks plus got a load of yew milled up) and again everyone says 'ohhh don't see bunches like that in the supermarket' didn't know it had started yet'

...then home to stuff myself silly with my daughter ... all butter and lemon down our chins...mmmnnn.

Plant away folks you will never regret it.

[Liza]

I am going to prepare two 4`x 6` beds this weekend for spring planting next year.

Can anyone reccomend a variety please ?

Also I have inherited some asparagus on my new plot and was hoping to move it to the new beds, it has been neglected for at least 3 years.When and how is the best way to move it ?

Thank you.

[Paulottie]

I grow Dutch hybrids...Gijnlym, grolym, backlym. and the OP Connover's colossal which is still a good choice.

I'd start again with new disease free crowns for the new beds. I don't think older asparagus move that well so (if you can afford the space) tidy the old bed up and you can get some sort of crop till the new ones establish.

If your determined to move them...I'd try it in November.