For gardeners wanting a perennial that is a faithful producer, asparagus is for them. Spring is the optimum time of the year to plant asparagus since plants in early spring have the most rapid growth.
Growing asparagus is a lifetime commitment as an asparagus bed can produce spears for decades. Plants are long-lived perennials, vigorous, and persistent. All that is needed for a stand of asparagus is a sunny location with well-drained soil, water, and plenty of room to expand.
Given adequate space, one vigorous asparagus plant will produce 20 spears a season that emerge over several weeks.
When starting a new bed, it is critical to let plants become established by not harvesting spears until the second or third year. Let tops to grow and send out their long fern-like foliage. By not cutting back the foliage plant tops carry out photosynthesis sending critical carbohydrates to the roots. Robust root systems are the key to long-lived asparagus beds.
Here are steps to establishing new asparagus beds:
• Asparagus plants can be grown from seed but are most commonly grown from the vegetative portion called the crown. Asparagus is a diecious plant. Plants are either male or female. If given a choice between male and female crowns, males yield the more vigorous spears. Females have weaker spears as the females bear red berries at the end of the season; berries expend carbohydrates that otherwise would be shuttled to the spears.
• Select large crowns with many roots. When purchased from a catalog, plants are usually one-year-old crowns. Keep roots moist before planting.
• Prepare soil before planting. Gardeners have one opportunity to prepare the soil for asparagus. Once planted, steps cannot easily be redone. Add generous amount of organic matter at least one-foot deep. If using manure, make certain it is old and well-rotted.
• Dig a trench. Since crowns will be placed side by side, dig a trench at least 8 inches deep and as long as necessary to space plants.
• Roots spread widely; space rows 4 to 5 feet apart. Spread compost in the bottom of the trench, set crowns 18 inches apart in the trench, cover with several inches of soil.
• As new shoots emerge, gradually fill in the trench with soil until the shoots are buried 8 inches deep. Keep moist. Plants that become crowded will overtime produce fewer and weaker spears.
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
