The trench method helps to remove deeply-rooted weeds and ensure that your asparagus plants are well-rooted in deep soil. This also helps prevent them from mounding out in freezing weather and protects your perennial asparagus from winter frost and heaving. There are a couple of accepted alternatives to the trenching and long-season filling method described above. These require a little less work and have good results. One option is to use the trenching method, but to fill the trench completely at the time of planting.
There is some risk that the spears will not make it all the way through the deep soil covering, but in general, results are good and crowns are still well buried. A more traditional planting method of digging a hole for each crown can also be used. This does not tend to prepare and loosen the bed as well as the trench method, but with good maintenance and weed control results can be good.
If planting this way, start with a wide hole that is 12 inches deep and mounded on the bottom to direct the roots. Fill in increments or all at once, as preferred.
Asparagus can also be planted individually using a hilling method or you can create a raised, hilled row above the ground. This method may offer somewhat less protection over winter, but can also be a good solution for poorly draining soils.
Plant the asparagus crown at ground level and hill the growing spear to a height of 12 to 18 inches. The plant will expand under the mound over the succeeding years, so make the hill wide to accommodate future growth—the mound should be at least three feet wide.
Hilled mounds will benefit from additional mulching before winter to protect them from cold. A little ongoing maintenance will go a long way for your new asparagus bed. Well maintained, this is a gift that will keep on giving for years and years—decades, in fact!
Competition from weeds and grasses is one of the top killers of asparagus patches. Keep your bed weeded throughout the growing season. A thorough weeding a few times a year will ensure that soil remains arable and spears can easily grow through the soil layer. Mulching is a good idea for both weed control and maintaining moisture.
A thick layer of mulch will make that weeding chore next to nothing, will feed your bed as it breaks down, and will maintain loose material through which the spring spears can emerge. Some good options for mulching asparagus include straw , sawdust , leaves, and pine needles. It is especially important to keep your first-year asparagus patch watered. Do not let the new asparagus bed dry out while it is establishing itself during this first year.
Its roots simply are not deep enough yet to reach groundwater and its plant ferns in the first year will be thin—so even a little wilting and drying can mean death. In the second year, your new asparagus patch will tolerate water stress a little better but consistent watering should be maintained for the first two years.
Water young asparagus beds weekly if there is not enough rainfall. Young beds require one to two inches of water per week. It is helpful to place a rain gauge somewhere in the patch to measure how much natural rainfall you receive; then you can supplement with a soaker hose or sprinkler.
A good rule of thumb is to water the patch to a depth of six to eight inches with each watering. The one downside to growing asparagus is that it takes some time before you can harvest from the patch. After that, it depends on the age of the starts or crowns.
Here is a guide to when you can harvest asparagus from each type or age of starts:. Judge this by the strength of the bed and diameter of the spears; do not harvest asparagus if the spears are not at least the diameter of a pencil. If in doubt, let grow two full seasons before harvest. No matter what year you begin harvesting, in the first harvest year you need to limit your harvest so that the plants can continue to grow and build strength.
Harvest lightly and for no more than two weeks in year one and only if the plant continues to send up spears—always make sure there are at least two spears emerging before cutting from the plant. Limiting the first-year harvest to seven to ten days is even better. In year two, you can harvest a little more heavily but limit the harvest to about two weeks, perhaps a little more if the patch looks strong and there are plenty of spears emerging.
From year three onwards, you can extend your season to six to eight weeks as long as the spears continue to be of good size pencil-sized or larger and the crown continues to send up new shoots. If you started your patch from seed, wait until year four to begin full harvests.
With conservative harvesting in the early years and good ongoing maintenance, your new asparagus patch will reward you with delicious, nutritious harvests for many years to come.
This is one of the few crops that can literally feed the future generations of your family. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content Skip to primary sidebar Search. There is no better way to enjoy asparagus than to grow it yourself. Homegrown asparagus has the best quality, is easy to harvest and use, and is much more economical.
Asparagus is a perennial that will come back every year and can live and produce for decades. All-male, giant asparagus varieties produce the highest yields for the same investment of time and materials. Young, emerging spears are the edible part of the asparagus plant. The easiest and fastest way to establish a new asparagus bed is to start from crowns that are at least one year old. It takes a minimum of three years before you can harvest from an asparagus bed that is started from seed.
Plan on 6 to 12 plants per person when planting your asparagus bed. Choose a location with full sun and good soil for your new asparagus patch.
I planted 24 crowns in spring In I picked about three or four spears from each crown over about four weeks, and then I let the go. This year I had so much that my wife and I couldn't possibly eat all of it. This is only your 2nd year. The yield will at least double over the next two years.
Send me some First thing I would take into consideration is how much do you like asparagus? If you really like it than plant as much as you have room for, you won't regret it. My next door neighbor said her asparagus was dwindling; of course, it's a total weed-fest over there. Anyway, her father rototilled them, thinking that would get rid of them. Apparently, that spurred on the plants, and now they are swimming in asparagus.
I guess that goes to the comment about how far the roots will go and how easily they get rootbound. Maybe if you have a bed that you're going to give up on anyway, it might be worth a try! We had a patch that was going on fifty years.
Crabgrass made it impossible to keep weeded and bugs of some sort had infested them so we just mowed that area and turned it into lawn. I've missed having asparagus here, so this year, I decided to start a food forest, and behind the serviceberry bushes, I planted 50 crowns.
They all came up, and already, many had two or three stalks. They are all ferned out, and at this point, taller than the serviceberries. I can't wait till I can start harvesting some.
I have some in my vegetable garden, too. Those will be three years old next spring, so I should be able to harvest those with abandon. Unfortunately, there are only about 6 plants that survived from the first year. Indem Sie weiterhin auf der Website surfen bzw. Mehr erfahren. Ultimate Lighting Sale. Bathroom Vanity Sale. Bestselling Chandeliers and Pendants.
Sign In. Join as a Pro. Houzz TV. Houzz Research. Shop Featured Holiday Categories. Home Decor. Holiday Decor. Christmas Trees. Holiday Lighting. Gift Cards. Vegetable Gardening. RedSun Zone 6, NJ 6 years ago. Email Save Comment Featured Answer. Peter 6 years ago. Like 1 Save. Sort by: Oldest.
Newest Oldest. Like Save. When mature, how much can you harvest from April or June each week? From 12 crowns? Related Discussions How many wood types can you use in a space? I personally love the look of many different woods together. Here's the way I like to think about natural elements in the home: If you are mixing and matching manufactured things like wallpaper, then yes, you could easily disrupt the serenity of the home by adding too many. However, think of a garden It's the same with wood.
Of course, if you just carelessly threw together whatever you found, the look wouldn't be pleasing, but by thoughtfully choosing a wide variety of wood species, you are bringing more of the outdoors inside, which never hurts in a mountain style home. That way, your home will mimic the landscape in a way. I think what you have described already sounds lovely, especially the pine ceiling.
Irotundo, we have an old house so it wasn't a choice exactly, but we find we use our more formal living room not only for entertaining but also as a second family room in the winter because of the fireplace. I was in the industrial cleaning biz for 15 years and hired a service to clean some of the most important windows at the GM Tech Center.
He used Dawn and a squeegee. The rags were only used to dry his squeegee. Sadly, my own windows are a mess from years of bug spray which they claim will rinse off with a power washer.
It doesn't. We quit the service 5 years ago and the windows are all still hazy. It's something to do with the pyrethrum and I've asked around - yep, it's bad for windows but you can't help to get the overspray when they spray your entire house.
When I clean my windows I use Dawn, cleaning vinegar, and a nice squeegee and only a towel to dry my squeegee. You don't go up and down or from one side to the other. You go in a big hairpin turn type of swiping with the squeegee. It's hard to describe, but, it's how it's done. Yes, it's time. I haven't cleaned mine since spring, mostly because I haven't been here much. Our windows at our vacation home are bad as well, right now.
I've been there as much as I've been here. I don't have any animals due to sensitivities. However, I think it is similar to how many kids should you have. With all animals 4 legged, 2 legged, etc. I think it should be based on a combination of how many do you want and how many can you take care of in terms of time, money, space and so on.
You might want to have lots of cats, but if you live in a studio apartment, that won't work. Maybe you'd like to have a dozen children, but you can't afford more than 2 or 3 or the kids and the dog will be eating kibbles and bits out of the same bowls. I'm a big believer in rescuing animals, but some people who start out as rescuers end up as hoarders. We all need to know our limits in terms of time and money and space.
I have a half dozen plants in my garden they are doing well and we were able to harvest some this is the third year. My issues is the ferns, they are so tall they fall over and cover the path and what is growing the next row over. Can I trim them back some? You would do well to leave them. Run string around the poles and around the asparagus bed not the plants at about four feet high or higher, there is no magic formula to keep the ferns off the ground.
When you cut the ferns later in the year, put away the poles and string for next year. It is early. If you added that much material you added days to the emergence calendar. I bet you will see spears within 10 days.
That being said, IMO, the time to add compost to the bed is fall, not spring. The Asparagus bed I have has plants of 2 and 3 years of age. We had a decent harvest last year but I felt they needed more soil. So this spring around the 1st of April we added approximately 3 to 4 inches of soil mixed with compost and also added a heavy layer of straw. It is now the last day of April and I do not see any asparagus coming up. What could I have done wrong?
I recently planted asparagus crowns for the first time. The first spear to come up from any of them was brutalized by wind and frost and most likely my well-intentioned, but poorly executed insulating row cover. Now it's a pitiful bent thing. I tried to support it with twine and stakes which I've heard are recommended later in the season for ferns anyway , but it looks like it is beyond hope.
For now, just support it with stakes and twine as best as you can. The plant should send up more spears soon enough! Skip to main content. You are here Gardening » Growing Guides. Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Asparagus. By Catherine Boeckmann. When to Plant Asparagus Plant asparagus crowns in the early spring, as soon as the soil can be worked. Many gardeners plant at about the same time as potatoes go in the ground.
Starting with asparagus crowns, however, eliminates the year of tedious weeding that comes with starting from seed, and will speed up production overall. Start seeds indoors in spring and set out the seedlings when they are 12 to 14 weeks old, just after your last spring frost. Soak seeds in water for up to 24 hours before sowing. Sow seeds in moistened peat or seed-starting soil in flats or peat cups.
Once plants reach 12 inches in height, harden them off outdoors for a week. After the last spring frost, transplant the young plants to a temporary garden bed. Once they mature in the fall, identify the berry-less male asparagus plants and transplant them to your permanent planting site, removing the less-productive female plants. Choose a site that gets full sun. Place the asparagus bed toward the edge of your garden, where it will not be disturbed by the activity of planting and re-planting other areas.
Ensure the bed will drain well and not pool water. Asparagus does not like to have its roots get too wet. If you do not have a site with good drainage available, consider growing asparagus in raised beds instead. Learn how to make a raised garden bed here. Asparagus thrives in neutral to slightly acidic soil pH of about 6. Eliminate all weeds from the planting site, digging it over and working in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost, aged manure, or soil mix. Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.
The soil should be loosened to 12 to 15 inches in depth to allow the asparagus crowns to root properly and not be disrupted by rocks or other obstacles. How to Plant Asparagus Plant crowns deeply to protect them from the cultivation needed for annual weed control. Dig a trench of about 12 to 18 inches wide and 6 to 8 inches deep.
If digging more than one trench, space the trenches at least 3 feet apart. Soak the crowns briefly in lukewarm water before planting. Make a 2-inch-high ridge of soil along the center of the trench and place the asparagus crowns on top of the mound, spreading their roots out evenly. Within the trench, space asparagus crowns 12 to 18 inches apart measured from root tip to root tip.
Water in. As the season progresses and spears grow to be 2 to 3 inches tall, add 2 more inches of soil to the trench, being careful not to bury the spears completely. Once the spears again grow through the layer of soil, add an additional 2-inch layer of soil.
Repeat this process until the trench has been filled to ground level. Depending on how deep you dug your trench, you may need to add soil 1 to 2 more times throughout the season. Learn how to plant and grow an asparagus bed in our video:. Caring for Asparagus When the trench is filled, we would recommend adding a 4- to 6-inch layer of mulch.
The biggest issue with asparagus is managing weeds during the first two years. Weeds will become less of an issue as the plants fill in. Mulch around the plant with compost or grass clippings to help retain soil moisture and reduce weed growth. During the first 2 years after planting, asparagus plants need 1 to 2 inches of water per square foot per week. If you are not receiving adequate rainfall, you will likely need to water. Use drip irrigation if possible. Asparagus thrive on a steady supply of plant food.
Consider an organic fertilizer during the growing season. Follow instructions on the label of whatever product you use. Before Harvesting Do not harvest the spears in the first or second year the plant needs time to grow out its root system , but cut down dead foliage in late fall and side-dress with compost.
During the second year, side-dress with compost in spring and early fall and cut down dead ferns in late fall. Keep the bed thickly mulched. During the third year, the bed should be in full production, so you can start to harvest asparagus sparingly throughout the season.
Transplanting Asparagus If you must move asparagus, transplant the crowns in early spring when they are dormant or in late fall before the first fall frost after foliage is cut back. Dig and lift crowns with a garden fork, being very careful not to disturb the roots. Divide the clump into two or more pieces.
0コメント