Well Prepared Asparagus Beds Last a Lifetime

Remember those thick luscious asparagus spears your neighbor shared with you last spring. Then and there you vowed that next year you would have your very own asparagus to enjoy. If you plan to carry out that vow, the time to prepare that bed is now in the fall.

Asparagus is a popular home perennial garden vegetable. It is one of the first vegetables harvested from the garden beginning in late March and early April. Once your bed is established it will last for years, possibly even a lifetime. That's why careful bed preparation is vital. Asparagus grows best in fertile well-drained soil high in organic matter. It needs an open sunny location that receives at least six hours of sunlight daily. Select a spot at the edge or side of your garden plot where spring-summer gardening activities will not disturb it. 

First take a soil sample to the University of Missouri Extension Center for testing.   After test results are returned, add lime to raise the soil pH to at least 6.5 and add fertilizer as called for in the test results. Apply generous amounts of well-rotted manure or compost with the lime and fertilizer to loosen heavy clay soils and improve drainage. Because asparagus is deep rooted, loosen soil at least a foot deep. 

If you decide not to test your soil, apply 10 pounds of agricultural limestone on each 100 square feet of planting bed. Asparagus does not grow well in acid soils. Also apply about four pounds of 5-10-10 or similar analysis fertilizer per 100 square feet. Mix both deeply into the soil. Now let your asparagus bed mellow until early spring when it is time to plant. 

In the meantime review your seed and nursery catalogs to determine the variety which best suits your needs. Mary Washington, resistant to rust disease, is a long-time favorite. Waltham and Roberts, Washington improved strains, also are fine for 4-state gardens. U.C. 157 F1 and U.C. 157 F2 are high yielding varieties developed in California. Plant breeders at Rutgers University have developed all male varieties of asparagus that out-yield the mixed male-female varieties. Among the all-male varieties Jersey Knight is most widely available. Other all-male asparagus include Jersey Giant, Jersey Queen and Jersey Gem.

Most gardeners buy plants to set out in early spring. Choose large, one-year old crowns if possible. These transplant easier; produce plants as vigorous as two-year olds and are cheaper.  For additional information on asparagus culture, see MU Guide G6405 available from the University of Missouri Extension in Carthage.