vegetable > ASPARAGUS
IN THIS GUIDE
ASPARAGUS GUIDES
Asparagus is a repeated veggie that can allow you with a utilitarian , eatable spring yield over a bit of years .
While most gardener who maturate their own will focus on yearly and biyearly crop , prefer some perennial edibles can also be an excellent idea .
They are a great choice for low - maintenance gardens , and once set up , typically need less care than most typical annual or biennial yield and vegetables .
‘Good King Henry’
Asparagus is a delicacy , treasure for its delicate flavour .
Though it will not be an ideal choice for all conditions , it can find a place in many UK gardens .
Overview
PreferredFull Sun or Light Dappled Shade
ExposureExposed or Sheltered
Height0.5 – 1 1000
Spread0.1 – 0.5 M
Bloom TimeShoots eaten before ferning
PreferredMost ( except hard clay )
MoistureWell drain
pHAny ( except highly acidulous )
Asparagus , also love as garden edible asparagus orAsparagus officinalis , to give it its official name , is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the genus of the same name .
It is a unwashed comestible crop , and perhaps one of the best - eff recurrent vegetables .
The young shoot of the plant are typically exhaust as a spring vegetable .
Asparagus has been civilize as an edible crop for a very long time .
Only the young and tender shoot are take in , since once the buds begin to open , the shoots promptly become woody .
Its short harvest season have in mind that it has long been reckon as a treat , and extremely respect .
Why Grow Asparagus?
Asparagus is useful as a veggie that will return to provide edible shoots twelvemonth after year .
Choosing to plant asparagus is a recollective - term investment that can carry on to add time value in your garden for a long prison term to number .
As a perennial , Asparagus is a low - maintenance plant , which you’re able to more or less forget about over much of the year .
Asparagus time of year is a highlighting on the local intellectual nourishment calendar here in the UK – and since Asparagus officinales can be expensive to buy , growing your own at home makes a lot of sensory faculty .
Common Varieties
Some coarse and highly regarded asparagus miscellany for the UK include :
How To Grow Asparagus
Asparagus favours a sunny and exposed site , but can tolerate light , dappled nuance .
Soil Requirements
It will thrive in light , open filth , that are well drained .
While Asparagus officinales is not hugely fussy about grease type , in areas with a higher Lucius Clay content in their stain , or heavy clay stain , may find this a plant life that is more difficult to grow .
Though even the Great Compromiser soil gardeners can grow asparagus in bed that have been improve to improve drainage with good deal of organic matter .
Asparagus will choose a ground with a PH in the region of 6.5 - 7.5 , soif you have a more acidic land , you will find asparagus refinement more intriguing .
Liming will commonly be requiredif you wish well to grow edible asparagus on particularly acidulous site , but it may be in effect to consider other recurrent vegetable options .
Polycultures
Asparagus was traditionally often produce in a consecrated asparagus bottom .
One exit with this , however , is that the bed will be underutilised and will remain devoid , with unembellished soil , for much of the year .
One great option to this is to create polycultures , growing Asparagus officinales in the same bed as other plants that require exchangeable growing conditions .
Asparagus can be spring up alongside other perennial crops , or grown within one-year veggie bed .
We ’ll explore this musical theme of associate planting a small later in this article .
Planting Crowns
Asparagus can be produce from seed , but it is more coarse to implant asparagus crowns .
Asparagus crowds are one - year - old plants , which are typically buy and planted towards the end of the dormant period .
Asparagus crowns are unremarkably planted in March or April .
They are placed into grow areas that have been well prepared in wintertime early natural spring .
To prepare for asparagus planting , you should verify that the layer has been well mulch with organic matter , or that a living green manure or cover version crop has been sown to protect the soil and inhibit the growth of annual grass over the winter calendar month .
Ifa cover harvest or green manurehas been used , the material will be chop and throw away prior to plant the crowns .
If the dirt in the growing area is miss in fertility , you may consider adding an organic fertilizer such as rake fish and bone to the region in early spring .
To plant Asparagus officinales crowns :
Once you have plant your asparagus crowns , mulch well around them with a 5 cm level of balanced , nutrient - plenteous , sens - free organic issue .
Tending Asparagus
create polycultures and ensuring salutary soil coverage with non - competing or minimally competing plants is the adept way to reduce grass growth in an asparagus grow area .
Any job weeds that do pop up must be removed carefully by hand , because asparagus plant have shallow source that can easy be damaged if you employ a hoe .
If a late frost threatens , protect plant with wrangle covers or cloches to avoid frost damage on sensitive new shoots .
Another thing to consider is that asparagus can also be grown undercover in a polytunnel or other undercover grow area .
This can bring earliest harvests , and also avoid problems in insensate region .
Asparagus is known as a somewhat drought - tolerant craw , but the plants will do best if the soil around them is consistently moist , though free draining .
In dry condition , be sure to irrigate regularly during the summer months .
In a less shelter position , asparagus plants that have grown tall and feathery in the summertime might need to be given some support to avoid wrong .
This support might be supply by other plants in a polyculture , or by man - made twig / cane and twine support social structure .
‘Good King Henry’
At the end of the summer , asparagus plants should be left to yellow and begin to wither before you cut them down to soil tier .
Common Problems
slug and snails can be a job – particularly for untested edible asparagus plant .
The estimable way to check these pests in your garden is to check that there are plentifulness of natural predators in your garden to eat them .
Certain birdie , amphibians , and mammals can all be good – so check that you institute as diversely as possible and create habitat to attract this wildlife to your garden .
Another rough-cut pestilence species that can blight edible asparagus is the Asparagus officinales mallet .
Overwintering beetles can be destroy by burning old halt at the oddment of the season , but companion planting may also help , to a point at least , in keep an plague .
And again , improving plant and wildlife biodiversity is primal for integrated pest direction in an constitutional garden .
Companion Planting
One of the best - known companion plant for asparagus is tomatoes .
The tomato plantis order to be efficacious in repelling the Asparagus officinales beetle – and asparagus may help tomato plants too , by repelling certain root nematodes that can bear upon tomato plants .
The extent to which associate planting benefit can be prove varies , and often , recommendations are anecdotal , but many gardens report good results from this comrade planting combination .
In any case , planting love apple in the same layer as asparagus can help you make the most of the bed after the asparagus harvesting and throughout the repose of the summer time of year .
Plantingbasilandparsleyaround love apple and Asparagus officinales can also be good .
These plant too may help in repelling the asparagus mallet , and will create good priming cover to suppress weeds and keep moisture around love apple industrial plant .
Of course , unlike asparagus , tomatoes and Basil the Great are annually rise craw , and tomatoes should be partof a crop rotation scheme .
They should not be grow in the same bed class after year or blighter and diseases can build up .
as luck would have it , Asparagus officinales can also fit in with other crops in rotation .
For instance , you cansow Beta vulgaris rubra , lettuceand other leafy crops between asparagus rows in the spring , then successionally inseminate moolah , spinach and other leafy green beneath the tall Asparagus officinales fronds in the summer month .
you could also include flowers in Asparagus officinales polycultures – borage , marigoldsandnasturtiums , for example .
familiar constitute with other recurrent plants also works well .
For exemplar , you could consider creating a perennial bed with asparagus , strawberry mark , rhubarb , horseradish , comfrey , andcertain perennial herbs .
Just make trusted that you do not sow in Allium ( onions , garlic etc . ) close to asparagus .
And do not plant Irish potato too close to Asparagus officinales , mostly since harvesting them will disrupt the shallow asparagus roots .
Harvesting
“ An Asparagus plant can be highly generative for over 20 long time , but they take a while to lay down , ” shares Master Horticulturist Dan Ori .
“ I recommend not reap in the first yr and only lightly harvesting in the second year . ”
As Dan suggest , edible asparagus crown sow in March or April should not be glean for the first two years after planting , to allow the plant to become established .
This may seem a foresighted time to wait , but be patient .
Remember , once you do begin harvesting , you’re able to go on to do so for 10 - 15 years to come .
After the first two class have elapsed , you could begin to harvest asparagus shaft for a period of 8 weeks , usually from mid - April for outdoors get plants .
It is good to reap shoot every 2 - 3 Clarence Day in warm weather to obtain the best quality spear .
Simply take a sharp knife and cut down spears off just below the soil surface , when they are no more than 18 cm tall .
Asparagus Alternatives
Ifyou have a heavy clay filth , or are dealing with a more shaded site , then asparagus may not be the good repeated veg for your garden .
Interestingly , there are a couple of different plants that might grow better in your garden that also ply eatable shoots , and which are sometimes identify as ‘ poor military personnel ’s Asparagus officinales ’ .
One isChenopodium bonus - henricus(also live as ‘ Good King Henry ’ ) .
This is a great forest garden plant , surviving well in dappled shade beneath yield trees or in other perennial planting system in dappled or partial nuance .
new shoot can be peeled and used just like Asparagus officinales , and untried leaves can subsequently also be eaten in moderation .
Hops ( Humulus lupulus)can also be grown in partial shade , and hop-skip shoot are considered a delicacy .
When youthful and green , these too can be sliced off and eaten in on the button the same fashion as Asparagus officinales .
