I read the other post about a new asparagus planting and I have another question.

My asparagus has been growing for 2 years now (I did not harvest any this past spring). It is in kind of a terribly neglected spot (so that my husband won't tear into it with some sort of dirt moving equipment)and it is pretty thickly matted with grass and weeds. Should I do anything to it this fall, like dig out the weeds, or should I just wait until spring. Also I see that one of the posters at the other discussion said to put on a layer of manure in January. Is that composted manure? And in January, my zone 5 is pretty snowy, but still go ahead and spread on some manure?

I am completely lucky that my husband has left this spot alone in my yard and I am hoping I get some asparagus this spring. Just mostly wanting to know if I should be doing anything to it now?

Thanks so much for the info!

JeannaMO

If I were you, I'd pull out all the grass & weeds now, & then lay down some compost - doesn't have to be manure.

I've read that asparagus doesn't like competition and that you shouldn't plant anything with it and should be as weed free as possible. The article I read (I can't remember where, sorry) stated that you should avoid disturbing the soil much beyond the surface as you don't want to disturb the asparagus roots. It said to be careful even with a hand rake. I used straw as mulch in my garden this year and it works GREAT for weed control and keeping moisture in (and I'd imagine it works against freezing ground too). I used about 4inches, which is now matted down to probably 2.

I had already planted a few herbs with my asparagus and just left them there as they were already established enough that I'd have done root damage by removing them. They're biennials - celery and parsley - along with a few annuals (naturtium and cilantro) so I figure once they're gone, I won't replant with the asparagus.

There is no good reason to pull out grass and "weeds" growing in any planting bed when it can simply be covered with newspaper, or cardboard, which is then covered with a mulch and that will kill the grass and "weeds" growing there and put the nutrients from them back into the soil.

Kimm1 - I like your answer! Actually, I was really concerned about disturbing the roots of the asparagus because the grass is really thick in there. Since I planted it in a fairly forlorn area of my yard (so it wouldn't get dug up or burned out by DH), the grass and weeds are pretty thick and I would have to dig them out with a shovel. So, I like the idea that I can cover them with newspaper and maybe leaves and grass and that will help for next year. I don't know why I didn't think of that.

Thanks so much for the tip. We're suppose to have nice 70's here in Missouri this weekend so I should have no problem getting out there and tending to this precious vege!

JeannaMO

I've found that the cardboard/mulch idea works better as a weed preventer than a weed killer. My weeds are generally well-established and tend to easily grow up through even several layers of thick cardboard and many inches of mulch. Probably depends on the weed. I have crabgrass or something... a creeping grass... and I swear that stuff will go through anything. But certainly try it first... it'd be a lot less work! I've found it works great in some areas to just cover the weeds... but like I said... certain weeds don't seem phazed by it at my place.

Just keep in mind when you're using cardboard/newspaper to "smother" grass & weeds in your asparagus bed, that it's uber easy to also smother your asparagus. If you go this route (& frankly I wouldn't), make sure you pull all this mulch back in the spring to be sure your asparagus has room to send up spears.