Help with Asparagus

[whang...@hotmail.com]

Hi, I planted my first batch of asparagus roots back in the Spring and
have just let it grow without harvesting since it is in its first year
of growing. When or is it acceptable to trim it back? It is in the
very leafy/ferny stage and I'm not sure if that will die off or not.
If it is acceptable to trim back, how far back do I cut it?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[usefulgardener]

Greetings!

You've done just right with your asparagus! Let it continue to grow
(and do it again next year if you really want to get those roots
established for a better harvest of spears in spring #3). It will die
back naturally starting at the end of the growing season and
completely after frost - in fact, you should be starting to see some
browning of the feathery foliage about now. I let mine die completely
- the entire patch gets brown and stiff. I cut the dead stems back
close to the ground, remove those stems and foliage and lightly rake
the entire bed clean of old debris and weeds. This is a good time to
add a light mulch cover for winter protection but I wouldn't make it
too thick and heavy - you don't want to encourage root rot over the
winter. In northern climates, you can really mulch with a thick hay
bed, but the ground doesn't freeze that deeply here and wet fungal
problems are more likely. If you are using raised beds, you will have
less problems with winter soil wetness. The old advice was to leave
the foliage on the plants over winter, allowing them to flatten out
and form their own "mulch" keeping the soil cool so that spears don't
come up too early in our rollercoaster spring weather. Unfortunately,
that also overwinters any pests and diseases that are in the patch, so
I prefer to clean them out and mulch with a clean layer of straw or
wood chips.

This is a good time to spread garden lime, either the powdered or the
pelleted kind, over the bed. Asparagus likes to be at a pH of about
6, so liming the asparagus bed soil is a good over-wintering prep for
the spring. Most garden centers have the lime and application
directions should be on the container. I would not fertilize now -
save that for the early spring - but remember to go light on nitrogen
when fertilizing as you really want to establish those roots. It may
help to have the soil tested to determine phosphorus and potassium
needs. You can do that by submitting a soil sample to VA Tech - the
kits are available at the VT Extension office upstairs in Building 14
of the VB Municipal Complex.

Hope this helps!