Allotments 4 All

I want to mulch my asparagus to keep weeds down, I was thinking of using straw. Has anybody used  straw? Any better ideas?

I have used pulled/hoed weeds, after they have dried out (I have LOTS of weeds !), but I dont really see any difference between these and straw. Be care not to cover emerging spears though, so you can harvest when they are at their best.

Good luck.

Seaweed is said to be good.  Also as I remember I`m sure I saw a cookery programme with James Martin where the asparagus looked to be growing through gravel?

I've used spent hops, but only because that's what I've got!

Quote from: caroline7758 on October 26, 2007, 21:27:48
I've used spent hops, but only because that's what I've got!

Caroline. When you say 'spent' hops, do you mean that they have been used to make beer or something. Sorry to be a dimwit, but I have bought some Hop seeds to grow next year and intend to have an Asparagus bed in the future.

I used mushroom compost one year, that was pretty good. Usually I give a good couple of inches of mulch of well-rotted horse manure in the autumn after the ferns have died down and been cut down.

We used to put masses of well rotted pig manure on ours (because we had pigs).

These days I heap home made compost over them for the winter, after cutting down and weeding.

Yes, weed-digga, I collect them in sacks from a small local brewery. (They have to pay to have them taken away otherwise).

 :) I've put well rotten  horse manure on mine/ shades x

We use loads of home produced garden compost.

Am I alone in thinking that mulches don't really suppress weeds?

Perennial weeds grow up through them, but I think annuals give up?

If the site was well cleared beforehand, the perennial weeds would only be seed-sown ones, rather than broken roots.

Mulches suppress most weed seeds; perennial roots will grow straight through. There are exceptions; goosegrass makes short work of my mulches.

Thanks for all the useful advice everyone now just got to decide which to use ???