Allotments 4 All

My asparagus crowns arrived last week and I planted them out on the lottie.  I followed the instuctions which came with them:

They were planted in a bed which had compost dug into it last autumn.  I dug a trench 8" deep and then created a 3" deep ridge which the asparagus crowns were planted on.  The crowns were then covered with 2" of soil and the rest of the trench will be filled in the course of the next few months as the asparagus grows.

However, I have just seen an article in the gardening section of today's Daily Telegraph which has worried me.  It said that asparagus should be planted with the top of the crowns level with the top of the soil ie just visible.  I am now worried that  I have planted my crowns too deep and that they will rot.    Do I need to dig them up and start again?

Oh woe!

I wouldn't fash!

"Make a straight trench, 30cm wide by 20cm deep, and then pour soil down the length of the trench to make a 10cm high mound. Next, carefully take your asparagus crowns and sit them on top of the mound, spreading the roots out either sides – plant crowns 30cm apart and then cover with about 5cm of soil, which has been sifted through a riddle or sieve. Cover the plants with more sifted soil as the stems grow, aiming to completely fill the trench by autumn. Subsequent rows should be spaced 30cms apart." BBC

phew that's a relief!

Thank you for setting my mind at rest

The instructions which came with mine, from a specialist grower, said put them six inches down. If you think about it, tradition says you cut the stems just below ground level. If you're doing that, you want the crowns well down, otherwise you end up slicing into them and potentially damaging them.

The Americans plant 8" deep & cover by degrees. Each to their own, I suppose.

Hi,  this is what I did when I started my bed about 6 years ago .

We had built a raised bed about a foot highhalf filled, when the roots came we spread each one out, we didn't use a ridge,then we covered with about 6 inches of potting soil, and that was it!! I probably would have done the ridge if I had bothered to read the instructions but I did what I had always done in the past which was the above...probably dead wrong. The bed grew very well and is extremely productive. In the fall I chuck some manure and compost over the top after the ferns have died off.

I woouldn't worry about them being too deep, mine obviously were and it was fine.

XX Jeannine

being of unconventional nature, and knowing just how tough sparragras is, mine were planted at least a foot deep, did'nt bother with ridges and all that nonsense. Not a problem whatsoever, only nice thick juicy shoots which can be cut out easily with a 6" knife with no risk at all to the crowns.

If you plant the crowns too shallowly, the late season ferns, (ie. the shoots that develop cos you did'nt eat them) will fall over as there is no soil supporting them.

Do not panic, I am convinced that the trench and mound method is because asparagus has traditionally come bare rooted. If like me, growing from seed, you have pot grown asparagus, the they are fine just dug in.
See

http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Vegetables_asparagus.html

Or try this?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1&xml=/gardening/2008/04/18/garden-grow-asparagus118.xml

I can see the need for trenching if you're planting bare roots like I did. But I don't get the thing about planting on mounds at all, it just seems a lot of faffing about for what? Same with the idea of filling the trench by degrees; if you get strong crowns, they shouldn't need it. I just filled the trenches, mulched liberally, and I'm waiting for the shoots to put in an appearance.