My family loves asparagus and I would like to try growing some. Problem is is that I have a small yard and have to work our veggies into my flower beds and pots. Suggestions? I have access to farmland, but its about an hour and a half from where I live. Can it be planted and forgotten for extended periods of time?
I live in zone 4 and my land is in zone 3.
Can asperagus be grown in a small space?
My parents used to plant asparagus next to fence posts around the hay field. That way my mother knew exactly where to look to cut sprouts in spring - they rest of the year they got by on benign neglect. That worked fine for years until horses were pastured on the other side of the fence, they kept the plants cut down to the ground year round, and they have declined & died. Where Asparagus grows wild here is along river bottoms under cottonwoods in part shade - so they will tolerate part shade. So either method might work - unattended in the country, or tucked here & there around the yard. If it were me, I would try the yard first. With the unattended ones, it would be too easy for you to miss the ideal cutting time - or some passerby thinking they were wild/abandoned and cutting them first.
Correction: I guess I should have said they tolerate part shade along rivers in COLORADO. I keep forgetting that because of the thin dry air here, part-shade in Colorado is equivalent to full sun in a lot of other places in the U.S.A.
This message was edited Apr 23, 2010 6:25 AM
I would definitely try my own yard first. Once the asparagus starts coming up you have to pick it every day or at the very least every other day. It grows like wildfire. I've been picking it for about 2 weeks now and my fridge is running over with it. I'm saving up to try pickling it this year. I have it growing in a (approx.) 10ft x 3ft area. You can pick it for several weeks but then you have to stop and just let it grow. Each stalk turns into a very large tall ferny thing. So if your short on space, I hate to say it, you may be out of luck.
Thanks, that's what I was afraid of... the height and dimension of the plants when they grow out... Would they grow well on the west side of a house that only gets sun for about three or four hours? It can also be seen from the street. Is the plant attractive at all:) For how good it tastes it should be! Is it possible to grow in a container?
Why didn't my parents (farmers) grow asparagus and teach me about this? I'm guessing its my grandparents fault, lol. I can't remember eating it once growing up... doubt our little grocery store even had canned...
I bought some to plant the other day and may try to squeeze one in somewhere and see if I can live with it and plant the rest out at the farm... Might be more to my benefit to do some research and find out where to hunt for the wild stuff down by the river.
SweetTee, you will definitely appreciate them being in your yard for daily harvesting for that few weeks. I would say they would do fine on the west side with just 3-4 hours of sun. They come up ahead of most everything else and if your space is limited, that space might be good for growing some medium size annual flowers in front in when the asparagus is done. It will make a beautiful backdrop, I promise you!
msrobin, Thanks for your encouragement. Seems I am spending a lot of time walking in circles through my yard rearranging plants and digging up more grass ...in my head! Trying to fit in more and more plants that I want to try. I love spring, but hate waiting. Especially when its so nice out.
I will definitely be planting them somewhere in my yard. :)
Hey I have about 20 male jersey crowns that I have no idea what to do with. I have the option of planting them in the back along the fence under a few oaks (not too much sun) OR Do you think they would look OK in the front of the house against the neighbors fence? (I don't know how wide they get) The other option is I pull the Japanese maples (wife hates them) out of the front window area and drop the asparagus there. This is what I would like to do but I just don't know how pretty asparagus are throughout the hot summer and the winter. It seems out here because nobody has them so we have nothing to compare to....
You all are bound and determined that I embarrass myself by showing some of my awful pictures of my yard. LOL Bear in mind this started as a hayfield and we have had a terrible time trying to landscape without any boundaries in place. Growing Asparagus because of the potential long-term committment is kind of scary. A good bed will last 20-30+ years. I hope my thoughts just help you decide on a permanent location based on the growth habits, because from my experience, moving plants every year to better locations kind of takes the fun out gardening. I have moved Asparagus, Grapes, Peach Trees and Peonies 3-4 times before I was happy with where they were.
My original 8 year old asparagus patch is a block 20' long x 3-4' wide, seen in this picture behind the little blue plastic swimming pool toward the top of the pic. I started with a big garden here, but it slowly got moved to a better spot. The Asparagus stayed because the roots were bigger and deeper than I wanted to mess with, and I figured when the newer Asparagus beds came into full production, that I could kill this off. We are transitioning this area to flower beds, the goldfish pond and a bird & butterfly garden. I do not cut the Asparagus back over the winter because it provides shelter for the birds and rabbits. Hummingbirds love hiding in the branches. During the summer, it shades our dog's pool a little. We've talked about using the ferns as a backdrop to other flowers, but that would then block part of our veiw across our front field, so this is still a work in progress.
My ferns grow to about 5' (maybe 6') tall and are pretty full, as they will continue to produce non-edible stalks throughout the summer, essential to the plant health. Sometimes a stalk will break off at the base and turn brown, but can easily be pulled out. Sometimes a strong wind across the field will lay several plants over. It's not difficult to keep them tidy looking. If they get scraggly looking, just trim them back a little. As mentioned earlier, IMHO, they would make a great backdrop to annual flowers and they do like nice mixed into flower beds here and there. I found some yesterday that the birds planted for me a year or two ago. If you didn't mind doing a little bit of tidying up on the plants, they could also be grown where they could block a view or provide patio privacy, etc.
Just go for it. It's easy to grow and maintain. I would say it is probably one of my least needy plants.
I'm not sure if I have a picture of my asparagus bed ferned out where you can see the entire bed. I have a picture of my cat Henry sitting amongst the ferns and he thinks it's nice background! He used to take naps under it in the heat of the summer. I've too have considered planting some asparagus here and there outside of the veg garden in amongst my flowers, just to see how it would do vs. animals (deer) that like to eat everything. Haven't done it yet. The ferns do get really tall and flop over, at least mine do. I think this is due mostly to the fact that you leave your thinnest spears to fern and cut the fatter ones for eating.
I'm going to agree with everything said here except the one comment about the amount of sunlight needed to grow. Asparagus loves the sun. It needs full sun to grow. I have a patch that was started by either the birds or wind. It is under a tree. I think over the past 4 or so years there are 2, maybe 3 stalks that come up every year. It's just not thriving. Meanwhile the other 2 are growing strong in Full sun.
Once harvesting time is over, and that depends on how old the plants are, the stalks do create a screen/fence. And yes the wind will topple them over and make kind of an unruly site. I suppose I could tie them up, or stake them somehow but it's not needed for the plant health, so I don't bother. I have one patch growing up against a neighbors fence and the other one is now in a permanent spot in our vegetable garden. By the way, the second patch was started by seed collected from the first patch. That patch was started with 3 year old crowns bought from a local nursery.
I found another picture to illustrate that flopping over effect of the asparagus. This is from July 29, 2006. I had planted the crowns that spring (2 year old crowns). So it was the first year growing here. For me, once they get to a certain height, they flop over. I suppose you could use something to hold them up. Not sure what that something would be that would also keep your flower bed looking pretty. Maybe some green sturdy twine and a stake at either end?
Hey Jen, Once your spears get a little older they won't fall over as easily. Because the spear itself will come back larger each year. I have some now that are as big around as one of my fingers. They are just as tasty big or small.
A lot of my stalks are that large, too. When you break off the stalks, they will naturally break at the tender point, so I rarely ever have any tough stalks. I guess I don't have that big of a problem with mine laying over, because I mulch my beds with dried grass clippings. After a year or so, my crowns tend to be a little deeper. OTOH, I never plant mine as deep as recommended initially.
I also have mixed feelings about the amount of sunlight required. There's not much competition for light because of the growing period in early spring, in the way of tree branches in full leaf, etc. blocking the sun. These stalks are going to grow whether they get full sunlight or are completely shaded by other asaparagus plants along the outside of a group. If that 3-4 hours of sunlight mentioned in a previous post is such that it bounces off of another building, etc, then the period of sunlight has actually been extended.
Jen, I'm thinking those nice little green wire things that are an open wire grid circle on 3-4 legs about 2' tall (used for Peonies, I think) would probably work great for you patch. I think I've seen them for a couple of bucks each. Sure would give the babies lots of hide and seek room. :)