Rob Smith on keeping your asparagus in check
Timely trimming in winter will keep plants healthy and secure
Winter has certainly arrived in Sheffield. The temperature has suddenly dropped in the last few weeks and the allotment and garden are looking decidedly bleak. Most of the empty beds are now nicely covered with green manure, which will help improve the fertility of the soil next year. The remaining beds are full of winter crops, such as brassicas and Jerusalem artichokes.
One bed I’ve been waiting to tidy is my asparagus bed. The plants are now two years old and have never been harvested, so I’m looking forward to next year when I can start cropping my own, home-grown asparagus. This is because the plants need to be in the ground for two years before you can start to harvest in the third. It does seem like a slow process and, believe me, there have been times when I’ve had other ideas for what I could grow in the bed, yet determination prevailed!
As December starts, the foliage of the asparagus ‘ferns’ should be changing to a yellow-brown colour, and this is the perfect time to remove all the above ground growth. With a sharp set of secateurs, cut the foliage off at ground level – this will stop the crowns from being disturbed by the strong winter winds rocking the plants, plus it gives pests fewer places to overwinter.
When you’ve removed the ferns, you should give the plants a good top-dressing of manure to protect them over winter and feed them in spring. Remember that asparagus doesn’t like any competition, so it’s best to try to remove any weeds in the same bed, especially any perennial ones, like dock or dandelion, which could cause you to damage the asparagus roots while trying to remove them when they get a little bigger.
Another similar job is cutting down your Jerusalem artichoke plants. The plants will have lost all their leaves by now, so just chop them down and lay the stalks over the bed. This helps protect the roots from the bad weather, and also reminds you where they are! After all, who wants to be digging in the wrong place!