Should I plant asparagus in the fall?
The short answer is “no”. It’s not the optimum time to plant asparagus. Spring is the preferred time to plant. To ensure the best crowns, growers of asparagus must leave the lovely fern-like foliage all summer and fall until the plant goes dormant.
Fall is a great time to prep your bed for spring planting. Asparagus needs to have a bed unto itself with about a foot of space for each crown, and full sun. For an average home crop you will want enough space for approximately 20 crowns. Prepping the bed in the fall will allow you to add lots of decomposing leaves, compost or manure to the site and you can add this all winter long. The more organic matter in the soil to start, the longer your plants will produce with good quantity and quality.
Also make sure you have completely removed all grass and weeds from the bed, since nothing should be competing with your asparagus plants for nutrients in the soil. Follow the normal three-year harvest plan. Be sure to watch our website for the availability of asparagus crowns in the spring.
