Raised asparagus bed
gerrya
Posts: 7
in Fruit & veg
I have a shallow raised bed of asparaus which is just 3 years old and I am about to replace the temprary wooden edging used to create it. The new edging will allow me to increase the depth of the bed by about 3 inches giving the crowns a deep mulch of both manure and compost. Should I mulch to this depth straight away or do it over a couple of years? Aslo should I do it now just as it's about to starrt gowing or leave it to the end of the season?
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Hi Gerrya, would be interested to know how you control weeds in your asparagus beds, I have just planted 3 different types on my 1st allotment. Many years ago I knew a chap who grew it for a living and he used to cover it with table salt to kill weeds.( It's a long story how I know this but it's all to do with Ostriches ) I don't mind weeding and that's probably how I'll cope with it.
Hi Ruby3,
I don't seem to have a great deal of trouble so far with weeds. The bed is only just in it's 3rd year and is mostly new compost/manure which naturally acted as a mulch killing alot of the seeds etc of the original plot which was a lawn. I only seem to get a bit of chickweed and the odd dandelion seedling and these are easy to pull if I get them when they're young.
My biggest concern is how deeply can I get away with burying the crowns now I've raised the sids of the bed. Being inexperienced I didn't plant them very deep when I first put them in so could probably get away with an extra 4 inches but all at once or over a couple of years? I've just put on about an inch of spent compst from soem potatoes grown in bags last year so I might just add a bag of manure now to feed it and then top it up again in autumn when I cut down the ferns.