Plants and Flowers

This perennial vegetable is marked with attractive, feathered fern-like leafage that can grow to 3 feet tall. To prepare the asparagus bed you will need time and effort, but if the bed is done properly, it will last for years.
In the North plants should be set out in early spring. In the South, set them out in the autumn because it can be so hot in the summer that the young plants may die. Asparagus grows well in most types of soil, but it should be well drained. Put plants 2 feet apart with 5 feet between the rows. One established bed will grow for three seasons; 25-30 plants will produce enough asparagus.
Dig a ditch 12-18 inches deep and the length, which you may wish. Add 6-7 inches of aged dung or compost or a little bog moss. Add some balanced fertilizer and add a couple of inches of soil from beside the trench and mix this well.
With the prepared mixture, build up mounds at the bottom of the ditch about a foot apart. Set each crown on top of a mound and drape the roots down the sides. If roots are placed flat, growth will be slow.
Fill the ditches ensuring that the plants are at least four inches below the soil surface. The soil level of the row should be a little below the rest of the garden. When the sprouts grow up, fill in the ditch with a little more soil to give the stems additional support.

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