Starting a new asparagus bed

I have started and stopped this project at least twice in the recent past but I am finally getting very close to starting a new asparagus bed, this time one that will be protected by the deer.

The bed will consist largely of partially decomposed wood chips from the bottom of my once 7’ wood chip pile.  I plan on introducing Wine Caps into the remaining wood chips and planting the asparagus crowns in fertile holes consisting of composted manure juiced up with some bat guano to give a real nitrogen boost that hopefully will last longer than a year.

I am open to suggestions for getting the Asparagus established, and I am open to suggestions on asparagus varieties.  I was planning on an all-male variety.  Thoughts?

Eric

I’d plant the crowns in the regular dirt, then layer the compost and mulch.

There is “nitrogen burn” to worry about with newly sprouted young plants - compost that is too strong with nitrogen (guano is high in it) can hurt/burn the plant.  

Burying the crowns in compost (which is already high nitrogen) amended with ultra high nitrogen guano seems like too much to me.

It sounds like you’re trying to make a “powerful” fertilizer, rather than a long-lasting one.

Just compost is fine, if you really want to add guano it can mix into the mulch or on top, below the mulch.


While decomposing wood does suck up nitrogen when it’s newly shredded, it slowly releases that back into the soil when it’s in later stages of decomposing. (Next year + year after)

By mixing the compost and mulch a bit where they meet, or layering it, you can speed up the mulch’s decomposition and take the “edge” off a high-nitrogen fertilizer by letting the wood take up the nitrogen and become part of a long-term compost. The mulch will then come part of the compost and slow- release the nitrogen it sucked up at the start.

Have fun! First year asparagus are REALLY cute and small, and starting from a crown they can take up to 2 months to emerge. It’s totally worth the year1 effort