moving mature asparagus

I would like to relocate my asparagus plants, and was hoping someone else has some experience doing this. The plants are about 5 years old, and the beds are quite weedy. My plan was to get the new beds ready and relatively weed free this year by solarizing them, and then digging up the plants early next spring and moving them to the new beds. This would allow me to completely bare root the plants to minimize weeds, and most importantly the beds will be closer to the house, and easier to maintain. Any suggestions or comments are welcome, and if this isn't readable I can always purchase new plants.

This is copied from a post I made on another on-line forum, and is simply my experience in dealing with re-locating asparagus. Perhaps someone else has had another outcome then I.

"If you ever decided to transplant/move mature asparagus plants, you may have a problem. I have a fairly large patch of asparagus, started from seeds that were germinated in my greenhouse in January, 2011. I only planted three of the seedlings in the garden in April. Those three seedlings became a 2x3' patch. I never harvested any of the spears, letting them all grow to give maximum energy to those expanding root systems.

This spring, I decided I wanted to elevate that patch of plants. I built up my raised garden last fall and boxed in the asparagus patch because the spears were all green and 5-6' tall. I didn't want to cover the asparagus with a foot of soil. Thus that patch was now lower than the rest of the garden. While the asparagus was still dormant, I dug a trench 1 ft. around the outer-most plants and a foot deep, thinking I would just slide the shovel beneath the roots and lift part of the "root ball" at a time, adding soil beneath it. I could NOT lift a single bit of that root ball. Those roots were so dense and so deep, all I did was end up cutting a bunch of roots. I soon gave up. My plan now is to slowly top that patch of asparagus with a mixture of dirt and composted leaves. It may take a year or two to get it raised to the level of my garden."

Ken

Asparagus patches should be divided every decade or so, or else the roots become compacted and they produce less. Wait until fall after they have gone dormant and you cut the tops back. (If you have female plants, you may want to mark them and discard during the transplant process.)

Asparagus roots should spread horizontally and stay fairly shallow, but they do create a large root mass. When digging, locate the crowns and work outward to find the roots. You may chop off some roots, but get as much as you can. If the plants loose too much, you may not be able to harvest them again right away.

Do not divide single crowns; it will kill the plant. You should have plenty of new crowns after 5 years. If you get more than one entangled -- and you will! -- you can rootwash them to help separate them. Prune off all the above ground stuff, look for roots and rhizomes of weeds and grass and remove. Put the crowns in a tub or wheelbarrow and cover with moist burlap while working. Transplant into new location and use the normal asparagus planting technique.

There you go. Nicole had the answer.

Ken

Your soil helps the state of the roots as well, makes the removal easier depending on the variety you planted...mine few get moved when dormant but I am in sandy loam and don't have issues with the process.

Thanks everyone for the help, I feel better about the move now.