How do I move asparagus plants?

I have several asparagus plants in my rose beds -- never mind why -- it's a dumb story. Anyway, I would like to move them this fall or winter to the bed where the rest of the asparagus plants are. Is there anything special I need to know about doing this? Right now they have ferns on them about five feet tall. Should I wait until the ferns die back in several months?

Karen

You're not alone. I've got asparagus growing in my rose bed too. Your story can't be dumber than mine. I had never seen it growing before and didn't know what it was. I thought it was a fern and used it for a contrast beside my shrub roses.

Pillita,

So glad to hear I'm not the only one. LOL. Sure tastes good, though; doesn't it?

My dumb story is that I ordered them before I had the bed in place. My grandson was supposed to help me put in the raised bed for them, but he didn't. After the plants arrived I had to put them somewhere. So, they are under the roses. They are happy there, but I want to move them if I can. Kind of hard to pick asparagus without getting stuck on the thorns.

I don't know how far around the plants I need to dig or how far out to expect the roots to be. They have 5-foot ferns now, and I don't know whether I have to wait until they go completely dormant either.

Karen

I'm looking forward to finding the answer to that myself. My rose is probably six feet fall and has a circumference bigger than that. I wouldn't dare try to move it. I've just kept putting off dealing with the asparagus, though I really do want them someplace else.

Pillita,

Yep, I've been putting it off, too. Mine have been in a "temporary" planting area for two years now. Need to do something. The asparagus is so good that I don't to want lose them after all this time.

I thought sure someone would pop up and tell us. So, I'll go Google for an answer and see what I can find. I'll report back on this thread so then we'll both know. LOL.

Karen

I just dug them up and replanted them mid-winter. I did start the dig away from the plant about 18" until I found the root spread and then dug around until I could get under it. The did well at the new site AND they resprouted in the old site. Apparently I didn't get it all.

Frank

Wish you better luck than me- I killed all mine that I moved. But they may not have been in th best of shape ahead of that.
The ferns are very pretty. I've left some in a flower bed.

Pillita,

Many articles as to why you can't/shouldn't even contemplate moving asparagus (they'll all die anyway) -- just a couple of them were encouraging. On the other hand several articles mentioned that an asparagus bed will, over time, get too crowded and stop producing, that they need to be dug up and thinned out and that the excess plants can be put elsewhere. So, basically what I found out is that there is a lots of info and opinions on this subject, most of it conflicting.

However, Frank was successful, and we can be, too.

Frank,

Thank you for responding.

Other than an article in MotherEarth News, you're the only bright spot in my search for info on this. It is especially interesting that they re-sprouted in the old site as well.

Did you replant them in a trench and then gradually fill it in or did you replant at the same depth they were before you dug them up? Did you find that the tubers went out horizontally from the crown? When I planted these they were seedlings in 4" pots and I just planted them like any other seedling.

I did read that we need to start digging carefully around for the tubers about 12-18" from the crowns, and that once located need to get under the clump to dig it up, being careful not to break the tubers off. Did you mark the crowns' locations before they went dormant? The soil in the raised bed is quite loose, so other than being a pain in the neck, digging them up should not be that difficult.

Karen

When I dug them up (dead of winter) I tried hard to minimize damage to the crown and tubers. The tubers had grown out horizontally from the crown. I replanted on flat tilled soil, spreading the tubers out & covered with about 6 " of soil mulched with several inches of hay to keep the soil from crusting over. I had not marked the crowns, just started digging from the outside of a raised bed then all the way around each crown.

Frank

ps - the resprouting might have been from natural seeding, rather than from roots

Frank,

Thank you for the additional information. I think I will put some small plastic markers where the crowns are as I'm not sure I'll know once the current ferns are gone. Some of mine make seeds, too. Since I planted these in the front of my raised beds under the rose bushes, I'll be digging with a hand fork. They are about 24-30" from the roses. The soil is very loose though, so it should not be all that heavy going.

Karen