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making an asparagus bed

frensclanfrensclan Posts: 119
in Problem solving
Could anyone please tell me which is the best horticultural grit to use to make a new asparagus bed on my allotment?

Posts

  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,697
    When we moved in to our home back in the 70s (!!!) we planted asparagus as one of the first veg.
    Having seen it growing in the Med countries we decided that it needed a good sandy soil mixed in with compost. And so it did grow and what a harvest we had for many years.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Asparagus needs a sandy soil I believe, rather than a gritty one so I have added a few bags of H. Sand to my bed (which is clay) I'm hoping this will work but will wait and see. Apparently I recently read somewhere the the roots can go down 20 metres or so but not sure whether to believe that.
    Good luck with your bed. Perhaps we can compare crops in future years.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • frensclanfrensclan Posts: 119
    Many thanks for your replies and I will certainly look into the sand solution. It would certainly be interesting to compare beds in the future Lizzie. I am just waiting for the Welsh weather to get a bit dryer and warmer and then I will get going on creating the bed ready for my crowns when the arrive in March. I shall aspire to your success bertrand-mabel  :)
  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,831
    We didn't use any grit on our bed, which we created last Summer.  We dug a trench down the middle of the bed, leaving the soil on either side higher, so that they drain well.  We have two rows of Asparagus, one down each side of the bed.  The trench in the middle will always remain, so there shouldn't be any problem with drainage, or so we thought.....


    This was the sight that greeted me today at our allotment.  The black rectangle in the centre of the picture is our Asparagus bed!  The best laid plans.....
  • frensclanfrensclan Posts: 119
    Oh my goodness and I thought the waterlogging of my autumn sown onion and garlic bed was a soggy nightmare! Hopefully the water will drain away quickly. My plot is also near a river and although in the terrible floods early last  year houses were flooded in the village the allotment although very wet was high enough to escape. It does look like the central trench might have spared you the worst though? I do hope your crowns survive.
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