I've never seen an Asparagus plant
and need to get a feel for its size.
I was thinking of running a row
along the chain link fence on the
side of our house.
Will it grow "into" the fence?

They will get up to about 4 feet tall, and yes they will grow into the
fence. However, I cut mine down in February (Now I've started an arguement
in the newsgroup, others cut it in the fall.), and they will pull right out
of the fence.

Make the row permanent because you can enjoy years of production from it. I
like a raised row. Easier to keep out weeds/grasses, and gives you more
room to make the bottom layer more fertile than normal (cow manure). Any
more questions, contact me direct on here on the newsgroup. Dwayne


"Slinkky Jinks" wrote in message
...
I've never seen an Asparagus plant
and need to get a feel for its size.
I was thinking of running a row
along the chain link fence on the
side of our house.
Will it grow "into" the fence?

"Dwayne" wrote

They will get up to about 4 feet tall, and yes they will grow into the
fence. However, I cut mine down in February (Now I've started an arguement
in the newsgroup, others cut it in the fall.), and they will pull right out
of the fence.

I was worrying about how wide these get cause I got to leave room for a path
thats why I was hoping on putting them close to the fence.

(Slinkky Jinks) wrote in
:

I was worrying about how wide these get cause I got to leave room for
a path thats why I was hoping on putting them close to the fence.

The "fronds" on my plants get about 18" long, making the plant about 3 ft
(1m) across. Since they're about 4' tall, when the fall over after frost,
they will take up more space.

Bob

bob jwx1.deleteThis@bellsouthnet wrote in message
...
(Slinkky Jinks) wrote in
:

I was worrying about how wide these get cause I got to leave room
for
a path thats why I was hoping on putting them close to the fence.

The "fronds" on my plants get about 18" long, making the plant about
3 ft
(1m) across. Since they're about 4' tall, when the fall over after
frost,
they will take up more space.

Bob


Three feet is a reasonable width, but I find mine have a tendency to
flop over even during the growing season. Thus, either you leave extra
room or run some wire or string to hold them back.

Guy Bradley
Chesterfield MO
zone 6

Guy Bradley wrote:
Three feet is a reasonable width, but I find mine have a tendency to
flop over even during the growing season. Thus, either you leave extra
room or run some wire or string to hold them back.

After the harvesting period my asparagus got about 6
feet tall and probably 3 - 4 ft across they we flopping
over by about 3 ft tall. Last year was our first year
with asparagus (we bought a house with mature beds) so
we just put up poles and string and left them up.

I've been looking at my gardening books to trying to find
out if it's okay to prune them back a bit say to 2 1/2 ft
in order to control them once you just let them go or do
you need to just let them grow as much as they want after
harvesting them for 6 weeks?

Next question is the asparagus beds are in a very awkward
spot and I'd like to move them to nearer the retaining wall.
I haven't seen anything in the books I have about moving
them once the bed is established. Can I move them or
do I have to start a new bed and wait the initial couple
of years before I have fresh asparagus again?

Gayle
================================================== =====
Gayle Surrette STC at NOAA/NESDIS/IPD
(301) 457 5254 MAIL Address:
FB#4 Room 3045
4700 Silver Hill Road, Stop 9909
Washington, DC 20233-9909
================================================== ======

My ferns all turned brown last fall, and I chopped them to the ground
thinking they would grow back in summer - was I wrong? Should I have
just left the ferns alone?

Anna
Zone 9

in article , Anna Kanauka at wrote
on 3/10/03 2:22 PM:

My ferns all turned brown last fall, and I chopped them to the ground
thinking they would grow back in summer - was I wrong? Should I have
just left the ferns alone?

Anna
Zone 9

No, once they turn brown you can cut them back to the ground. In mid-Texas,
they do not turn brown until December or so. I usually put down some mulch
for the winter.

Then keep your eyes out for the spears. They will shoot up pretty fast and
before you know it, you will have another whole patch of ferns and didn't
get any spears.

They will also re-seed around the garden from the red berries.

Best -- LL