So I have an older (~10yrs) asparagus bed, that is in an abandoned part of the garden. No deer fencing or regular irrigation. I am preparing a bed in the active garden area (fenced and water available) for a new asparagus bed next spring, and have been thinking about whether it makes sense to try to dig up and move the old plants to the new location, or if I should just get some new roots.
I’ve never heard of anyone transplanting established plants, but these survivors are pretty hardy having made it on their own for a few years. Anyone ever done this?
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I transplanted asparagus about 5 years ago. One of my neighbors grew it and was moving so offered it to me. I remember digging out the roots when the plant was dormant and planting those roots right away. They still produce, but I feel they must be females because they make the berries.
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Thanks Jim. Glad to hear it can be done.
Mine are all Millenium variety, started from seed by me ~10 years ago, before you could get their plants. Probably some females in there, but it has been a while since the deer have allowed these plants to get big enough to tell.
I am curious, how was digging the roots? Any pointers?
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in my limited experience the roots are shallow and wide. The crowns are pretty obvious, find them and sort of “paleontologist” your way outward with small shovels, etc. to try to take a nice chunk of roots…if the area is super-overgrown with competing roots you probably have a mess on your hands, but if not or if really loose, sandy soil, they come out looking a lot like the crowns you’d buy in a store just somewhat bigger.
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Thanks. Will put marker flags in this fall so I know where to dig next spring. I till be interesting to see how this experiment comes out…
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I dug and moved a purple asparagus about 4 years ago to move house. It did very poorly as I dug it during the summer and then it stayed in a pot for several years. I only got it in the ground a few months ago. It is still alive and sprouting again now.
Last summer I found a large green asparagus in a field so I marked it and dug it up over winter and brought it home. It is sprouting now and the spears are very fat.
Both of these the roots were incredibly deep but not overly wide. They needed lots of careful digging as the roots snap easily.
I think it was pretty basic. I tried to get the largest root ball I could and had the hole where they were going ready so I could just put them in. I think you will be fine.
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I had read that the roots can go down six feet, which makes them good in drought, so planted them on a sandy ridge. They have struggled if I didn’t water them. I suspect groundhogs and deer didn’t help any.
Looks like quite a lot of work for one plant!
