Lessons in Aparagus Growing Required

This is my first year with asparagus so I'm a bit clueless. However one thing I've been told is to try and get rid of all perennial weeds before you plant as the roots of stuff like couch grass grow thru the asparagus roots and are then extra difficult to remove. My asparagus was sown from seed so I'm looking at about three years before I crop.

Being as you are growing on an allotment space is not a problem so I would, at least, double the length of your aparagus bed.

Plant about 18 inches apart in the row and about 2 foot between rows. That should allow you to plant about 16 crowns in a 12 x 4 bed. Make sure you buy really good quality crowns not the piddling little things you'll find in places like B&Q or Wilko's.

As you'll be topping up the bed every so often in the first year allow for about 9 inches of soil above the crowns. The crowns are first covered with about 3 inches of soil and the bed built up as they grow.

Use a mixture of soil compost and well rotted (not fresh) manure. If drainage might be a problem add some grit and sharp sand to the mix. Asparagus hates being sat with its feet in water. Good drainage is esential. As has already been said, do your best to make sure that the bed starts off weed free. Good preperation really is the key to success.

Although asparagus can be planted in the spring it is more usually planted in the autumn. Speaking only for myself, I would wait until next year to get my crowns and spend this year making sure the bed was as well prepared as I could make it.

Hope that is of some help. HAVE FUN on your plot.

That's a lot of hard winter digging.
If it were me, I'd cover with cardboard and manure now, to block the light and weaken the roots, then dig over when the weather is nice in spring.