Don’t neglect your perennial asparagus as you are harvesting the dickens out of your zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant and peppers. It’s common to only have eyes for this early first crops of spring—and then push it out of your mind as the rest of the garden takes off. Well, it’s time to bring your attention to your asparagus crowns again. Fall is the perfect time to make sure it gets off to a great start next year.

Cutting Asparagus Ferns in Fall

The ferny tops of the asparagus spears you graciously let grow have been photosynthesizing all summer, sending energy down into the crowns below. At this point in the season, your asparagus ferns may just be turning yellowy—and if not, then very soon. When the foliage starts to yellow, cut the stalks to just a few inches above the soil. Remove the dying foliage and add it to the compost pile. Doing so helps prevent disease and pests from overwintering in and around your asparagus patch.

If you’re the seed-saving type of gardening and want to try your hand at it, the folks at Sow True Seed have a quick primer on the topic.

Feed and Mulch Fall Asparagus

After raking away the dead or dying foliage, add some balanced organic fertilizer or some compost by sprinkling it around each asparagus crown. Water it in gently. This is especially important if you’ve neglected to fertilize during the summer.

Now for the mulch. Lay down a 3- to 4-in. layer of some sort of mulch. Straw, shredded leaves or compost will do the trick. This insulates the asparagus crowns and keep the soil from going through the cycles of freezing and thawing, actions that could potentially injure the underground roots. The mulch will also help the soil hold in some moisture. The underground crowns are living things and yes, they do need water to survive, even during winter. If this is your asparagus patch’s first or second year, be generous with that mulch! Those tender young crowns can are still quite vulnerable and could use the added protection.

If all goes to plan, when you gently pull away the mulch from the crowns next spring (rather than raking it away), you’ll see the nubbins of asparagus spears emerging from the soil. Do you not have an asparagus patch and are looking for some suggestions for what varieties to grow next spring? I wrote about the award-winning asparagus variety ‘Millennium’ in 2024.