How Do Asparagus Grow As A Fern

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Headline: asparagus fern care
Title: Caring for the Ferny Foliage of Asparagus Plants
Meta description: When the ferny foliage of garden asparagus is at its peak, this vegetable crop needs the most water. Learn about caring for full-grown asparagus plants here.
The vegetable asparagus is not a true fern, but people refer to the full-grown plant as a fern because of its small, delicate, fern-like leaves. Asparagus plants are either male or female, and the mature fern of the female produces attractive, bright-red [link u=asparagus-berries]seed pods[/link] but smaller spears.
--Caring for the Ferny Stalks of Mature Asparagus
The highlight of an asparagus bed is the yearly, springtime appearance of tender shoots for eating. But some of these spears turn into the full-grown plant covered with densely-leaved, slender branches of fern-like foliage. Some people use this dense, seasonal foliage as a landscape planting while also harvesting spears for eating. …show more content…

Asparagus ferns are usually at their peak of growth in July and August, so regularly water the plants to a depth of 2 feet (.6 meters) during these months, so that the large roots store up energy and nutrients for the next year’s growth of spears.
After August, irrigating can be harmful to the plant as it causes fern development later into the cold season, depleting the root system of nutrients. Stop irrigation at the end of August and let the ferns die back and the roots go dormant. [link u=when-to-cut-back-asparagus] Cut the ferns[/link] off at ground level when they turn completely brown, and mulch the bed for

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