FYI...I googled "Asparagus Bed" and "Asparagus Bed Prep" and got tons of good info. The "Image" link showed me pictures of other people's beds etc.

There are lots of sites that repeat the need for 3 foot spacing between rows. I just planted some asparagus, for the first time, based on a 1 foot spacing in each direction, as discussed by several reputable-sounding UK gardening sites. I think there was a recent thread here on gardenweb on this very topic.

Thanks guys - I did do a search and I have gone to a lot of the links, but I'm still confused.

Do I really have to leave 5 feet of space on either side of the plants for the roots? I'm on an urban lot and space is a premium for me.

Is it better to plant in one long row - can I do a double row? I was going to plant 5 plants in a row, then another 5 plants next to those, about a foot and a half apart. It seems that you "hill" the plants, almost like potatoes. Do I rake the soil right over the green as it grows until the trench is filled or do I just pull a little in from the sides leaving some green sticking out the top?

I guess I should have looked into things more before I ordered the plants!

Lisa

Lisa -
Probably shouldn't post this as it surely is not definitive but it is what I did last year.
I was working out of town and had maybe 30 crowns come in 2 weeks before I got home.
Just playing with beds, my son, and 1 yr old crowns. We built a 4 ft by 4 ft box out of 2x6s not knowing if the crowns had dried out too much or not but we were spending time together.
I can not swear to it but I think that we actually planted 8 crowns in this box. Basically ran the tiller over the area, set the box, dug out for the crowns and covered them up with a mix of bagged composted cow manure, topsoil and potting mix. They popped up pencil size and grew to 4-5 foot ferns last year.
This year most of the spears are dime size diameter, popping up nicely and we decided to just let them grow again this year ... but also to build more ;)
Can't rightly say what will happen in the future but it seems to be going well thus far.

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I have have been growing asparagus since 1974. The best site and advice I have found is at the Ohio State University web site. Their advice sometimes goes against the conventional wisdom but I have found it to be right on the mark and I recommend the site highly. Should be picking my first spears of the year in a couple of weeks from a 25 year old bed.

sconticut, I do believe that this is the site/info that lead me to the 2x6 bed ...
"Dig a furrow no deeper than 5 to 6 inches. Research has shown that the deeper asparagus crowns are planted, the more the total yield is reduced."
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1603.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Ohio State 'Gus info

Mine came in the mail today. The directions say to plant 12-18 inches apart. I'm putting 10 into a 4'x 4' raised bed. Ok, 9 would work better, but they don't sell 9...

Here is a link that might be useful: Tales of a Transplanted Gardener

well with 10 crowns in a 4X4 bed... after a few years you should have to make that a 6X6 bed,,,and so on and so on, should prove to be high per sq ft production.