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Winterizing Asparagus: Cut or Leave Ferns?

Either approach works. Ferns feed roots for next year's spears. Option: cut after frost, then mulch 2″ composted manure/compost + 4″ alfalfa hay or straw. In spring, spears push through mulch. At season's end, pull back mulch, add more manure, recover. This protects, feeds, and suppresses weeds.

— The Long Island Gardener

Organic Gardens: Identifying and Managing Stinkhorn Mushrooms in Mulch; Mulching Roses: Benefits and Common Myths; Warm Winter in Massachusetts: Don't Unmulch Too Early; Winterizing Mini Bog Garden in Zone 6: Mulch Tub Method; Repotting Asparagus Fern: What to Do With the Tubers; Winterizing Asparagus in Pittsburgh; First-Year Asparagus: To Cut or Not to Cut Ferns?; Growing Asparagus from Seed: Fern Management and Transplanting; Winter Care for Asparagus in Central Oregon; Growing Asparagus from Seed: Those Red Berries Are Your Future Crop

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