Asparagus

[Weed]

Last year I put in two row of asparagus plants on prepared ground and had, for all my effort, a very limited growth that year.
This year nothing, tell a lie, one shoot appeared and I resigned myself to the fact that I had theoretically lost the lot

During the last few weeks most of the plants I put in have decided to grow at long last albeit an odd shoot or two from each plant

The question is, what do I do now?

I almost dug the area over a couple of months ago and planted something else in their place

[Jenny Green]

I would leave them. They've obviously struggled to get going (could be a bit waterlogged from all that rain we had). But they're still alive. In my experience asparagus goes from strength to strength once it's established (and grows taller than you if you're only 5' 2").
Unless you're desperate for the ground, why not give it another year to prove itself?

[GIULIA]

What I would do now is carefully dig a small inspection hole or two to see what's happening below.. if you find plump white roots, all is well. It was a funny year for asparagus - we have two varieties on our plot, one burgeoned the other sulked. It's temperamental stuff.

[Weed]

Thanks for the comments,,,

When the shoots have finished shooting and died back would it be a sensible thing to top dress the plants with some form of compost prior to winter or leave until spring?

Alternatively should I leave things well alone?

[Jenny Green]

I think if they're struggling I would leave them alone. You don't want to give them extra soil to push through. I doubt it's lack of nutrients that's the problem.