Asparagus scandens

What is Climbing Asparagus?

Climbing asparagus is a weed mostly encountered in native bush, stands of trees, shaded gardens or waste ground. It’s very shade-tolerant and hardy in a wide range of climates. It’s sometimes incorrectly referred to as Asparagus Fern (Asparagus plumosa is the actual Asparagus Fern).

Because it grows from tubers, it resprouts quickly and easily. It forms small white flowers in spring, followed by berries that contain seeds. It will spread enthusiastically by seed (often dropped by birds after eating the berries) or from tuber fragments in dumped green waste.

The challenge with climbing asparagus is that it’s a smotherer. It spreads thickly across the ground, but as soon as it finds something to climb it pushes long wiry stems upwards, often strangling its host. This prevents other plants from getting started, which has a disastrous long-term effect on native bush ecosystems. 

How to Protect Your Garden and Trees

You can control climbing asparagus by spraying with Yates Zero Tough, or Yates Zero Super Concentrate. If the stems have scrambled up high into a tree or shrub, cut all the stems off about 50cm from the ground and spray the remaining lower section. You can leave the top parts of stems where they are, they’ll die and break down naturally.

Tubers will often resprout after spraying, so you may need multiple treatments to get on top of them. To get rid of the tubers, they need to be dug out and burned; make sure they don’t get disposed of in green waste bins.

Plants impacted

  • Shaded gardens
  • Native bush
  • Scrubland or regenerating bush

Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons


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