I second that. I mulch my asparagus very deeply, to keep annual weed seeds from germinating, to keep the moisture stable, and to gradually rot down year by year and add organic matter and nutrients. The asparagus has no trouble shooting up through a thick mulch of leaves and chopped flower stems, etc. There's mint next to my asparagus bed, which is essentially a perennial weed that spreads by runners (although of course I planted it there) but I find it not too hard to pull away the mulch a couple times a season and pull up the mint runners that are heading toward the asparagus. I think the thick mulch also keeps the soil soft and the mint runners close to the surface, making it easier.

If you plant in raised beds your beds will shorten the life of the asparagus when the wood rots out.

If your native soil is workable to the proper depth there is no need for raised beds. As floral mention be sure to amend the soil well before planting the crowns.

I also mulch well with compost and shredded leaves in the fall. I love to rummage around the beds in early April to find the blanched white spears that haven't made it through the mulch yet. What a treat!

There is no reason at all that planting in raised bed and subsequently having the wood rot away will decrease the life expectancy of the asparagus!! What the result will be is just a mound of soil with no containment....a berm rather than a structured bed. No impact to the asparagus at all!

There are often very good reasons to garden in raised beds but if you do not need to and have the inground space available, I'd opt for inground planting as well.

There are often very good reasons to garden in raised beds

Like not having to bend over as far to harvest! My oldest gus beds are 18" deep which makes harvesting much easier on my old back.

Thank you all for commenting. I am going to go for in ground and deep mulch. I get free wood chips dropped two and three times a year so there is always some nice aged matter to pair with my compost. The hardest part for me I think is keeping this crazy weeds under control without killing my worms. I love my happy worms.

Should I snip off the fern like tops before planting?

Is the fern dead and brown/yellow? If so cut it off. If it's green leave it.

Get the weeds thoroughly removed before planting. Weeding won't affect the worms.

L Brogdon, are you implying that you spray the weeds with herbicide?