This was such a dry summer, the deer invaded my garden. They ate off all my asparagus, tops of my beets, and green beans. I had some really nice looking squash plants that they left alone, that is until the squash flowers bloomed. Then they ate those, just the flowers.

I'm most concerned about the asparagus. Will it come back next spring?

Yes, if it was a one time thing. What kills asparagus would be a continual removal of the tops. Think of the roots as batteries tops as solar panels. As long as the roots can recharge you're good, take away the recharge and the roots drain and die.

Question. In the North should dead tops be cut or left alone? Or does it make any difference?

Don't know. I've read removal of the tops is more for sanitation and removal of overwintering pathogens.

But the asparagus growing on the railroad bank in front of me seems to do just fine without that and about the same as the asparagus growing in my garden patch that does.

I cut/remove the dead tops (and do just a little general cleanup of the area) just after the snow melt, before they start anew.

It should be fine it gets cut all summer It should be good to go.

I started burning the dead tops off in the spring after snow melts. It has worked well for me so far no bug problems and i think the ash helps return some of the nutrients back to the plant . This may not work depending on where the asparagus is located but in my situation its all garden dirt and lawn around it so it pretty safe.

I started cleaning mine up in the fall after they go dormant. A few years ago, voles or mice, soome kind of vermin, tunneled into the crowns and ate a bunch of them. Turned a beautiful aspergrass patch into a mess. So to keep that from happening again, I cut down the old tops in late fall, but shake the seeds off before I burn them!

After they turn brown, but I usually just leave then until early spring...clean them out and dress up the beds with compost

I've never had the same problem Lee had with vermin. Maybe I'll cut mine this fall too...

I have always cut the tops off once they have dried late in fall.