Moving asparagus plants

Plodding round the patch this morning (looking for something else!) I came across what was once an asparagus bed - a couple of dozen spears nicely showing! I was a bit late, in fact, and some had gone rather woody, so I made a soup with them which was utterly delicious.

I can't leave them where they are because a septic tank will be sited there, and I don't want to lose the variety because of the lovely flavour.

Has anyone ever moved an asparagus bed? Do the plants tolerate it? Is it possible to split the crowns to get more plants and maybe reinvigorate them?? (These are in what seem to be terrible conditions - the soil's poor, it's unimproved heavy clay, and though they get sun, they haven't had water. So giving them a better chance might give me faster-growing, and therefore more tender shoots, perhaps?)

If they set seed, how likely is it that they'll come true? I could buy new crowns, but they're very expensive here, and anyway - as I said - I like the variety I've got.

Can anybody help??? :confused:

 

Seems like you can if you read the info in the links below.
I was curious as I'm about to replant an asparagus bed, so I did a bit of "Googling". Last time I dug one out it was about 10 years old and the root system was massive!
We just today harvested the first (and last) from our exisiting bed and now I'll have to get trenching ready for the new plants which should arrive later this month.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/1983-09-01/Transplanting-Asparagus.aspx


http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/edible/msg0521355812899.html?3

 

Looks like just what I needed to know, Dave! Great stuff!!

Digging's gonna be tough in our clay, but I reckon it could be worth it - even if I have to plant a new bed as well...