Lasagna Gardening
By verna4321
@verna4321 (14)
United States
3 responses
@verna4321 (14)
• United States
20 Jan 07
it is basically buildling a garden bed in layers. You start with a layer of newspaper then add to that with a layer of green, ie., grass clippings, then a layer of brown, ie., leaves, a layer of top soil, etc., and keep building. As the materials decompose, it turns into a rich nutrisious soil for your plants. You keep building until you reach a suitable planting depth for they type of plants you desire.
2 people like this
@verna4321 (14)
• United States
20 Jan 07
You can plant right away. That's what I thought, the first time, thought if the material is decomposing, so will my plants, but they loved it. Did great.
2 people like this
@dodoguy (1292)
• Australia
21 Jan 07
Well that sounds very practical and convenient.
The "Lasagna" label is innovative and very descriptive - I've heard and seen many descriptions of this gardening technique before, but that doesn't detract from it's utility. One common name for this approach in Australia is the "No Dig" garden - you build the soil up rather than dig down into it, creating your OWN soil, as you rightly explain.
A relevant question that I have, for anyone who cares to offer their experience, is what sort of materials can be used to CONTAIN this sort of garden? I have an inbuilt aversion to using wood for garden borders - like railway sleepers or whatever - simply because anything like that is a magnet for termites, and they are the one thing that there seems to be no reliable cure for once they get established.
There are companies in Australia selling recycled plastic structures for garden retainers and similar applications, but they are excessively expensive in my opinion. Not that they aren't WORTH the investment, because they allegedly last forever, are robust, don't rot, and are termite-proof. But there's STILL an economic threshold involved in just how much one is willing to invest in establishing a vegetable garden.
The only other material that I'm aware of that will satisfy my preferences is concrete - and there are now prefabricated concrete retainers for landscaping and gardening use available in Australia - far more cost-effective than the recycled plastic, incidentally.
BUT I'm still curious and open to any suggestions that others may have from their own experiences in this regard.
1 person likes this
@verna4321 (14)
• United States
30 Jan 07
Yes, this method is the same as "No Dig", which makes my back happy. I discovered this method when I lived in an area that was solid rock, which made it impossible to dig down. I agree with you re: using wood products as edging/border material. The recycled plastic material I was floored to see how expensive. I have used anything I could find, I had access to LOTS of rock so I used that, old wash tubs I came across worked well, lots of holes drilled in the bottom of course, bricks/cinder blocks, anything can work. I even had a bed that had no border at all.
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
30 Jan 07
This is fascinating verna! I have written your description down. What a great thing to do in container on the back porch. I would love to grow some lettuce like this (I have salad almost every meal!). What a great thing to let children help with also! I will be at garage sales looking for suitable containers as soon as the weather warms! Thanks for this great post!
