If you’ve been pursuing the hobby of gardening for a long period of time, then you’ve probably heard about some weird methods of creating and sustaining gardens. Well, here’s one you may not have heard of.
(Courtesy: Peter at flickr.com)
It’s called “Lasagna Gardening.” You can probably figure out the basis of the concept from its name. Simply put, it is layer gardening. What is so good about this method is that you don’t have to invest a lot of time and muscle and yet you can achieve a lush garden.
Items You’ll Need
To start off the Lasagna Gardening project, you need to gather up some things. Luckily, they are items that you may have on hand or you can purchase from a nearby gardening store. The items, called brown material, include:
- Peat Moss
- Straw
- Wood Chips
- Dry Leaves
- Shredded Office Paper
- Sawdust
- Newspaper
- Cardboard
- Compost
- Manure
- Untreated Grass Clippings
- Animal Bedding
- Yard Waste
- Vegetarian Kitchen Waste
- Coffee Ground
- Seaweed
- Blood Meal
Peat moss, straw, wood chips, dray leaves, shredded office paper, sawdust and newspaper are referred to as “brown material.”
Compost, manure, untreated grass clippings; animal bedding, yard waste, vegetarian kitchen waste, coffee grounds, seaweed and blood meal are dubbed “green material.
Establishing The Garden
Once you have gathered the items, you can start lasagna gardening. First, locate the area of your lawn where you want to place the garden. Next, lay newspaper or cardboard over the grass of the area. Thoroughly moisten the material using a garden hose. This will smother out the growing vegetation.
Alternate 5-inch layers of brown material with 3-inch layers of green material. Top the bed with 5-inches of garden soil.
You can create the layers at any time. However, fall is considered the best time. That’s because materials you need such as dry leaves are abundant. In addition, creating the bed in the fall permits the material to decompose and blend together.
Plant when spring arrives. There is no need to till before planting because the decomposed material has created a soft, pliable growing substance. Plant the seeds and water.
Once seedlings begin to appear spread a 6-inch layer of weed-free straw over the surface. The straw helps to conserve water and deters weed growth. Although it is true that weed-free straw does not have any weed seeds, it may have barley or wheat seeds. This becomes grasses. To prevent the grass from occurring, turn the straw over. This smothers the growing grass.
To make sure that the lasagna garden lasts in the long run, create a few more layers every fall. This ensures that the soil becomes richer over the years.
Lasagna gardening works well in a large, traditional garden. However, gardeners who use this method of gardening commonly make paths between raised beds. The bed can be raised mounds of soil or bordered with wood, rock or cinder block. Lay cardboard where you want the paths. Thoroughly moist and mulch with wood chips or gravel.
Keep in mind that if you use overhead sprinklers to water the garden, some of the water will run off the straw mulch. Instead, use a soaker hose placed underneath the straw. This assures that the water gets directly to the roots. The straw prevents evaporation.
(Source: gardeningchannel.com)
