Lasagna Gardening could be called lazy-man’s gardening or super-efficient gardening.
The benefits of this style of gardening is to enhance and continue good soil tilth, feed the soil, protect the soil from erosion and provide a low cost way of dealing with debris. This is a great way to build new beds or put beds to sleep for the winter.
Any fleshy green manure will work . For example, any veggie plants that are no longer producing. This picture demonstrates lasagna gardening at its best. Here are the layers:
1) Ground layer
2) Cut pieces 3”-8” long lay on top
3) Then apply a straw layer 2”-3” thick
4) Soil or compost 1” thick
5) Repeat step 2-4 one more time
6) Then apply coffee bean bags, weed fabric or straw to protect the soil.
7) Or plant winter crops right on it.
Notes:
- If applying winter crop sprinkle the seed as even as possible on top of soil and layer straw as the erosion control
- If planting starts plant right into the layers.
- DO NOT put blackberry cuttings or ivy in lasagna gardening.
- Zucchini will have a core piece of the stalk that you can just put into the compost bin
Voilà, you are lasagna gardening!
ENJOY!!!
IMPORTANT: If you are using this method on a bed with existing plants make sure you stay about 3” to 6” away from the base of the plant. This is to prevent the plant from being smothered.
