Planning out a planting bed, there’s a method you may not have heard of that could get things going super quickly and easily. That method is lasagne gardening and it can yield to results as exciting as the name is. Also known as sheet composting, it’s great way to start your plant bed without any digging necessary.
Lasagne Gardening Is Simple To Start
Just like the Italian dish that everyone loves, lasagne gardening is all about the layers. First, you have to start with a layer of recycled cardboard or newspaper. On top of that, you add brown and green yard and gardening waste like fall leaves and grass clippings. Over time, this will all become rich soil and in about 6 to 12 months, the lasagne garden will be ready for planting, at which point the final layer is added.
The best part about using this method is that lasagne gardening does not require any prep apart from clearing the garden plot itself of rocks and any other debris. That’s it! There’s no turning soil required, but of course, if you want to do it anyway, you absolutely can. It will only speed up the composting process, but is by no means necessary.
The best time to start this process is during the fall so you can take advantage of the winter cycles, especially the freeze and thaw cycles that help the layers break down. However, you can start sheet composting whenever you have the materials available.
Layering, Like A Lasagne, Is Key
While looking for where to start your lasagne garden, there are some factors you should take into consideration. It’s very important to have 8 hours of sunlight for veggies, while flowering plants need at least 6 hours of sunlight to thrive and survive.
When starting out the layers, the base layer is made of cardboard or newspaper.Make sure you pile on top of the weeds and grass so that no light will reach the vegetation and will stop its growth. Next soak the newspaper and allow the decomposition process to begin.
Next, top the newspaper with 2-inches of compost materials with carbon-rich brown materials like straw, sawdust, wood chips, or pine needles. The finer the material, the better, since it will be easily for it to decompose. Next, add another 2-inch layer but this time of green material.
After 6 12 Months, You’re Ready To Plant
The garden bed should now be between 18 inches and 3 feet tall. As everything decomposes, they will shrink in size a lot. You can close out the lasagne garden with bricks or stones.
Now comes the toughest part, waiting! It takes about a year for the microbes to work their way through the layers to turn the debris to nutrient-dense soil. Once that compost materials are not recognizable anymore, your garden is ready. Everything will look like blackish brown loose soil.
Now you can plan vegetables, flowers, and herbs!
