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| I want to start a lasagne garden, in March, or after the snow is gone. When can I start planting in it? Do I have to wait until Fall, or next spring?
Shirley! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| You can let it "cook" or plant it right away - both have been successful for me. Best wishes Dorothy M (Meadows) |
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| Thanks, Dorothy. One more question - Should I use potting soil/mix, or top soil as one of the layers? |
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| SJC, are you going to be smothering weeds or sod, or do you just want to build up a nice organic bed? If I'm smothering weeds, I use multiple layers of paper, such as cardboard, newspaper, brown paper shopping bags, etc. with organics such as wood chips or leaves on top. Smothering works best when you build the bed in the Spring, as the paper layer will be least penetrable and the weeds or sod most effectively die during their growth period. Then I usually wait to plant the bed until the fall. If you are using lasagne to build up a rich organic bed, you can supposedly plant in layers right away, but I usually don't. The layers will settle over time and the nutrients aren't available until the organic matter starts to decompose. If you plant right away I would create a planting hole in the layers that is deep enough to reach the soil below, and add some topsoil to the planting holes. And perhaps plant a little low (to compensate for settling). In any case, my lasagne beds have been extremely productive particularly after a year or two! |
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| I never use any kind of dirt in lasagna beds- no top soil or potting mix or anything of the kind. If I have some partially finished compost I might use it. You don't have to buy anything, including dirt. I use thick corrugated cardboard first, and pile on organic matter (grass clippings, fall leaves, coffee grounds, garden waste, whatever I have). The higher you build it, the better your soil will be. Some people build it a couple of feet high. It works great. For lots more information on lasagna, search the soil and compost forum. Karen |
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| Alrighty! I'm back, after an hour or so on the soil, compost forum-Thanks , Karen! Lots of good advice over there. Terrene, saw your snowed in home-way more snow than we've got! The area I want to turn into a lasagne garden is in between my house and the neighbor-narrow, only the ends of it get more than 2-3 hours of sun a day. I have used it as a depository for plants I no longer have room for, but don't want to pitch. The soil is rocky/gravelly and is brownish, kind of dry and gritty, not the rich dark color of my other gardens. Nothing grows very well in it. The area is as long as the house-haven't measured it yet, and I'm going to make it 2 feet wide. I need the extra space for all these plants I've WSed last year, and this. I'm going to start the layers in March-newspapers, cardboard, coffee grounds, egg shells, manure, etc., and cover it with clear plastic. Then in June, plant my WSed plants and then just keep adding layers-grass clippings, leaves, etc over the summer and fall. Does this sound like it would work? Terrene - in answer to your question, I think I am trying to do both-smother the weeds AND build up the soil organically. |
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| Skip the plastic. You are basically making compost in place. Compost is a living, breathing, blob of living organisms- beneficial bacteria and fungi. Plastic will kill those off and defeat the purpose of building it. Those organisms need air, not anerobic conditions. It is the beneficial organisms that make compost such great stuff! Those guys on the soil forum didn't tell you to use plastic, did they??? I'd be shocked! Karen |
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| Karen - I'm not sure if they said to use it or not. I read some discussion of using clear plastic as opposed to using the black. Most seemed to favor the clear, but they also mentioned what you said about killing off all the "good stuff". I read a lot of posts over there. I also read recently about using black plastic to "cook" the lasagne bed so you could plant in it sooner, which is why I wanted to use it. |
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| SJC, we got a ridiculous amount of snow in 6 weeks. If I wanted that much snow, I'd live in Canada or Buffalo or something. I'd say skip the plastic too. Plastic can be used for smothering or solarizing, but I found that plastic is generally a pain to work with, because it's not organic and you have to remove it. Also clear plastic breaks down in sunlight and if you leave it down too long (like a year or so - not that you would do such a dumb thing just because I did - haha), then you will have a zillion pieces. Paper is so much easier, even if you get stray pieces they eventually decompose and go away. Check out the FAQ on Interbay Mulch where people use burlap to cover the lasagne bed which encourages soil activity to a much deeper layer and allows water to penetrate. |
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| If you want to cover with something, I'd use something organic so it breathes. A heavy burlap works great, I've done it. Now I usually use old cotton bedsheets, if anything. Sometimes I cover them, sometimes not.
If you put down all that damp organic matter and cover with something that doesn't allow air exchange, it will become anerobic and might stink. Lasagna should breathe. Another important factor- dampen as you build the hump. Moisten every few inches of height. You want it damp, not wet. If it dries, composting stops. And it's really hard to moisten after the fact. Karen |
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| Good Morning All! Got caught up watching the T-Wolves beat Houston-didn't get back over here until around 1 am-but I did read the Interbay Mulch article before I went to bed. I've always thought of composting as a part of recycling, and it is, but this article gave me a new perspective-soil as a living, breathing entity. Won't be using the plastic-whatever color! One disadvantage, for me, won't be able to use the bed for 4-6 months, but I can figure a way around that. Karen-thanks for the pic! Anyone know of sources for burlap? Kitty litter (used?)and dryer lint as part of the layers? Were they serious? Off on a grocery run! Thanks for all the input! Shirley! |
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| OOhhhh, I think we have a dirt convert. Shirley, you might want to consider perusing the soil forum occasionally, and read threads whose titles interest you. There are lots of knowledgeable people there who have a lot of good information to share. Why can't you use the bed for 4 to 6 mos? Because of the time of year? My preference is really to let it sit that long, but you can plant in it any time, even the day you build it. I've always let it sit at least a few weeks, let it shrink some. You can buy a nice tightly woven burlap at fabric stores. Joanne's carries it, and you can get 40% off coupons (sign up at the website I think). But it gets really gross after even one use. If I were you I'd try to scrounge old cotton sheets, or not cover it all all. I have some sitting out there now (actually 5 areas in my yard) which have no cover. Another option is thick corrugated cardboard as a top cover, some people do that. I don't spend a dime on lasagna, everything is free. If you're going to spend $$$ on anything, I'd recommend some compost.If you have any homemade compost of your own, finished or not, it's a good addition. More germs! Your wintersown babies will love it. Karen |
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| Can I just state for the record: I loath, abhor and despise grocery shopping. Beyond that, and I am, Karen: I've never really thought about my soil-I've always had really rich, dark soil in my beds, never add to or amend it, just took it for granted, I guess. Maybe not anymore. I do intend to go to the soil forum and read more; when I get the lasagne garden going, I will probably be posting there too. I "browse" thro a lot of the forums, like the butterfly gardens, and the seed exchange and others. I just found a post today about growing trees in containers, which is what I am doing in my very small back yard. I have planted several and ordered more for butterfly host plants-the part I was concerned with was cutting the roots back when they get too big for the container. Would you believe this post was about just that?! It talked about potting up, which isn't a viable option for me, as opposed to re-potting-Voila! the solution!! I have read so many hints and good advice, here on Garden Web. The post about Interbay Mulch said you had to wait 4-6 months before planting in it. If I start in March, I could conceivably start planting in June or July-I can handle that. I already have a call out for newspapers, coffee grounds and eggshells-got some ideas for composted manure and hay too! Burlap will a challenge, do-able, but a challenge nonetheless! I like the idea of free, too! Hey, gotta go check out the NBA-GO MINNEY!!! GO JAZZ!!! GO CLIPS!!!
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