No tilling? No digging?
It must be a lasagna garden!
Lasagna gardening is a no-digging, no-tilling organic gardening method that results in rich soil with very little work on the part of the gardener. No, your garden will not be producing noodles with cheese and sauce. “Lasagna” – in this instance – refers to the method of building the garden, which is adding layers of organic material, which will “cook down” over time resulting in great soil which will help your plants thrive. Lasagna gardening – also called “sheet composting” – is great for the environment because you’re using your yard and kitchen waste and essentially composting it in place to make a new garden – or even improve an old one.
One of the best things about this style of gardening is how easy it is. You don’t have to remove anything – even the weeds. You don’t have to dig. In fact, you don’t have to work the soil at all. The first layer you put down is either corrugated cardboard or three layers of newspaper, laid directly on top of the grass or weeds in the area you’ve selected for your garden. Wet this layer down to keep everything in place and start the decomposition process. The grass and weeds will break down fairly quickly because they will be smothered by this first layer as well as the other materials you’re going to layer on top of them. This layer also provides a dark, moist area to attract earthworms that will loosen up the soil as they tunnel through.
Anything you can compost, you can use in a lasagna garden. Everything you put in breaks down, providing super rich soil in which to plant. All of these are perfect for lasagna gardening: grass clippings, leaves, fruit and veggie trimmings, coffee grounds, egg shells (crushed, of course), banana peels, tea leaves and tea bags, weeds (if they haven’t gone to seed), manure, compost, seaweed (there’s an excuse to take a trip to the coast!), shredded newspaper or junk mail, pine needles, spent blooms, garden trimmings and peat moss.
The method you use to build your lasagna garden is somewhat important. You’ll want to layer your “brown” ingredients (fall leaves, shredded newspaper, pine needles, etc.) about twice as deep as your “green” layers (veggie scraps, garden trimmings, grass clippings, etc.). Really, though, you needn’t be fussy about it; no matter how you do it, as long as you’re layering your “browns” and your “greens”, you’ll get lasagna. What you’re looking for – at the end of the process – is a two-foot tall layered bed. You’ll be amazed at how much – and how quickly – this will shrink down in a short period of time.
The real beauty of lasagna gardening is that you can do it anytime of the year. Obviously, if you’ve got a foot of snow in the yard, building a lasagna garden may present a bit of a challenge. Fall is an optimum time for most people because of the amount of organic materials you can get for free thanks to fallen leaves and yard clean up in preparation for winter. Then you can build and let your lasagna garden “cook” all winter. By the time spring gets around to rolling in, you will be ready to plant with very little effort.
You can still build a lasagna garden in the spring or summer; you will need to add more soil-like amendments to the area, such as peat moss, topsoil, composted manure or dirt, so that you can plant right away. If you make your bed in the spring, layer as many greens and browns as you can, with layers of finished compost or topsoil in between. Finish off the entire bed with three or four inches of finished compost or topsoil and plant. The bed will settle over the season as the layers underneath decompose.
When it’s time to plant, just dig down into the bed as you would any other garden. If you used newspaper as your first layer, the shovel will likely go right through. If you used cardboard, you might have to work a little harder and cut a hole wherever you want to plant something.
To take care of this garden, add mulch to the top of the bed in the form of straw, grass clipping, bark or chopped leaves. Once it’s established, care for your lasagna garden just as you would any other; weed it and water it and grown some killer tomatoes in it!
Benefits of a lasagna garden:
Fewer weeds
Better water retention
Less need for fertilizer
Fabulous soil – crumbly, loose, fluffy and rich
Lasagna gardening is fun and easy, good for the planet and allows you to make new gardens more quickly and easily than the old fashioned methods – with a lot less wear and tear on the body. Now – to find ALL THOSE PLANTS to fill up your new garden space!
Gardening Jobs For June
It must be a lasagna garden!
Lasagna gardening is a no-digging, no-tilling organic gardening method that results in rich soil with very little work on the part of the gardener. No, your garden will not be producing noodles with cheese and sauce. “Lasagna” – in this instance – refers to the method of building the garden, which is adding layers of organic material, which will “cook down” over time resulting in great soil which will help your plants thrive. Lasagna gardening – also called “sheet composting” – is great for the environment because you’re using your yard and kitchen waste and essentially composting it in place to make a new garden – or even improve an old one.
One of the best things about this style of gardening is how easy it is. You don’t have to remove anything – even the weeds. You don’t have to dig. In fact, you don’t have to work the soil at all. The first layer you put down is either corrugated cardboard or three layers of newspaper, laid directly on top of the grass or weeds in the area you’ve selected for your garden. Wet this layer down to keep everything in place and start the decomposition process. The grass and weeds will break down fairly quickly because they will be smothered by this first layer as well as the other materials you’re going to layer on top of them. This layer also provides a dark, moist area to attract earthworms that will loosen up the soil as they tunnel through.
Anything you can compost, you can use in a lasagna garden. Everything you put in breaks down, providing super rich soil in which to plant. All of these are perfect for lasagna gardening: grass clippings, leaves, fruit and veggie trimmings, coffee grounds, egg shells (crushed, of course), banana peels, tea leaves and tea bags, weeds (if they haven’t gone to seed), manure, compost, seaweed (there’s an excuse to take a trip to the coast!), shredded newspaper or junk mail, pine needles, spent blooms, garden trimmings and peat moss.
The method you use to build your lasagna garden is somewhat important. You’ll want to layer your “brown” ingredients (fall leaves, shredded newspaper, pine needles, etc.) about twice as deep as your “green” layers (veggie scraps, garden trimmings, grass clippings, etc.). Really, though, you needn’t be fussy about it; no matter how you do it, as long as you’re layering your “browns” and your “greens”, you’ll get lasagna. What you’re looking for – at the end of the process – is a two-foot tall layered bed. You’ll be amazed at how much – and how quickly – this will shrink down in a short period of time.
The real beauty of lasagna gardening is that you can do it anytime of the year. Obviously, if you’ve got a foot of snow in the yard, building a lasagna garden may present a bit of a challenge. Fall is an optimum time for most people because of the amount of organic materials you can get for free thanks to fallen leaves and yard clean up in preparation for winter. Then you can build and let your lasagna garden “cook” all winter. By the time spring gets around to rolling in, you will be ready to plant with very little effort.
You can still build a lasagna garden in the spring or summer; you will need to add more soil-like amendments to the area, such as peat moss, topsoil, composted manure or dirt, so that you can plant right away. If you make your bed in the spring, layer as many greens and browns as you can, with layers of finished compost or topsoil in between. Finish off the entire bed with three or four inches of finished compost or topsoil and plant. The bed will settle over the season as the layers underneath decompose.
When it’s time to plant, just dig down into the bed as you would any other garden. If you used newspaper as your first layer, the shovel will likely go right through. If you used cardboard, you might have to work a little harder and cut a hole wherever you want to plant something.
To take care of this garden, add mulch to the top of the bed in the form of straw, grass clipping, bark or chopped leaves. Once it’s established, care for your lasagna garden just as you would any other; weed it and water it and grown some killer tomatoes in it!
Benefits of a lasagna garden:
Fewer weeds
Better water retention
Less need for fertilizer
Fabulous soil – crumbly, loose, fluffy and rich
Lasagna gardening is fun and easy, good for the planet and allows you to make new gardens more quickly and easily than the old fashioned methods – with a lot less wear and tear on the body. Now – to find ALL THOSE PLANTS to fill up your new garden space!
Gardening Jobs For June
Thin fruit trees by leaving 1 fruit approximately every 6 to 12 inches along the branches or 1 fruit per cluster. The higher the leaf-to-fruit ratio, the sweeter the fruit. A standard apple tree should have about 40 leaves for each fruit. Dwarf apples, which usually produce a ration of 1 fruit to about 25 leaves, will yield better-quality fruit when thinned.
Stop cutting your asparagus when the yield decreases and the spears diminish in size. Top-dress the bed with compost or well-rotted manure.
Stake tomatoes or build cages around them.
Plant beets and carrots for a late fall crop.
As the days grow warmer, watch your lettuces for plants that begin to bolt and toss it on your compost pile (or into your lasagna garden). Plant another crop of beans in its place.
Thin crowded plantings of lettuce, carrots, beets and herbs. Give them a good watering when the job is complete to help the roots of the remaining plants get over any trauma your thinning may have caused.
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