Making a Lasagna Garden

Lasagna gardening is a no-dig, no-till organic gardening technique that produces rich, fluffy soil with minimal effort on the part of the planter.

The term “lasagna gardening” has nothing to do with the vegetables you’ll be cultivating in your garden. Instead, it refers to the process of construction: layering organic components that will “cook down” over time, producing nutrient-rich soil that will help your plants grow. Lasagna gardening, also known as sheet composting, is good for the environment since you’re converting yard trash, food scraps, and anything else you’d put in a regular compost pile into organic fertiliser to produce new plants.

The Benefits of Lasagna Gardening
Although you may care for a lasagna garden in the same manner you would any other garden, you will likely find that it is less labor-intensive. You may anticipate:

Weeds are suppressed from below by the newspaper or cardboard, while the soil is covered from above by the mulch.
Compost retains water more efficiently than conventional garden soil, resulting in better water retention (especially if your soil is sandy or deficient in organic matter).

Because of the nutrient-rich compost, there is less need for fertiliser.
Soil that is loose and simple to deal with.

When Should You Make a Lasagna Garden?

A lasagna garden may be made at any time of year. However, many gardeners prefer autumn because of the abundance of organic materials available—fallen leaves, garden debris, and so on. The lasagna garden may sit and decompose all winter. 1 It should be ready to plant by spring. Furthermore, autumn rain and winter snow will keep the materials in your lasagna garden wet, allowing them to decompose quicker.

If you build a lasagna garden in the spring or summer, try adding extra soil-like additives to the bed, such as peat or topsoil, so you can plant right away. If you build the bed in the spring, layer as many greens and browns as you can, alternated with layers of completed compost, peat, or topsoil. Finish the whole bed with 3 to 4 inches of finished compost or topsoil before planting. As the layers underneath degrade, the bed will sink over time.

How to Make a Lasagna Garden?

Every year, replenish your lasagna garden by adding new dark and green layers. The fall season is ideal for this since there are lots of dead leaves and green plant components available. If you need extra yard and garden debris, ask your neighbours.
Use a heavy item, such as wood chips, as the top “brown” layer of your garden bed to prevent lighter elements, such as dead leaves, from drifting away.

Avoid utilising organic waste that contains weed seeds. These weeds will most likely emerge in your garden unless the material “cooks” at a high enough temperature.

Add no plant material that has been plagued with pests or illnesses, since these might spread in your new garden.
In your lasagna layers, only use old herbivore animal excrement. Pathogens may be disseminated through carnivore manure.
In your lasagna garden, do not compost any meat, oil, or dairy.