Lasagna Garden

If you're looking to create a new planting bed, lasagna gardening (also known as leaf composting) is an easy way to get started—no digging required. Named after the beloved Italian pasta dish, the technique involves adding layers in the correct order. It starts with newspaper or cardboard, when you get brown and green yard and garden waste like grass clippings and shredded leaves. Microorganisms become fertile soil over time. Your lasagna garden will be ready for planting 6 to 12 months after the last layer is added.

How to Start a Lasagna Garden

While making lasagna requires a fair amount of preparation and cleanup, lasagna gardening is the opposite. No preparatory work is required, except for clearing the garden, which quickly removes rocks and debris. You don't have to worry about tilling or turning the soil. (Turning the soil with a shovel to speed up the composting process for a couple of months is welcome, but not required.)

When choosing a location for your lasagna garden, consider the amount of sunlight that reaches the plot and what you want to grow in the bed. Vegetables and herbs grow best in 8 hours of direct sunlight per day. Flowering plants thrive in bright sunlight, at least 6 hours a day.

When to Make a Lasagna Garden

Fall is the best time to start your lasagna garden, as you can use frost and freeze cycles to help break up the layers. Additionally, rain or snow during colder months can help keep layers moist, which encourages them to break down more quickly. However, you can start making sheet compost any time you have the materials.

Add layers of organic matter

Lasagna gardens are all about the layers. Newspaper or cardboard forms the base to cover existing grass and prevent weeds (4 to 6 layers of newspaper or cardboard). Newspaper or cardboard will stop its growth and block light from reaching the plants below. Soak the paper layer thoroughly to start the decomposition and help it stay put.

Just as quality ingredients affect the finished taste of your favorite food, the best compost ingredients create the most nutrient-rich garden soil. Top the paper or cardboard base with a 2-inch layer of carbon-rich "brown" material such as chopped leaves, straw, sawdust, wood ash, wood chips and pine needles. If the material is cut too small or too much, it will deteriorate quickly.

Add a 2-inch layer of "green" on top of the brown. Components of this layer are grass clippings, kitchen scraps from fruits and vegetables, well-rotted horse or cow manure, coffee grounds, and garden trimmings. The point is that the material has moisture in it, rather than being dry and mushy like the brown stuff.

Make your new bed 18 inches to 3 feet high by layering 2 inches of green layers on top of 2 inches of brown layers. As the material decomposes, it shrinks little by little. For a finished edge, ring your lasagna garden with stones or bricks. If you want to create a raised bed in the space, add sturdy boards around your shelves.

How long does a lasagna garden take?

It can take up to a year for microbes and earthworms to work their way through layers of lasagna to turn organic debris into nutrient-rich soil. The exact time depends on many factors, including the amount of composted waste, temperature and humidity. But the good news is, all you have to do is sit back and wait.

A lasagna garden is ready to be planted when compostable materials are unrecognizable. Leaves, grass clippings, and elements all look like loose black-brown soil, ready for your raking. Now you can plant vegetables, herbs and flowers to your heart's content.