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Lazagna Gardening

Has anyone read the book Lazagna Gardening? I picked one up at Cracker Barrel and read it last summer and it stimulated my interest about ways to recycle and create good soil by attracting earthworms. So I tried a 12'x16' space this spring. I layered news paper, grass clippings, leaves, compost, and soil. Kind of like a compost pile but inside a raised bed. I let this over winter. This spring I single dug where I wanted my rows to mix the soil and the layers. I also wanted to check out the earthworms. Every fork full was loaded with crawlers doing the tilling for me. In April I began planting and adding more grass clippings. The results have been amazing. Now I spend very little time weeding. The soil stays moist. The worms break down the yard waste into fertilizer and I just watch things grow wild. I am getting much bigger tomatoes then last year and I am getting rid of most of my yard waste. It has been a great suburban gardening method without extra time. Instead of weeding you just recycle the clippings and leaves as mulch. However I would not use pine needle, Magnolia, or Holly. But I would not put them in my compost pile either.

Tags: Composting, Gardening, vermicomposting

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Comment by Terri L Johanson on November 20, 2010 at 10:13am: This sounds like a great idea. I have 3 large raised beds. I have had the squirrel problems as well. I go out and they laugh at me as they grab my squash blossoms. You have nice photos and great ideas! Welcome to G I!

Comment by David Featherhawk on July 18, 2010 at 6:43am: Good Morning, I too am an avid "Earth-wormer" I have the little slitherers doing lots of work for me also. I have used black plastic sheeting to great effect over top of the stuff you mentioned. I use this mostly in the spring to give them a jump start. I leave 6" spaces between 3-4' squares of it. I end up with mini-snakes! lol! I then pluck them to spread elsewhere as needed.

Comment by Howard L Roberson on July 3, 2010 at 9:25am: I have some burmuda grass also. I use it but from time to time I pull out a little from my beds. Not much though. I mulch instead of till. Let the worms till as much as possible. In the spring I do work up the row where I plant into finer so for planting. We have heavy clay soil so I dig up the row to plant.

Comment by Jenny McCleary on July 3, 2010 at 12:30am: Howard - pretty cool. I have a Cracker Barrel down the street from my house. May have to check into that book. Question though: is it alright to put fresh cut grass clippings or do they need to dry out first. We have bermuda grass and I am always afraid that the grass will begin growing in the bed. If you know bermuda, it will just about grow anywhere.

Comment by Howard L Roberson on May 15, 2010 at 5:44pm: It is May and all my seeds are planted. As I mow my grass I mulch the garden with grass to keep the weeds from growing and keep the soil moist and cool.
In the spring I removed the excess leaves that had covered the garden in the winter so the sun could warm the soil. That helps the seeds germinate earlier. I put the leaves in my composter to layer with grass to get the composter warming up and working.

Comment by Howard L Roberson on November 25, 2009 at 8:22am: Winter is not a dormant time in the garden. It is time to replenish the nutrients that were lost from the last years growing plants. By adding a new layer of leaves and organic material from your compost pile the worms will spend the winter months below eating and tilling the garden bed. As it gets colder they move deeper but they
keep feeding and converting leaves to rich organic soil.

Comment by Howard L Roberson on July 30, 2009 at 7:19pm: Composting the manure helps eliminate weed seeds but so does layers of mulch keep them from sprouting. I have had to pull about a dozen weeds this summer and I never hoe because there is not exposed dirt.

Comment by Howard L Roberson on July 30, 2009 at 7:16pm: If your plants show signs of nitrogen deficency a little 10-10-10 side dressed would solve the problem. But a little 10-10-10 helps the compost pile too.

Comment by leeann suso z5b pa on July 30, 2009 at 6:08pm: I've read about this method, but I've also read conflicting information about organic matter decomposing and robbing your plants of the nitrogen they need.

Comment by Barbara Fletcher Z-8 on July 30, 2009 at 2:13pm: thanks again for the information...do you get a lot of weeds from the horse manure as I have access to some of that..or does the layering take care of that?