I’m sure you are aware how wonderful compost is for your garden. For some people, including myself, there is just not enough room in your yard to have enough compost piles to feed your whole garden. So why not just turn your whole garden into a compost pile?
“Lasagna gardening” or a “no till” garden does just that. You build up your garden with the same layers of browns and greens that you would in a compost pile and just leave it there. When done well, you can plant your garden right into these piles of compost with little further effort. You don’t need to till because the materials will compost and turn into a nice, soft bed for you to plant your garden in. You don’t need to fertilize because your garden is going to be built out of fertilizer. You don’t need to weed as much because the thick layers will block the weeds from growing where they would normally grow. You don’t need as much water because the organic composting materials hold much more water than standard garden soil and the water is there waiting for your plants to drink it up. The layers you add on to the garden may even prevent some of the diseases and pest you have had in the past from being able to return to your garden for another year.
I am going to give this type of garden a try this year. I am doing my fall clean up (a little late) right now, which means I am surrounded with excellent composting material to add the layers to my garden. My plan is to set this garden up like this for now and then come spring my garden work will be far less then normal. My garden will also be much healthier than it has been in previous years. Hopefully I am on the right track, but it makes so much sense to me that I don’t know how I could be on the wrong track.
I like the way you think. I also compost on the spot where I want to plant in the future.
This is my first try with it. Does it work well for you? I like to think that the simple easy way can work better than the complicated way.
What you are doing is good. Even if you have to till in the spring, the ground is going to be richer and softer. I have read about no-till gardening, but I’m always paranoid about grass popping back, so I always break out the spade and dig the grass out first. Then I start piling. Everything is easy after that. I do hope that you post more pics when you get ready to plant. I’d be very interested in how it turns out. If I were you, I’d still go get some cow manure and toss it on the top.
I will post more pics in the spring for sure and share how it goes throughout the growing season. I had dug out the grass before only because I had used this space as a garden the previous year. I chose to try the lasagna bed on top of the old garden because I have clay and the garden doesn’t do awesome. I would like to get some manure to put on top, I have just had difficulty getting some in the past. If I can, I will for sure.