Advice on 'lasagna' beds?

Advice on 'lasagna' raised beds?

Just like the title says, does anyone have any tips or advice on 'lasagna'-style raised beds? I'm in the process of clearing some ground to make a new, huge one, and I'm worried that I don't have enough 'green' compostable stuff.

Is green really necessary for raised composting bedding, or can I just muddle through with last year's leaves and some hay? I mean, I have a bit, but not quite enough to cover even half of the bed. Hence my worry - will it make it uneven in some way? Effect the nutrients in the soil? If so, is there a way that I can make up for it?

Thankyou in advance!

 

Oh, sure. They're a relatively recent thing, as I understand it... I've already made one and they're basically a kind of raised bed created with layers....

An Introduction to Lasagna Gardening | ThriftyFun

^ An introduction for lasagna beds.

 

Not being funny, but it sounds like a load of hippy nonsense to me.

If you make layers of different materials like that, it will either turn on with bacteria, thereby heating up & killing the plant roots that you've just put in, or it won't turn on and remain just like that, layers of stuff that will take ages for the worms to turn into something the plants can use

 

Am i reading this right?

You plant into fresh plant material or saw dust that has had no chance to decompose.
Sounds like a good way of robbing plants of nitrogen, as the material rots down.
A small about of nitrogen in bonemeal I believe.

Compost is mentioned at one point, is that potting compost or rotted garden compost?
Its a bit vague.

"Baking the beds" seems like a good idea, but if you do that at what point do you actually get to plant?
The following year maybe.

Sounds like a compost heap to me.:D

 

I have always assumed that lasagna beds are simply a way of making compost in situ. ie instead of putting all those things onto a compost heap, just put layers of the same stuff on the ground. If you alternate the layers between green and brown and get the balance right you can make good compost in situ and not even bother to mix it up because the worms will do that for you.

I think the idea of planting directly into a compost heap that hasn't yet started to turn into compost is a bit dubious - but presumably it could work. But you probably need to get the mix right.

However if you are just going to make a compost heap and wait some time before planting then it doesn't matter so much if the mix is not perfect.

 

Well, I've made a smaller one for my shade border and it worked perfectly fine for me. *shrugs* For composting in general, then - is green necessary, or does just 'brown' material work just as well?

Thankyou all for your advice so far...

 

I know of folk, who's gardening skills I respect, who swear by it for making a new bed (without digging). Not tried it myself.

 

Hi BastLoki

I believe everything that is organic will breakdown and compost eventually - even fallen trees. However it takes time. I think that by getting thin layers in the optimum mix, you minimise the time. If you are prepared to wait long enough then brown material by itself will happily break down.

I remember Beth Chatto being asked about turning a compost heap. She said she never bothered, she hadn't got time to waste turning compost heaps. She said it all composts eventually, if you don't turn a heap maybe it takes two years instead of one - but if you have got the space who cares.

 

Alright, thankyou very much. I might just have to 'cook' it for a little while if I can't scrape up enough green...

 

I dont think it matters if its green or brown, if its not rotted down when you plant, it will use nitrogen to rot, while the plants are growing.

Bit like a fancy version of a runner bean trench, but in that case you are growing beans, which are able to produce their own nitrogen.

I'm thinking the system will only work if the "compost" layers are much greater than the unrotted material.

 

I used to think that the green and brown was just about regulating moisture, green stuff being quite full of water, brown stuff less so.

But according to a very informative book I read about horticultural science, its not about that at all. Green stuff still has lots of nitrogen in it, which the bacteria need in order to do the rotting. Nitrogen is very rapidly lost both by being used by the bacteria and by escaping as it turns back into its gaseous form through natural chemical processes. That's why you need a mix of greens and browns.