My New Lasagna Garden Bed

Have I mentioned before that I garden in heavy clay? Maybe just a time or two? Through the years, I have added huge amounts of organic matter to the beds - cotton gin trash, hay, mulch, compost, corn trash, cattle manure - anything I could get my hands on. Plants have grown but the soil is still as hard as a rock. Now my plan has been updated to include raised beds and yet more organic matter.

The first area to be tackled is large and unstructured. Four years ago I planted this sloping area solid with mondo grass. What a mistake that was! After much digging, I now have a clean slate. Laying limestone blocks has broken the area into three distinct beds. My original plan was to purchase compost and topsoil and plant the area immediately. Since I need more time to decide what I want to plant, I've decided to try a little lasagna gardening!

Here is the area I'm dealing with. Picture this planted with solid mondo grass - it was every bit as ugly as you are imagining.

The first step is to lay wet newspaper (six layers thick) over the entire area. Not having enough newspaper, I grabbed my old phone books. Their small size made soaking them in water a bit easier. To wet newspaper, I fill a wheelbarrow with water and soak the papers in it.

The next layer was old hay.

Now came bags and bags of leaves.

And finally, top everything off with wood chips. It looks so nice that you have no idea what is going on underneath. According to those who have made lasagna garden beds, you just wait for a number of months while things begin to break down. When you've decided it's time to plant, just push the mulch to the sides, dig a hole and plop your plant right in. Not tilling, no digging, no sweating. Sounds easy, doesn't it? God grant me patience . . . .