Lasagna Gardening/ method.

[KMARKSnr]

Hi all,
Last season i tried this method again,with good results.Quite a few readers said that they too would try this method.
My question,- did you try it ? and how were your results ?

Regards,
Mark.

[Angi]

I tried it on my second plot, six or so sheets of newspaper, layers of leafmould, kitchen waste, compost, pig poo and grass clippings, all in raised beds. Everything grew really really well - all my gross feeders were, well, grossly fed! My only grumble would be that, although this method claims to block out weeds, I still had a fair bit of weeding to do, albeit easier weeding. My beds now look lovely, they just need a top up and they'll be ready to go.

[Sr Clare Julian]

Good afternoon, Mark. As you may remember, I was advised to plant through manure and straw when my tunnel was put up on a very neglected field. ie no-dig. I read up on it and adapted the idea; cardboard and newspaper and leaves etc. That was two years ago. The first year was great; but then some spoiled sileage I was given seeded an interesting array of weeds. But under this real soil is there, rich and crumbly. So this year I am starting over. Half the beds in the tunnel have been under black plastic ( the thick sileage cover I am still using); half mulched with cardboard and newspaper; and now I have a source of horse manure on wood chippings and will start going for spent mushroom compost again soon. My greatest success last year was an outside bed I made, just with thick layers of newspaper on field that had been under black plastic all winter, I topped this with spent mushroom compost and the peas and broad beans did exceptionally well; cabbages also, once I fenced it to keep the badgers off. I will use that small patch again; one of the beauties of this is that because you are renewing the growing medium each year, rotation is not an issue. Certainly ease of growing and yield are great with this, especially on very neglected ground like mine. Digging is too much and simply arouses generations of weed seeds. My best crop was again the potatoes grown simply under black plastic.. So now we start again, layer by layer.....And yes, weeds come up much more easily; I have now conquered the nettle infestation in the tunnel.