Putting the Lasagna Garden to Bed in Fall

Putting the Lasagna Garden to Bed in Fall

Yes, I just bury all old plant material--tomato blight, powdery mildew and ALL!!!!

You need to bring in at least 12" of new mulch and bury everything.  Think about fungi a bit and their life cycle.  Drying and UV light kill spores.  Moist and dark is good storage for fungi spores.  Till them into the ground this fall, for good storage and till them up in the spring for good inoculation--if you want that same fungi disease again!!!

Bury those MILLIONS of spores under 12 inches of mulch never to see the light of day again and in a rich microbial and bug world--they are more likely to get eaten and out competed in the mulch.  Plus, they will not be brought to the surface in the spring.

Read my Tomato Blight Prevention handout for more on Tomato Blight prevention and my ideas.

Yes, my fall clean up is that easy.  Knock it down and bury it all.  In the spring, it will be mostly moist.  Maybe water a few times and you are ready to plant into a weed free garden for the entire growing season.

Indian Summer Tomatoes

If your tomato plants did not get killed by the first few frost, you probably have some green and blushing tomatoes out in the garden.

Before the next hard frost, I pick the blushing tomatoes and green tomatoes with decent size.  Then I put them in cardboard boxes, one layer deep.  Put the boxes in the basement, or some not hot place.  Close the tops or put a few sheets of newspaper on top of the tomatoes.  They do not need light to ripen.  They need their own gas to help them ripen.

Check them every few days. They will ripen over the next month.  They will not taste as good as summer tomatoes--But they will taste better than store tomatoes--and you already have them for free.

Fresh eating, they are ok.  For cooking--they are great!!!

Smother layer over grass--prep for permanent bed

Kris asks:

I heard the show today and the concept for the second time, so am really ready to go!  I did a version of this with my ongoing compost in a tiny raised bed last year and my tomatoes reseeded themselves and are also 7 feet high.  Amazing.

My question, next year, we are planting a privacy break in the corner of a small lot.  If I do the lasagne technique in preparation, can it go right over the existing grass?  I assume so, but just wanted to know. 

Thanks for your work.

Kris,

I agree, it is amazing and great fun to have such healthy plants!!!--with little work.

Yes, lasagna gardens can always go right over the existing vegetation.  That is the purpose of the smother layer, to kill what is below it.

I love to do a lasagna garden as prep for a perennial bed.  It kills all the weeds and enriches the soil.  After a few months of the growing season, when all plants below are dead, you can start to plant perennials and shrubs right into the ground.

With this technique, the lasagna mulch does not have to be as deep.  You can do a smother layer and 6" of wood mulch and after a few months start to plant down into the soil.

Good luck,

Roger

Mulching containers and using wet wood pellets

Dana asks:

What are your thoughts about wood pellets that got wet and are now sawdust, to mulch containers?

I only do container gardening and don't even know if they need to be mulched...I just got some twice crushed wood mulch from a local foundry...so it makes me think wet wood pellets would work also. What do you think?

Loved the Larry Meillor show today..thanks Dana

Dana,

You hit one of my favorite points.  Yes, I believe containers should be mulched!!!  Two big challenges with contains:  watering and high soil temps!

Mulch retains moisture and evens soil temps. 

I have a handout here about mulching.  The smaller the particles of mulch, the deeper the mulch needs to be, to slow the wicking process. 

Yes, sawdust and wood pellets that got wet, will work fine for mulching containers, just needs to be deep enough.   If  it is only 1 to 2" deep it could actually make drying happen faster, as it can work like a wick, then.

You could put the wet pellets down and then 1/2 to inch of shredded mulch on top, that is more course. 

Good thinking to reuse something that got "broken" for the intended purpose.

Happy Gardening,

Roger

Shredded paper in the lasagna garden

Caryl asks:

I really was inspired with your ideas on the Larry Meillor show this morning.  I have a question about shredded paper.  I have a good source for bags and bags of this stuff and I'm wondering what your opinion is for using this as a layer in the lasagne garden.

Caryl,

Shredded paper is a fine ingredient in a lasagna garden.  It comes from trees and would be a carbon ingredient.  It should not be the main ingredient.

Concerns:  glossy paper and print is not recommend.  Staples are fine, they will rust away.  Plastic windows from envelopes could be a mess.

2nd concern:  It takes a lot of work to refine wood to paper.  Paper can be easily recycled, so from a sustainability/resource use standpoint--I prefer to not add lots of paper to the lasagna garden, but to keep the paper being recycled in the already refined paper cycle. 

The cardboard from food is great o compost or bury in a lasagna garden, as it is not supposed to be put in the recyclables in most places.

There are lots of carbon materials around, that are raw, from nature and not already refined.  Read my handout on Composting for some more carbon ingredient ideas.

Final answer: shredded paper is fine, but there are other options that I prefer.

Low-Maintenance, Sustainable Gardening Including Edibles Workshop

I am looking for local host/partners to work with me in presenting

Low-Maintenance, Sustainable Gardening Including Edibles Workshops

The program is designed to be a full day workshop with options for Sat evening and Sunday fun workshops.  If your garden club, botanical gardens or other group would like to work with me, please get in touch.  This will be a fundraiser for your group.

Here is the main program, which would run from Sat 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mulch! Mulch! Mulch!  Nature’s Weed (Control) and Feed
 

Composting 

Lasagna Gardening

Vegetables 101
 

Tomato Blight—Prevention Is Worth a Pound A Year, Actually More
 

Lunch Break

Edible Landscaping

Organic By Design, Not Neglect

Here are possible workshops to be added to fill out the weekend:

Saturday Evening Workshop:

Edible Landscaping Workshop  (2 -3 hours)

Preserving the Harvest--Frozen Meals (1 hour)

Sunday Workshops (options):

Preserving the Harvest--Frozen Meals (1 hour)

Get Started Gardening--Low Cost, Small Space, Easy Startup--Weed Free (1 hour)

Leaf Printing Workshop  (3 hours)

Sprouting Sprouts and Growing Micro-Greens Workshop

Build a Worm Bin Workshop (2- 3 hours)

  

Seed Starting Workshop (2 to 3 hours)

Energy Efficient Landscaping Discussion  (1 to 2 hours)

Garden Talk on Larry Meiller Show on WI Public Radio--Friday Sept 23, 2011

I will be the guest on WI Public Radio's Larry Meiller Show's Garden Talk on Sept 23 from 11 to 12:30.

WPR.ORG

The Ideas Network

Hope you can tune in--feel free to call in with you lasagna/deep mulch garden questions or mulching or composting or edible landscaping--any sustainable gardening questions.