Submitted by Julie Conner, Somervell County Master Gardener
Lasagna Gardening, sheet composting, or layer gardening is a no till method that is great for rocky or hard clay soils. This method creates a nutrient rich garden and is easy in either a raised bed or a ground surface area in your garden.
For my flower garden, I created a raised bed with one row of landscape stones 4 inches high and placed in a circle. The first layer is of paper and cardboard, which will break down slowly and prevent weeds as well as holding in moisture. Layer 2 is decomposing horse manure because that is what I have available. These are my 2 brown layers.
Layer #3 can be leaves, kitchen waste, twigs, or any garden trimmings
(basically what you would put in your compost bin). This is the green layer and you will alternate the brown and green layers making your garden as deep as you need.
Since I started my garden in summer, I will be adding peat or topsoil as well as additional green and brown layers throughout the fall and winter as the garden compresses. When I get ready to plant, I will amend with additional peat or topsoil.
Hopefully, this coming spring or summer the garden should be rich with organic matter and little fertilizer will be needed. To help with additional composted matter, I have made a leaf mold bin from old fencing wire. The leaves should decompose in 6 to 10 months.
All of this and additional information is readily available on the internet.
Happy Gardening!