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We are now officially into fall: Lasagna gardening can now begin
Editor’s note: Get Growing, written by the La Plata County Extension Office’s Master Gardener Program, appears periodically during the growing season. It features timely tips and suggestions for your garden and landscape.
So, it finally happened. The last day of summer and first fall freeze have come and gone, and we are officially into fall. I have had some interest from various people regarding composting. Brownie points for those of you thinking ahead for spring.
Lasagna gardening is a great composting technique to start in the fall, and with all of the organic material readily available you will have a great compost in no time.
Unlike other composting techniques that require some type of container for the process, lasagna gardening is meant to be done in its final destination. So first, start layering. Your first layer (brown layer) should be either corrugated cardboard or three layers of newspaper. Don’t worry about preparing the area; no digging or weeding is required because the layering will smother them. You will need to wet this first layer to start the decomposing process. Other examples of things that will go in future brown layers are leaves, coffee grounds, pine needles and shredded newspaper.
Your next layer will be your organic (green) materials. Anything that can go into a typical compost will work. Some examples are vegetable or fruit scraps, grass clippings, eggshells and other trimmings from the garden.
Continue layering until your lasagna is 2 feet deep, making the brown layers twice as deep as the green layers. Your lasagna garden will break down over the winter, and next spring when you are ready to plant, just dig down as you would in any other garden. If you used the newspaper technique, your garden tool should go right through, and with the cardboard technique, you may have to cut a hole where you want to plant.
If you have any additional questions, call the local Colorado State University Extension Office at 382-6463. Happy composting!
Ashley Walline was certified as a Colorado Master Gardener
in 2008. She lives in
La Plata County.
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