Help in starting a lasgna bed please

16 years ago

I want to try lasgna bed for the first time. I have several layers of wet newspaper down. I have saved several large bags of grass clippings and leaves along with a half of large bag of food scraps suitable to compost. My problem is how deep should the first layer be to start with? Is there a certian order that the stuff must be layered in? How deep should each layer be after the first one? Thank you for any advice related to my questions. Christal

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Comments (10)

gardenlen
16 years ago
g'day christal,

lasagna/sheet mulching/raised beds, in the end all the same thing turns into a garden.

we invite you to see the pics and stroy on our page as to how we do our raised beds there could be some help ther for you.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page
kqcrna
16 years ago
Christal: The order really doesn't matter, it can be all mixed up. Make sure you moisten often as you build the pile. Top with the leaves or some other brown to prevent odor. The grass can get stinky.

Karen
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blessedmotheroffour
Original Author
16 years ago
len I tried the link you sent above but it did not work. Do you have any other method of getting there to take a look? I guess what is difficult for me is I don't think I have enough to get started judging by the example shown when I google the subject. I have enough paper and leaves just not enough food scraps to make up the third layer. I think the leaves goes after the paper and then the compost stuff next. Anyway thanks to you and Karen for the advice.
bpgreen
16 years ago
The link worked for me.
ralphdean
16 years ago
Len's link worked for me. Here is the address
www.lensgarden.com.au

To get greens go by Starbucks or another coffee shop or and get grinds, go by a juice bar and get orange peels, stop a landscaper and grab his grass clippings, a bakery and get old bread, Try a salad bar restaurant for what they throw out, local grocery store and talk with their green grocer about saving you some veggies, It is pumpkin time so on Oct 31 or Nov 1 stop by a pumpkin patch and tell them you will haul off some of what is left.

There is a good letter on this site to drop off at pumpkin patches telling them to call you for pickup of their extra pumpkins.
marquette
16 years ago
Cardboard is also an excellent brown. Appliance stores have lots.
(Len's link worked for me too.)
tclynx
16 years ago
You said you have some bags of grass clippings, they will go a long way for your green layers. Your green layers can probably be a bit thinner than the brown layers since it usually takes more brown to balance a green like grass. You also don't have to build it all at once. I've started some large beds with cardboard then leaves and a layer of grass clippings and a thin layer of wood chips over the clippings. That is all I had time for yesterday and I didn't have much more material on hand so I figured I'd wait to add more layers.

I like to extend the paper/cardboard beyond the "planting" area and cover it with a layer of some type of mulch which becomes a pathway so I don't have to worry too much about mowing right up to the planting area.
Kimmsr
16 years ago
There is no real specific order or quantity of material for each layer in a Lasagna bed, although it can help to layer high carbon materials in layers of about 3 inches and high Nitrogen materials on top of that in 1 inch layers. This link is about the best tutorial on the Lasagna method as I've seen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lasagna Gardening 101
blessedmotheroffour
Original Author
16 years ago
I want to say thank you to all of you for helping me with my lasgna bed questions. I will take a picture of it when I get it layered and post it. Once more many thanks. Christal
gardenlen
16 years ago
blessedmotheroffour,

just tried it myself with no problems.

anyhow type this into your browsers address line:

www.lensgarden.com.au

let me know

if all else fails send me an e/mail or give me your addy??

len

Help in starting a lasgna bed please

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Help in starting a lasgna bed please

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