A lasagna bed starts as a "raised" bed but as the organic matter in the pile is digested the height shrinks, so in a raised bed you will want some soil to add that organic matter to. Whether there is any offensive odor depends on what you add to the mix and that will also determine how long it takes to be digested. Perhaps this from Pat Lanza will help. Here is a link that might be useful: Lasagna Gardening 101

A few years ago I was telling everyone that in my experience, if weeds are a problem it's a waste of time to use mulch without newspaper or cardboard under it. So some people I know approached a nearby park and offered to grow native plants in several unplanted (but weedy) areas. They got big sheets of cardboard and added several inches of mulch from tree trimmers. As plants became available (most donated or propagated from their own gardens), they were added. The project has become a huge success, and they are still expanding the to-be-planted areas by cardboarding (as they call it) and mulching during the dry season. I probably wouldn't do lasagna gardening with produce-dept. discards at a public site, however. It's easier to get a free truckload of tree trimmings delivered to a site, and if critters do happen to get curious, they won't make a mess. Show your skeptical gardening partner the mulch fact sheet on the horticultural myths website -- even the author was surprised at how effective mulching is, and she now recommends it as the first step in reclaiming a site. The study she cites showed that mulching had long-term positive effects and controlled weeds better than using poisons. This study did not mention the use of cardboard or newspaper, but I read another study (no longer on the web) that said a couple layers of newspaper was as effective in reducing weeds as 2 inches of mulch. My own experience, as I mentioned, tells me that adding a light-blocking layer of cardboard or mulch is crucial. http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/index.html Here is a link that might be useful: list of hort myths

just me 6 - kimmsr usually writes alot about the 30:1 nitrogen to carbon ratio so here's a clip from a prior thread (end result = apx 6" brown to 2" green - some things are more "brown" than others & would need more greens)- also remember that moisture & air are factors: Posted by kimmsr 4a/5b-MI (My Page) on Tue, May 1, 07 at 6:51 The 30 refers to the amount of Carbon that is needed if you have the 1 of Nitrogen the bacteria that will digest that Carbon need to function. The bacteria use Nitrogen to make the proteins their bodies need to function. It is kind of like a cake recipe that calls for 4 cups of flower and a teaspoon of salt, it is a ratio of ingrediants. The cake recipe could have a ratio of 30 parts flour to 1 part salt but that would not make much sense to anyone. The 3 parts of X to 1 part of Y is a better way for most of use to see that 30:1. 6 inches of vegetative waste to 2 inches of manure is one way to easily visualize that 30:1 ratio. The vegetative waste will have some N and the manure will have some C but they pretty well balance in the end.

Hi- I had the same problem this winter. I started my beds in December--we just moved here to the carolina area. Anyhow- what I have been doing is pulling aside some mulch and adding a mix of compost/manure & bark mulch wherever I put a plant. As for my peas I put them in a pot. I'm adding more mulch around the plants cuz its very hot here in summer and I really think the beds will be fine in the long run they just didn't rot as fast I wanted--but I'm ok with it. A gardener friend of mine said she adds bark every spring to hers as a mulch--just a tip. she says it degrades faster than some other mulches and has added to her beds kept them friable and soft. good luck--don't despair--everything rots eventually. Mary