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Soil, Compost & Mulch

Lasagna Garden Covering

8 years ago

I've read in multiple threads that covering your lasagna bed is not a good idea as it destroys beneficial bacteria. But my quandary is, I won't be using it until next year. Won't all the winter rains and snow leach all the nutrients from the bed down into the ground below and leave me with just dirt without minerals the plant will need? I am assuming unless I trap it under a tarp, I will have to fertilize come spring. Am I right or am I missing something?
Thanks Dave

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Comments (3)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
8 years ago
It depends on how thick your layers are and what ingredients you used to create them. Lasagna gardening is just sheet composting and this is a cold composting process that requires time to achieve. While I might suggest layering the bed with straw or a thick layer of leaves for winter (mostly for erosion control and weed suppression), I think you'll find that the nutrient value of that bed come next spring when you intend to plant will be just about perfect.

btw, soil (not 'dirt') contains all the minerals plants typically need. Lasagna gardening is just a way of getting a lot of organic matter into any mineral based soil. And a more 'finished' compost of your layers of organic matter is far better for plant health and nutrient delivery than planting a lasagna bed immediately after creation.
Dave Green thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
grubby_AZ Tucson Z9
8 years ago
If you intend to layer stuff and not mechanically mix everything together (until next spring), then water is your friend.

"Leaching down" of the OM is not a bad thing. To mineralize the whole shebang, you really do need leachates (the super fines!) in among the mineral particles. That's stuff so fine it looks like dirty water soaked in, which isn't far off from the truth.

Read the post above. Twice.

Also, to avoid upsetting the bacteria and other beneficial beasties, avoid using fertilizer on a bed like you have just for it's own sake, and be cheap with it. Many many people overdo it, and that can have negative results.
Dave Green thanked grubby_AZ Tucson Z9
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kimmq
8 years ago
Pat Lanza is the person that developed the concept of the Lasagna Garden bed and does not mention anything about covering that planting bed with anything but the material used to create it. As a rule the nutrients in most of the material piled up in a lasagna bed are pretty stable and do not "leach" out since it takes activity by the Soil Food Web to convert them into what plants can use. The exception is the nutrients in animal manures which are fairly water soluble.

http://ourgardengang.tripod.com/lasagna_gardening.htm

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