No till is recommended now and with the lasagna method, Nancy. It will be better without tilling.

Thanks Sheila.

Your bonanza of worms is the ticket - those worms will do their natural thing "tilling" to perfection while "fertilizing" with their castings. Sue

Thanks Sue. Do you think with continuing to add compost, etc to the older beds that the worms will return?

Yes, they'll return. You might want to try using leaf/wood mold instead or in addition to finished compost as the worms love it. That's what they eat to make compost. Layering newspaper or cardboard under it also helps. When I lift it back the soil is teeming with worms.

With lasagna gardening, how long does it take to change the soil deep down? Let's say 1-2 feet down?

In the current garden I'm making, I tilled in 8 inches of fish compost and the soil underneath is still rock hard. I should have prepped the soil in advance and let the worms come in and do their work, but I had 100 roses to plant to I had to get started. I'm still having to dig individual holes.

I have a 100 foot section of fence line I'd like to turn into more rose beds. How long would the lasagna method take to get the soil into good condition? Some of it is very hard as it used to be an old gravel driveway?

So much is dependent on rainfall in addition to what soil you start with.
We've had four years of wet summers and the organics are going as fast as I add them.
(Example First eight days of July this year: eight inches of rain.

June this year 9 1/2 inches)

Organics are wonderful, and the nature of the things is to break down. I just wish they would decompose slower or that I had the energy of an eighteen yearold again...or ever

Yes the new science says tilling disturbs vital networks of living things that make plants thrive. They repair but it takes years and tilling also brings weeds to the surface where sunlight activates them.

I just did the lasagna method starting Fall of 2014 when I moved here, and started planting right away that Fall and it all seemed to work. We did have Winter rain, which no doubt helped.

One note of warning from my experiences with the lasagna method:

Putting down cardboard first REALLY attracted voles. Not so bad if you are doing it in an empty area that you will plant next year, but disastrous if it is done between established close plantings.

Thick (4-6) layers of newspapers did the same thing: attracted voles.

So now, I first skin the area down with the weed wacker -- I mean scalped to the ground -- no green showing, then I just put down 1-2 layers of newspapers, and then lots and lots of mulch/compost/bark fines... I aim for a minimum of 6-8" of good stuff. It shrinks quickly if there is steady rain/watering. Yes, that is not thick enough to suppress or kill perennial weeds like thistle or quack grass, but I've found that anything that survives the thick mulch is easy to pull through the mulch. Quack might take a steady season or two of pulling out volunteers, but it gives up after that IF you don't till. Tilling brings up all sorts of weed seeds, some of which can wait in a dormant state for over twenty years, waiting for their chance to sprout. Also, once the area is planted keep it mulched all season with 4-6 inches of good stuff.

For some reason, the voles don't seem particularly attracted to a mulched area, but they love the cover cardboard or too thick newspaper provides.

Sunny

Chipmunks also seem to love the cardboard and newspaper and will keep coming to pull it all up. I now have sections of the Yellow Pages strewn all over my beds!