YM

You could put layers of paper and cardboard in the bed with a sprinkling of earth to hold them down or even decorative pots and statuary, maybe a removable flagstone mosaic? If you always keep the paper damp, the earthworms will munch on it. Let the leaves fall on the surface as they will. Then you'd have the beginning of your lasagna bed for next Spring and can add to it as you please next Spring with compost or lasagna layers.

Hey, you might be on to something here. Do you think it will be all right to let whole leaves act as one of the layers? I've always heard that unchopped leaves lead to rot, or is that not the case in this instance? In any case, it's very helpful to think of this in the long term.

There really is not fixed Lasagna Method, what Pat Lanza described is a suggestion, not fixed rules. Now, covering the area with newspaper or cardboard and covering that with soil would be counterproductive since you would simply be providing the "weeds" some place to germinate and grow. You could, however, seed your Lasagna Bed with a cover crop, Buckwheat would be good since that would also supply bees with a pollen source, or seed some annuals in there.

I thought everything was a variation on lasagna method. Everyone has a recipe. Open up a cookbook and get allegorical. Why not?

I was vermicomposting 15 years ago, no kidding. So my idea about lasagna is to grow on top of a worm farm. If you do not have a layer of nutrients or worm food, then you basically just have mulch on mulch.

Worms happen to love wet corrugated cardboard, and it gives them great protection from heat, so I tend to that for my noodles. For the ricotta, I use manure or unfinished compost or leaf mold. The tomato sauce could be rainwater or pond scum. A little comfrey leaf for the oregano, a little garlic for the garlic, a dash of wood ash, a pinch of peat moss, and voila!! I guess you would cover that up before you put it in the oven, so to speak, but that is basically it.
Buono Appetito!

I think using the maple leaves as a layer is a great idea.

To keep them from blowing around, why not put up a mini fence or something? A teeny edging fence? They will be less mobile in spring. Take the fence down then and do what you want to do.
If you chop the leaves, they might be more fluffy, but that will make it easier for weeds to peek through. Take your pick.
As Kimmsr suggests, reconsider your idea of not planting in those areas. Could you plant something that serves some purpose as long as you are going to all the trouble? Moss? Strawberries? Something that would like your mulch would be nice. Garlic and strawberries.

I'm getting inspired. But let me tell you some of my thoughts.

First, why: for one thing, my yard is full of creeping charlie, and I will not use poison. And quite frankly it's spreading in all directions, into neighbors' yards, despite my efforts to control it. That's what first got me thinking about an alternative to grass, then I really started to like the idea, and now I'm obsessed. Another thing: I'm getting sick of all the mowing. (There's a front yard for that anyway.)

And this is all a long way of saying I'd really only be interested in planting something that 1) required no maintenance and 2) wouldn't spread much. Then there are cost concerns as well. Now, to add to this, the main area I'm talking about--behind the garage (very shady)--has a swingset right in the middle of it where my daughter plays, so at least in that location it's sort of rough and tumble terrain.

I should mention again that I'm going to plant many of the areas. It's just that I also wanted to create some "blank" spaces that, well, didn't ask anything of me.

I'm liking the cardboard/leaves idea and that next year maybe I can just cover everything with mulch (or maybe gravel?). I said I was obsessed but I guess it's a new obsession since I can't seem to think my way through it. So keep up the dialogue, please. It's a huge help! And thanks!

Well the sky is the limit. Go with your dreams.

I got sick of taking care of one weedy area; I put a frame around it for a raised bed. Loaded it with lasagna and planted potatoes. Done. Life is too short. Most people do not know what potatoes look like. It was cheap. It is big and green and yummy. Why not?

You might have homeowner association or neighbor issues. If so, I sympathize, but I like green, and if it is beans or strawberries, I am ok, as long as it is not weeds, which might spread to the neighbors, etc. In the US, I know that planting food is particularly cheap, so buy a bag of beans and have at it. How bad could it be? I think there is a forum here for edible landscape. Maybe I have never gone that far, but vegetables are a well behaved alternative to weeds and more robust than a lot of landscaping plants. I am kind of a nut though, so who knows?

Write your daughter's name in strawberry plants in spring and then do it again in garlic in winter and lettuce the spring after. Over the course of the year, you will think of something better.