While mine was not a true lazagna bed I had a heavy bermuda lawn I laid down 3 layers of cardboard with heavy brown paper above then 4 inches of leaves then 6 inches of compost. This was watered heavily for about 6 weeks then when I planted I added bagged topsoil to the holes. I have had the bed for 3 years and no grass has come up it is an 8 X 24 ft raised bed in the front of the house. I put low maintance perenials into it and am now ready to do the rest of my front yard without grass. I will be using cardboard much heaver than newspaper once more to kill out the grass.

Bill

While mine was not a true lazagna bed I had a heavy bermuda lawn I laid down 3 layers of cardboard with heavy brown paper above then 4 inches of leaves then 6 inches of compost. This was watered heavily for about 6 weeks then when I planted I added bagged topsoil to the holes. I have had the bed for 3 years and no grass has come up it is an 8 X 24 ft raised bed in the front of the house. I put low maintance perenials into it and am now ready to do the rest of my front yard without grass. I will be using cardboard much heaver than newspaper once more to kill out the grass.

Bill

While mine was not a true lazagna bed I had a heavy bermuda lawn I laid down 3 layers of cardboard with heavy brown paper above then 4 inches of leaves then 6 inches of compost. This was watered heavily for about 6 weeks then when I planted I added bagged topsoil to the holes. I have had the bed for 3 years and no grass has come up it is an 8 X 24 ft raised bed in the front of the house. I put low maintance perenials into it and am now ready to do the rest of my front yard without grass. I will be using cardboard much heaver than newspaper once more to kill out the grass.

Bill

While mine was not a true lazagna bed I had a heavy bermuda lawn I laid down 3 layers of cardboard with heavy brown paper above then 4 inches of leaves then 6 inches of compost. This was watered heavily for about 6 weeks then when I planted I added bagged topsoil to the holes. I have had the bed for 3 years and no grass has come up it is an 8 X 24 ft raised bed in the front of the house. I put low maintance perenials into it and am now ready to do the rest of my front yard without grass. I will be using cardboard much heaver than newspaper once more to kill out the grass.

Bill

A Lasagna bed built on top of any soil would be a good way to, eventually, improve that soil. However, since Bermuda and St. Augustine grasses do tend to be quite invasive it may be better to remove that sod from the area first, not something I usually recommend, but even up here with Quack Grass invasive grasses are best removed if you do not want to be digging that grass out of the bed in the future.

g'day kim,

we use lasagne/raised beds and have never failed to stop any grass simply by using newspaper. nut sedge being our worst.

anyhow take a look at our pics for some ideas.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

Boscat,
It all depends. Lasagna gardening works and it is easy, but you might have to give it more time. Mow the grass as low as possible. Alternative is to spray with something like Roundup to kill grass. Layer with newspaper or cardboard, newspaper about 6-7 layers thick, in my experience. Make sure the paper is good and wet. Then pile your organic matter several inches high, depending on what and when you are going to plant. 6-18 inches I'd say. For example, I had a crappy area along my garage. I just laid the wet newspaper and then compost just a few inches and planted small annuals or seeds. Didn't even have to dig really. It is all looking very good right now. If I was going to plant shrubs or even larger perennials or veggie transplants (not seeds) I would have to wait maybe 3-6 months for the grass to die and the paper to decompose before I could plant. And I would probably want a deep bed. Cardboard takes longer to decompose, in my experience. The main problem with the grass, again in my experience, is the grass creeping in from around the garden. I did a several inches wide and deep trench around my beds, and couple times a year refresh this trench to keep the grass from running in. The grass underneath usually dies well. If you have ever laid a bag of mulch or soil down on grass and left it even a couple days, esp. in hot summer time, the grass dies quickly under it. In fact, I have laid some bags of stuff where I plan to put a garden, and it gets a pretty good start on killing the grass.
One other thing, if I may. I too have hard clay soil. I had to learn to work that soil after a good rain. A day or two later is best, not when the clay is really wet and goopy. It should be worked when it is like moist chocolate cake. If no rain, water well. You will hurt yourself and your tools trying to work hard dry clay, it is like cement and you literally need a pickaxe. Pick a day after you've had rain, it is a world of difference.
Good luck. I hope this was helpful to you.

Thanks to everyone for your feedback! Which, of course, has led to more questions ...

Kimmsr -- I thought the purpose of lasagna gardening was to get rid of grass in a more eco-friendly way. If I remove the sod as you suggest, couldn't I then just add garden/top soil and plant my shrubs and perennials and then top off with a layer of mulch?

Len & Bill -- Your words about ridding myself of grass are encouraging!

Louisianagal -- My questions are going to be random ... Working the clay after a rain certainly has occurred to me and I think that is my plan. Although rain is very hard to come by right now ... I also read in one place that you can plant your garden and then (for lack of a better term) "lasagna" around your plantings. I plan to put a crepe myrtle (probably), a couple of double-knockout rose shrubs, and the rest perennials in this spot. Do you think I could try that method? And should I wait until the fall to plant everything? A local nursery has all trees, shrubs and perennials 50% off and I don't want to miss out on this but I also want to make sure that anything I buy lives to see next year! I also plan to do as you suggested with the trench around the bed. Also, with regard to amount of compost ... I live in a new development, thus no trees (to speak of) or other "free" organic matter to pile on top of newspaper (although I might could arrange for some bags of leaves/clippings from family members). What could/should I purchase at Lowe's/Home Depot to serve this purpose that is going to be reasonable?

Thanks again!
Kim

Kim, I'll try to answer your questions. If you don't have rain, you could water the area yourself, if you have the water resources and are not restricted. (As an aside, you might incorporate some rain barrels into your garden areas, I know that is on my to-do list!). Yes, you can do the "lasagna in place" method AFTER planting, but in my opinion that has several drawbacks. You would have to dig thru the sod, which can be hard to do. You might sort of smother the plants and stems/crowns becoz you would need a several inches lasagna layer around them. I think it is better to do it the traditional way.
Re the fall planting. Fall planting is ideal for the south. Nov to Feb really. The plants have time to devote to root growth and transitioning to their new home, before active growth occurs in the spring. In the summer months, esp in the south, plants are under extreme stress and coupled with transplant stress, can die. I do understand about bargains, as I am big on that, but if you do plant now you will have to mulch well and keep everything watered very well. Since you indicated water might be scarce, you will have to take that into consideration. Also place all your plants while they are still in containers, so that you are SURE you have the garden arranged to your liking, and THEN dig the holes, and last remove the plants and place them in their holes immediately. My advice and that of many others is to dig the hole same depth as the plant was in container but twice or even 3x as wide.
It is great if you can start a compost pile, this takes time to get usable compost. If you can get leaves and clippings that is also great. When I don't have enough compost for my projects (gardens) I buy something that says "composted humus" or "aged manure/compost" or "mushroom compost" but I buy a cheap brand. I just made a raised bed for veggies, which is not planted yet. It has cardboard, newspaper layers, some of my compost, some shredded paper, some pine needles, and several bags of the above manure/compost store-bought stuff from a big box store. Good luck, you are almost there!
Laurie

I have put down newspaper over grass and covered that newspaper with mulch numerous times over the years to stat new beds and what I have seen is that the wimpy grasses, such as Kentucky Bluegrass, the Fescues, Perennial Ryes, etc. die and add orgnaic matter to the soil quite easily. but with the more invasive grasses, the Quack Grass and Johnston grass, the top growth will will die but they roots do not and will, several months later send up new top growth through the newspaper and mulch. With the Quack Grass and Johnston grass, the soil in that bed is soft and workable so these roots, rhizomes, can be fairly easily pulled out.
From what I have heard Bermuda and St. Augustine grasses are similar and will grow back from the roots. I have told people with those grasses to simply cover them and they have written back to tell me that that does not work, that those grasses need to be dug out, and barriers put in the prevent the roots from moving back in. Some people indicate that the newspaper does not stop grasses from growing, but it will. You need to know which grass you have and how it grows to be able to control it. Sedges will root in the Lasagna bed readily, but I've not seen a sedge grow through newspaper and an adequate mulch.

I have only gardened in Maine, so I can't dispute all the horror stories about Bermuda Grass deprived of light, under an adequate mulch, persisting. I know this, there is no lawn in Maine that I can't kill by covering it with mulch---lasagna or otherwise.

(P.S. Newspaper is much more effective applied on the top, not the bottom of the mulch. It must be covered with something to hold it down and to pretty it up.)