Wow, Dee, how big is the area? It looks like it'll be a great garden.

How deep is the material above the newspaper, and how long will you leave it before you plant (if you wait at all)?

Thanks - DtD

Thanks, Dee. It was me who asked. Do you keep adding to it all winter or stop when you think you've added enough?
Virginia

Well, I haven't measured it - I just went out and drew a big circle with my edger and started filling it in, but I'd guess it's about 20 by 15 feet, maybe? I'm really bad at estimating distance. I'll measure it over the weekend.

Right now, the material over the newspaper is only about 2 inches thick, and I'd say it has settled a bit since being put down. My very first ever lasasgna bed I made almost ten inches deep/high, but I think it was too big. It took an awful long time to decompose, and I really didn't want the bed raised that much. Now I only go about four or five inches, and when I plant I dig down into the original (?? don't know how else to say it, lol!) soil. With this big bed, I figure I don't have to plant the annuals as deep as I do perennials.

Since this big bed is for my annuals, I'll plant in spring. I do plant in some lasagna beds right away, though, since I desperately need to get some plants in the ground, lol! Today I planted a rose in one, so I pulled away the layers, dug down about ten inches into the existing soil (Yeah! That's a better word - "existing"!), planted the rose, and pushed the materials back around the crown.

Virginia, I think I'll probably just add the shredded leaves and the thin layer of compost, and then leave it for the winter. I am going to try to add another layer of compost in the spring, but who am I kidding? I most likely will not get around to it, lol!

:)
Dee

Dee: Very, very cool.

"Rumor" has it that if you contact local Dunkin Donuts they are happy to give away coffee grounds. If you aren't using sources other than your own kitchen, no wonder you have energy enough to do this :-)))

Martie

Hi Martie,

Actually, it's kind of funny how this thing snowballed. I finally got up some nerve to ask the local donut shop for their grounds. I've been getting a bucket a day, which is okay, but not as much as I expected. I happened to tell the big boss at work (who is a fellow gardener) that I got up the nerve to ask, and she told me she and her husband own two convenience stores, and did I want coffee grounds from them? (They have more than they can handle for their own compost and garden.) The following week, my immediate supervisor heard this story, and offered to not only save her kitchen coffee grounds, but to bring me her vegetable scraps and eggshells if I wanted. A co-worker was standing nearby during this particular conversation, and piped in, "Oh, my brother-in-law owns a restaurant. He might save his grounds for you!" And so I am expecting any day now to walk into work and have to hire a pick-up truck to bring home coffee grounds, lol!

I'm beginning to feel like a sneak though. I have bags and bags of old mail and paper that needs to be shredded, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Of course, I need the shredded paper down first to put the coffee grounds on, so the other night I came home with a big bag of shredded paper from work. I left it in my car. If I had dared to walk into my house with it, my DH would have flipped his lid. I can hear him now: "It's bad enough we save our own garbage - now you're collecting other people's too??!!"

Don't get me wrong - my DH is very supportive of composting in general. It's just that things (i.e. paper and cardboard, not to mention milk cartons and other containers for winter sowing) tend to get backed up every now and then, and sit in our guest bedroom. I keep telling him not to worry. My mom is coming to visit in 3 weeks, so the room has GOT to be cleaned out by then!

:)
Dee

Dunkin Donuts for coffee grounds is a hit or miss thing since they are franchised. Typically managers have to talk to owners, yadda yadda yadda.

However, Starbucks are not franchises and they have a corporate policy encouraging recycling and gladly give away their grounds. So head to the Starbucks if you really want them with no hassle.

Dee- great beds. I learned about lasagna beds mid winter last year. I was so enthused (and annoyed that I learned so late) that I went out in February, cleared snow from the lawn and started a bed! DH was convinced that he would need to commit me! That bed held perennials this spring!

I have started 3 more beds and have plans for another 2 to start this fall. I'd like them to be a bit deeper than the first one I did. I love this method!!

Hi All,
I am new to gardening...and very confused. What are the lasagna beds? Would you mind to provide some info?
Thanks,
Ellena

Wow, Dee! My back hurts from just lookin'. I aspire to making a big bed in a year or 2, so keep us posted as to progress and what you learn. My current compost goes on top of the very compacted clay that makes up one of my existing beds. It only holds a few shrubs, as the soil needs major improvement before I get really serious! I also really admire your winter sowing. When you do something, you REALLY do it! WOW! Will you be as productive this winter? Go, girl!

Ellena:

The Soil, Compost and Mulch Forum FAQ has good information. It doesn't say lasagna bed specifically, but this is the idea.

It's a good Forum to visit or to post on; fun people who are very helpful.

Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: .Creating a New Bed FAQ

Yes, Ellena, do visit the Soil, Compost and Mulch forum. It's a great place with lots of info and good people (as most GW forums are!). It has been a wealth of information for me, and has really changed the way I garden, compost, recycle - you name it. Do a search for lasagna gardening in that forum and you'll turn up a ton of stuff. There are also threads regarding Interbay method, which is similar to lasagna gardening but I think utilizes a cover of some type over the bed.

Thanks, Mayalena, for the compliment and encouragement. However, I think I am beginning to scare myself, lol! I will actually be doing even more winter sowing than I did last year! I started selling cut flowers and vegetables at the local farmer's market this year (which venture actually started because I had soooo much stuff from winter-sowing!) and I will probably sow more annual, cut-flower plants, as opposed to the perennials and container plants I usually sowed. I also realized this summer that I need more volume, more quantity, so I will be sowing not only more varieties, but more seed in general - more quantity of each variety.

This is the reason for this big lasagna bed. It's in about the only sunny spot I have and I really need space to plant all those winter-sown seedlings I'm anticipating.

BYW, fgirl21, I've been out there in January adding stuff to my lasagna beds too!

:)
Dee

Claire and Dee,
Thank you for the helpfuul information!
Elena