I will be smothering large areas of my grass to make decorative beds. Some I will plant with perennial flowers, and for those I plan to use the full-on lasagna method. But other areas I'm going to leave empty (like behind the garage, for example). So here's my question: since I won't be planting those areas, is there some abbreviated lasagna method I could use, something without so many layers? And then that brings me to another question. I want to cover those same areas with something decorative, but keep in mind that I'll have to rake lots of maple leaves off that surface material come autumn, so it should be something fairly stable. So any suggestions for what to cover those beds with? Thanks. (Btw, I also posted this on the Design forum, just in case.)