|
3/31/04 try lasagna gardening Margaret Fisher
The name should intrigue you, “Lasagna Gardening.” Is it growing the ingredients for lasagna? Is it turning your too-long-left-over casserole into garden compost? None of the above. The term comes from a new gardening book by Patricia Lanza entitled “Lasagna Gardening,” –no digging, no tilling, no weeding, no kidding! It meets a senior’s dream—continue gardening, but find ways to make it easier. Lanza’s formula is simple: “build up”—“don’t dig down.” She suggests: place a thick layer of newspaper atop the planting area; wet it down well, then follow with multiple layers of organic mulches, alternating with layers of peat moss. End with a layer of peat moss and wet the whole stack thoroughly. Basically this becomes “sheet composting” as the materials decay in time and make good, black, crumbly garden soil. However, she says you may plant immediately if you wish. Each year, you may use the same planting beds again by just adding another layer of mulch and top with peat moss. The newspaper and peat moss hold moisture, discourage weeds, and attract helpful earthworms. This will be my fourth year to try lasagna methods while struggling with increasing drought each year. First I tried a small corner patch, then more the next year. Last year I attempted to convert the entire garden to lasagna layers. However, in early spring I didn’t have enough peat moss to do it as well as I should have. Lanza recommends at least 18 inches of layering and three to four foot wide planting beds so you won’t step on planting areas and can reach from either side. I only managed 12 – 14 inch layers and still had single rows: the garden’s original layout. Now I’m combining pairs of rows by filling the small space between with mulch and raking the outer edges inward, making beds just wide enough for me to reach center. Local drought kept rainfall seven inches or more below the regional average, so last year wasn’t a glowing success. I did keep those lasagna beds alive with the aid of the garden or soaker hoses through the worst heat. The soil beyond the lasagna area and one-half-inch or larger cracks. My neighbors on both sides simple gave up their gardens. My tomatoes were four to five feet high in lasagna beds by august. Moderating temperatures in the fall helped produce more tomatoes in October. Despite the drought and my fractured right wrist, we produced enough tomatoes for our table and samples for several neighbors, friends and relatives. Gardening is good outdoor exercise and boosts morale. Lasagna methods let me do small jobs throughout the off season—adding a little mulch or filling paths with straw. I’m eagerly awaiting spring. Gardeners, be optimistic. Spring is here! © University of Kansas Medical Center, Center on Aging, March, 2004.
|
