Through the Season's in the Lasagna Garden

We are heading into our third summer in this rental and it has been such a joy to watch our garden grow and mature in such a short time. What started as a hard packed lawn that only grew stunted dandelions and grass is now a bio-diverse oasis for bugs, birds and humans alike. Plus it produces more to eat than one might expect. 

Since I am working on rented land I wasn’t willing to spend a bunch of money for materials and infrastructure which led me to the lasagna gardeners method. Not only would it solve my soil problem but it could also be done on a budget. 

Since I was so eager to get this garden planted I was less focused on the research and more interested in jumping in with both feet. I did draw out a plan to appease my husband but the results were more satisfying than I could have hoped. 

Here’s how I did it:

First, I laid down cardboard. Next I layered on upside down sod that our neighbor had cleaned up from their overgrown sidewalks. Next went a layer of compost + soil that I purchased from the local garden center for less than $200. Finally, I topped it with wood shavings that I had on hand from when I had ducks. 

Looking back, this seemed like a pitiful attempt at a lasagna garden but by the next summer, and with the addition of newspaper and wood chips (not shavings) my garden is a dream to weed and has 4-6 inches of beautiful dark soil. 

A brief reflection on materials I used in this garden and in other lasagna beds I have built since:

Cardboard and newspaper - there’s some controversy about the toxins in these materials but these days it seems like everything is toxic and I much prefer these to suppress weeds then plastic landscape fabric. At least these break down in a couple of years, no micro plastics involved (as long as you remove any packing tape from the cardboard). 

Upside down sod - this added so much organic matter to my soil. This was also why I needed to add newspaper to the garden later, the grass started growing. Cheap to obtain but not always available.

Wood shavings - no, just no. I believe the wood shavings in my garden caused the slug problem I have around my strawberries.

Wood chips - I can get these for free, the city has a pile for the taking almost all summer. I use them as my top layer of mulch and I love the way it makes my perennial garden beds look. They help to retain moisture and don’t break down as quickly as other mulches making them a low maintenance solution. 

Mostly finished compost - works great as a lower layer. Plus, a great way to empty the compost tumbler. 

Grass clippings - require a lot of water to dampen if you are using dry clippings. The garden bed will settle substantially because dry clippings are quite fluffy but they do add some great organic matter. Make sure you are not using clippings from a lawn that has dandelions going to seed or dog poop. 

Dry leaves - another great source of organic matter. I don’t get many from my buffalo berry and lilac but they do make fantastic mulch. 

Straw - I primarily use this to mulch strawberries and garlic but it can be a nice carbon addition to the compost tumbler.

Once I had built my lasagna beds it was time to plant. I managed to collect a number of plants from my mom’s garden. That’s the beauty of an established perennial garden - the plants grow and fill in the spaces and when they get too big for your liking you can dig up what you want and transplant, give away or sell. From my lovely mother I got: raspberry canes, rhubarb, yarrow (I actually dug this up from the wild), Egyptian onions, borage, Jonny jump-ups, German chamomile, lilies, bee balm and sage. I also checked out the local garden center and purchased: rosemary, parsley, creeping thyme (my husband’s all time favorite), lavender, strawberries, calendula and oregano.

I was trying to focus on perennials for this garden because I wanted to leave something beautiful and low maintenance for the landlord and future tenants. That being said, adding raspberries to the garden may not have been the best long term decision... 

Throughout the summer I tinkered about adding seeds and mulch. I also added a river stone border. By folding newspaper under the stones when I laid them, I have been able to keep them weed free, even in the second year.

Late summer of that first year brought a second, much smaller lasagna bed. Its layers from ground up (with water between each layer) were newspaper, wood chips, wood shavings, mostly finished compost, leftover compost/soil + old potting soils, seeds I collected from my calendula, Johnny jump ups and cosmos + bergamot and Echinacea seeds (these 2 did not grow), wood chips. Around this time I also planted my fall garlic and mulched it in with straw.

And, that's on mostly finished compost.

By the end of the first summer I was most impressed by the growth of my rhubarb. My previous attempt at rhubarb had been weak, especially since I accidentally stepped on it, effectively killing half of the leaves. The problem is it only had 2 leaves to begin with. I had much more success taking an offshoot from the rhubarb I grew up enjoying versus buying a root from the hardware store. Plus it adds a more nostalgic presence to the space for me.  

On October 22, 2022 we got our first frost, most obviously seen on the leaves of my sentimental friend. Rhubarb’s wilted form marked the end of the first growing season, but not the end of the gardening season because now it was time to build a garden for my mother in law. Fall-built gardens often have different materials then those constructed in the spring. Hers consisted of newspaper, water (again, recurring after every layer), the contents of her summer flower planters, soil, plant and all, leaves, grass clippings, more of my partially finished compost, soil, manure and more grass clippings as mulch on top. Then we watered it all in and said goodnight for the winter. 

The next spring brought more herbs to the garden/yard. Lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon grass, nasturtium, catnip, citronella, pansy and sunflowers.

For the summer I spent most of my free time in a new community garden plot I acquired. But the lasagna gardens were growing more beautiful every day. As was the soil. 

I threw in another bed in the corner of the yard as well. I say threw because it was a very low effort build. I had planted some comfrey in the far corner of my yard the previous year, mulched in with newspaper and wood chips. Late in the second summer I dug the yarrow out of my main bed and plopped the great clods of them down beside the comfrey. I also popped in a couple of pansies plus whatever other potted ornamentals that weren’t looking their best. I filled in the spaces between with old potting soil, partially finished compost (do I ever let my compost finish?), and wood chips. 

The highlight of the garden in the second year was the garlic. It supplied us from July to April. So wonderful to cook with and beautiful hanging in my home. 

So of course, in the fall of the second year we planted some of our home grown garlic bulbs. We harvested more rhubarb, and dried some herbs. I moved out a haskap bush that I propagated in the garden bed the year before but I don’t know if it is a beast or a blizzard. I need to find it a pair if I ever want to see it fruit so it went to my mother in laws to be matched up next year. The fall seemed to drag out this year with winter not really settling in until January. This led to a beautiful display of the garden all dried up and still bustling with bird life as they grabbed a quick seed or two. The wood mulch really shined and the garden looked all tucked in despite the lack of snow. 

What started as me attempting Patricia Lanza’s Lasagna Garden method with a few twists of my own has led to a stunning display of functional plants and peaceful oasis from the back alley beyond. I feel proud and enamored with the life this soil has grown. This soil that I stewarded. This garden will bless future humans as we move on to new growing spaces but for this summer I am eager to watch it blossom once more.