I have a friend who lives in town w/ lots of trees. She had to pay to have leaves removed after she raked them. Now she brings them to me & we both benefit.
I have rocky soil, and use this basic technique for my beds, too. Works great. I usually dig a trench 3 ft wide, 12" deep the length of the bed. I remove all the rocks for the dirt pile. Then I re-fill the trench in lasagna style, while also adding layers of soil as I go, until it's mounded up a bit above the surrounding surface. Couldn't be happier
@@johnna4487I know this is old but it only takes 3 months to fully break down during the spring or fall. Assuming you leave it alone without planting, but putting plants in makes it break down faster(depending on the plant)
Happy that you do this and my father had taught us this around 1970. He had a geology major concentration and a biology minor and a junior high teacher. He also was a radar man in a submarine. We were too young to question him about 10 till 12 years old. We each had an 8 by 10 plot and we removed 2/3 of the orange colored dirt. The Rocks went to build the base of a nature path around the side of the pond
People who give thumbs down are jealous.... I love the knowledge that you offer us who want to produce our own food You are the best of the best in giving information... Thank you for sharing your talents Bob Cooney Salt Lake City Utah
You are one of my favorite garden people. I've had her book since it first came out. I have been kinda aggravated by all the you tube people doing the same thing and calling it no-till and acting like it's something new. I now about 3 acres sucking up the grass with my Gaint-Vac. I always have compost piles around the woodline. I use about anything I get for the compost piles. But mostly I alternate green and brown grass layers. Adding a layer now and then of finished compost. Just before planting I always add a heavy layer of compost. Love what you are doing. Sure wish I had UA-cam 40 years ago. Thanks again for helping so many people. I believe there's a special place in heaven for people like you.
This is one of your best videos! No gimmicks, no fuss, no dig, no cost, no fuss. Lots of flexibility. I like the idea of building your bed as the season progresses and materials become available. Thanks for posting. Cheers.
I have a big pile of half-composted horse manure that I think will be perfect as part of a lasagna bed if I build it now. By next spring I reckon it will be composted nicely and ready to plant in.
This is a wonderful video. I just sent it to a friend, she is starting a garden and doesn't want to dig, I don't blame her. This is how I started out in my new house. Thank you
Just found the lasagna gardening book as I was packing to move. My father must have bought it years ago. Going to follow this when I start my new beds, have plenty of free brown and green material between the woods and grass, along with veggies in smart pots right now. Plan is to build beds in fall after renovations completed to let material start decomposing. I also bagged all my homemade compost and brought it’ll knew place to use. Did not want to just leave it, so rich and full of worms.
The magazine that I subscribed to in 1978 was called organic gardening. I still have some copies from the family house that we just went through. invaluable information
Also as far as transporting leaves, back in the late sixties the early seventies we didn't have tarps with a family of five children. So we used an old bed sheet or an old blanket and that's how we carted them
Your presentation was wonderfully rich in information anyone could follow no matter what their experience level in gardening. Hat's off to you! Keep up the good work! Now I will need to watch your other videos. Thanks again!
I do this anyway adapting the dig concept, nice to see it outined in a video and given a name. The only thing is controlling for weeds as there are a lot of seeds in the bed.
I really like the cardboard trick! I'm a new gardener and I saw it somewhere online, so when I got my raised beds ready in the spring, I put down cardboard first thing. I haven't had any problems with weeds (or in my case, mint that the previous home owner planted in the ground and let spread everywhere).
The dairy farm next to us had plenty of manure dried out in the pasture across the road. We would just break that up maybe in a bucket of water sometimes but it was not fresh. Definitely dry. So each successive year is so much simpler than the first year. We had an acre and a half of lawn and leaves that we would pile along the perimeter of our property and then source that for the rich black dirt underneath.
And my father the science and math teacher, was also a geologist briefly. But he had a family to raise and couldn't remain in canada. The amazing rocks. He inspired us and three of us in our 60s now are still finding rocks in a riverbed such as the Salmon River in connecticut. And incorporate them in the landscape. We're not robbing. Just taking a handful a couple times a year wherever we're taking a hike
Thanks for all your gardening info! I my gardening knowledge is expanding at a pace I get to control! I started my 1st lasagne compost because I have mountains of oak leaves to deal with every year, as well as a loot of cardboard! It was a struggle to keep up with the green layers but I finally met a neighbor who now supplies me with grass clippings every two weeks. I am in the forest, so I located my lasagne bed in a shadier spot, and use it as a slow compost bed, and oak leaf disposal system. I rotate spots where I bury garden and kitchen compost. I know it’s working well because this year I have 4 volunteer potato plants that moved into the bed. One was devoured by my regular deer visitors, so I dug itvup and discovered new potatoes -delicious! Now I’m using deer netting to protect the other 3 plants, and I hope to harvest potatoes in a few weeks. One question: Since my bed is so heavy on oak leaves, do I need to add any additional nutrients to get a better balanced soil? I am looking into shredding the leaves to help them avoid matting and compost more quickly.
Decomposed leaves have a lot of nutrients, but to get more I would suggest adding herbaceous ingredients like cut grass. The leaves are decomposed primarily by fungi and for a balanced soil you should have the green ingredients that are decomposed by bacteria.
The first year of our 8 x 10 Gardens were the most difficult. Soil in New England is from glacial deposits. Mostly we have rock and sand and clay deposits. Because of the pond we had plenty of decaying matter at the outlet which was called black muck . And we also use kitchen scraps and turn them in every spring time. We actually saved over the winter in screwtop jars under the kitchen sink
I do this in my planter boxes. I put a planter box at the end of the row in my garden. Then I add about two inches of moss at the bottom. Then a layer of green compost scraps followed by a layer of brown compost scraps. I add earth worms to help with decomposition. Then I water it and add another green scrap layer. After that I put a layer of the clay heavy soil from the yard on top, just enough to cover the scraps. Then I repeat the layers; green, brown, earthworms, water, green, clay. Repeat until the planter box is full. I set up a second planter box next to it and repeat the process for that one. And so on. When planting time comes I mix the box and take out any scraps that haven’t broken down yet. Those go in my stacking composter in a lasagna pattern with layers of manure and a heavier amount of earth worms, to break down more slowly. The planter box that I previously composted in gets a layer of finished worm castings from the bottom layer of the stacking unit and then I add the seeds for the new crop. I also harvest worm tea from the stacking unit as a liquid fertilizer for my crops once a week on top of regular watering. Clay soil takes a long time and a lot of plant material to amend but it’s really good at holding on to nutrients. I add garden scraps to the lasagna whenever I can. Long term it would be nice to put the soil back in the ground and grow there, but my current method is growing tons of fruits/veggies/herbs/edible flowers just fine. The average household makes about 200 lbs of compostable waste every year. Thank you for teaching people how to use it in a variety of ways in their garden.
I really look forward to your videos. I think I have seen them all. The way you present yourself and your knowledge , well it is enjoyable and refreshing. Can't wait for the next one. I have been gardening for about 50 years and I am still learning every day and I want to learn more. Take care and stay safe.
Super interesting. I think I’m going to do this just to keep the ground warm during our winter if you can call it that, (may get to 31•F for a couple days)for my citrus trees. Got to ❤️ Ca coast.
Thanks Scott. Well done step by step video on how to set this method of gardening up and explaining how you make it work for you. I am experimenting with this method in a small area of my garden to see how the cardboard breaks down and the time it takes to do so at the base of the pile.
I got that lasagna book right after it was published. I have gardened this way for years. I was amazed to see your video because I got that book out just this morning to read again! Lol I do always put manure in my recipe. I get it free from the county fairgrounds after the fair, they have lots of it. Lol
Hahaha I love that shirt. Just thinned some seedlings today and I was brutal. I didn’t the last batch and now I have too many plants that I don’t know what to do with. They’re taking up a lot of space haha. Never making that mistake again.
i was trying this in the yard, but just had too much loose shreded paper that worried me so i put a frame around to contain it...became a compost bin. plan is to move the bin once it breaks down and plant it in place! (can you tell i'm feelin quite clever!!!)
It's what we did last yr. Plus another one this year. We can't physically turn our compost soo we make lasagna with our scraps/leaves/ manure ECT. This is a good way to make our clay dirt grow something. Lol
Thanks for another great video. I'm learning so much on your channel. How concerned should I be about herbicides if I'm collecting grass from curbside collection piles? I understand some of them can take a long time to break down. I live in a neighborhood where most people have landscapers take care of their lawns and don't know what's being sprayed on them.
If you aren't sure of the source, you can still collect the grass but put it in a pile or compost bin for many months. Some herbicides can take months to dissipate.
Thanks Gardener Scott. I started mine last Fall & it's looking good for Spring planting! Question: can I use a NE corner under trees in my UK garden to make more soil this way? I would love to possibly make better use of that dead spot to make more "gold"!
Sure. I've made mounds of leaves, wood chips, grass, manure, and other organic materials I had and put them in back corners of the garden. It's a good use of space.
I love the idea of using materials we & our neighbors already have on hand. Thanks for this great information. Question Gardener Scott...can I cover the pile with wet cardboard or will it rob the pile of oxygen? I was just thinking of ways to keep the squirrel off. Thanks!!
Gardener Scott, thx for another wonderful video. Would the weed seed heads be inoculated with the heat from the pile or would these become viable later in the planting process? Just wondering. Thx again and keep it up! Name is Brian 🤙🏽
I'd thought this up some years ago as a project for my future garden even before I'd heard of lasagna gardening. That brought confirmation it actually works. I had thought of adding some horse manure too. Would you recommend it?
Horse manure is not super-rich in nutrients but it sure has organic matter and holds water. Beneficial crawlies seem to like it as well. Just be sure it's not contaminated with persistent herbicides, that can be a bit of a nightmare.
I'm wondering about millipedes in my compost but not many earthworms, is that a good thing? There are so many, it is a little off putting when I put compost in a pot and dozens of them are moving around. Could it be that the pile too wet? Thank you for all of your very informative well organized videos. They are a wonderful resource for any gardener!
Millipededes can be good because they digest decaying organic matter. They like wet conditions so drying things out may reduce their numbers or cause them to move.
Thanks for the great video! I am looking to build raised beds in my backyard this year, but I also want to incorporate the lasagna gardening method and plan to use peat and compost. I have a bad back so the beds might be 2-3 feet high and they will be build onto of established garden soil. Would you say this is possible and would I just incorporate the peat as a brown layer and compost in between green/brown? Thanks again!
The dirt here is hard red clay. Breaking the ground is a nightmare. I’ve decided to try Lazzagna. Some of the steps I’ve taken in prep might help someone. Ive been collecting boxes from a food market. I’ve got a decent chicken poo, leaves and coffee ground compost pile cooking. Turning it once a week. It’s been 6 weeks and the leaves are broke down enough they are almost gone. Starbucks gives me big bags of grounds nightly. I’ve collected hundreds of pounds of spent coffee grounds. Getting free woodchips via piles the state has on a road project nearby. Workers told me I could take as much as I wanted. Some of it is halfway composted. The city gives away free leave compost for my dirt rows. If your area takes leaves then you can likely get compost there too. I’m sprouting my own plants. Do I need to worry about leaching from the woodchips affecting the soil/plants? I do have to feed my chickens but I spent zero getting the stuff for my garden. Just a lot of labor getting going.
That can be effective. Hugelkutur uses fungi to break down the material primarily and lasagna uses bacteria, so the blend can make a very healthy soil.
It's a good concept. Legumes like peas can add nitrogen to soil if they aren't allowed to flower and set pods. Even then it's usually not enough to fully support the growth of other plants.
It certainly can't hurt. As Scott said nitrogen fixing cover crops won't provide all the N you'll need, but it's a start. Always having roots in the ground helps get the beneficial microbes going, too... and creates all sorts of pathways in the soil for water and air. I don't tear the cover crop roots out, just cut them down tight and plant right into it. The old roots will just break down and become part of the soil again.
Hey Gardener Scott, I tried this method and was good except, I have Bermuda grass, it grew up through the cardboard and was a total bear to pull up and I was never able to get really rid of it. How can I do this type of gardening when I have this type of grass? Thanks love your videos.
I would avoid herbicides and just layer your cardboard twice to three times as much. Overlapping pieces so there’s no cracks for it to grow through. Past that, just staying on top of weeding (I know, I hate it too)
You can, but use the long decomposition process. Some of the herbicides can stay active for months so I don't recommend planting in the bed right away.
Maybe not, but it depends on your climate. It can take months for the material to decompose so if you have warm conditions and can keep the bed moist it might be usable for planting this year.
Hello Scott! I would like to ask, why don't you use manure? You never use it? Don't you like it, or just it is difficult to get it in your neighbourhood? Becouse I (living in the village) have access to a lot of old cow and horse manure, and it work great in our garden, in Hungary. What is your oppinion in this subject. Thanks! Cheers! :)
Zoltan, if you have access to manure or old hay that has been sprayed with persistent herbicides, that's great for gardens! Here in the United States, some hay producers are using highly persistent herbicides. Even after horses eat this hay, it remains in their manure and will kill plants for months or even years later. Gardeners are being warned not to use hay or horse manure without knowing for certain whether or not these persistent herbicides were used to grow the hay. Since many horse owners do not grow their own hay, it may be difficult or impossible to find out this information. Hopefully, you won't encounter this problem where you live. Happy gardening!
I meant to type HAS NOT been sprayed with persistent herbicides. Make sure you know how the hay was grown and what the animals were fed. That is very difficult to find out here in the United States.
@@maryannrondinella5680 Thanks God, my friend has bio-fields for his cows and horses, 1km from my garden , where i can get it. That is the source, it is poison free. And the straw is "old" straw. I dont know how to say it. It was taken out of the field, and it overwintered under the cows, and now more than 1 year old. I get your point, it is a valid question :) Thanks for mentioning! Better think twice, then not thinking at all :)
I like it, but I don't have a good source for manure. The people I know with horses use salt licks and that manure is high in salt. There is no cow manure near me. I am planning on using alpaca manure soon. And I use chicken manure when I can get it.
Avoiding grass and weeds that have gone to seed will reduce the risk of new weeds growing in the bed. If you don't mind pulling the small plants when they emerge, you can use them.
Scott I have piles of grass, pine needles, leaves etc on my property but I find the ants love to live in them. I don’t want the ants in my raised beds so I don’t know what to do with the ants😢
I love the simplicity of building this type of garden bed. I love the idea of recycling, reusing, using what you have. Mother nature is amazing.
Free is my favourite price gardener Scott 😁
a tip : watch series on Flixzone. I've been using them for watching all kinds of movies lately.
@Avi Layne Yup, I've been watching on flixzone for since november myself :)
I have a friend who lives in town w/ lots of trees. She had to pay to have leaves removed after she raked them. Now she brings them to me & we both benefit.
Ooh Garfield is gonna like this one.
Is this shirt for sale? I love it!
I have rocky soil, and use this basic technique for my beds, too. Works great. I usually dig a trench 3 ft wide, 12" deep the length of the bed. I remove all the rocks for the dirt pile. Then I re-fill the trench in lasagna style, while also adding layers of soil as I go, until it's mounded up a bit above the surrounding surface. Couldn't be happier
@oak knobs farm how long does it take to break down?
@@johnna4487I know this is old but it only takes 3 months to fully break down during the spring or fall. Assuming you leave it alone without planting, but putting plants in makes it break down faster(depending on the plant)
Happy that you do this and my father had taught us this around 1970. He had a geology major concentration and a biology minor and a junior high teacher. He also was a radar man in a submarine. We were too young to question him about 10 till 12 years old. We each had an 8 by 10 plot and we removed 2/3 of the orange colored dirt. The Rocks went to build the base of a nature path around the side of the pond
Awesome@@MrThatguy333
People who give thumbs down are jealous....
I love the knowledge that you offer us who want to produce our own food
You are the best of the best in giving information... Thank you for sharing your talents
Bob Cooney
Salt Lake City Utah
Bob Cooney Scott is ONE of the better gardeners in giving advice and knowledge
Bob Cooney I did not see any thumbs down
@@judithmiller6289 there's 6thumbs down right now
I love free! And the idea I can do this in my raised bed over many months. More money to spend on plants and seeds!
You are one of my favorite garden people. I've had her book since it first came out. I have been kinda aggravated by all the you tube people doing the same thing and calling it no-till and acting like it's something new. I now about 3 acres sucking up the grass with my Gaint-Vac. I always have compost piles around the woodline. I use about anything I get for the compost piles. But mostly I alternate green and brown grass layers. Adding a layer now and then of finished compost. Just before planting I always add a heavy layer of compost. Love what you are doing. Sure wish I had UA-cam 40 years ago. Thanks again for helping so many people. I believe there's a special place in heaven for people like you.
This is one of your best videos! No gimmicks, no fuss, no dig, no cost, no fuss. Lots of flexibility. I like the idea of building your bed as the season progresses and materials become available. Thanks for posting. Cheers.
I have a big pile of half-composted horse manure that I think will be perfect as part of a lasagna bed if I build it now. By next spring I reckon it will be composted nicely and ready to plant in.
This is a wonderful video. I just sent it to a friend, she is starting a garden and doesn't want to dig, I don't blame her. This is how I started out in my new house. Thank you
Just found the lasagna gardening book as I was packing to move. My father must have bought it years ago. Going to follow this when I start my new beds, have plenty of free brown and green material between the woods and grass, along with veggies in smart pots right now. Plan is to build beds in fall after renovations completed to let material start decomposing. I also bagged all my homemade compost and brought it’ll knew place to use. Did not want to just leave it, so rich and full of worms.
The magazine that I subscribed to in 1978 was called organic gardening. I still have some copies from the family house that we just went through. invaluable information
Fantastic!
I agree. It is a plus to add scoops of soil or compost into the mix.
Also as far as transporting leaves, back in the late sixties the early seventies we didn't have tarps with a family of five children. So we used an old bed sheet or an old blanket and that's how we carted them
Your presentation was wonderfully rich in information anyone could follow no matter what their experience level in gardening. Hat's off to you! Keep up the good work! Now I will need to watch your other videos. Thanks again!
Steve is a great guy
I do this anyway adapting the dig concept, nice to see it outined in a video and given a name. The only thing is controlling for weeds as there are a lot of seeds in the bed.
I really like the cardboard trick! I'm a new gardener and I saw it somewhere online, so when I got my raised beds ready in the spring, I put down cardboard first thing. I haven't had any problems with weeds (or in my case, mint that the previous home owner planted in the ground and let spread everywhere).
The dairy farm next to us had plenty of manure dried out in the pasture across the road. We would just break that up maybe in a bucket of water sometimes but it was not fresh. Definitely dry. So each successive year is so much simpler than the first year. We had an acre and a half of lawn and leaves that we would pile along the perimeter of our property and then source that for the rich black dirt underneath.
Georgeus 🌱🌱🌱🌱🤗⛄🌨
And my father the science and math teacher, was also a geologist briefly. But he had a family to raise and couldn't remain in canada. The amazing rocks. He inspired us and three of us in our 60s now are still finding rocks in a riverbed such as the Salmon River in connecticut. And incorporate them in the landscape. We're not robbing. Just taking a handful a couple times a year wherever we're taking a hike
Thanks for all your gardening info! I my gardening knowledge is expanding at a pace I get to control!
I started my 1st lasagne compost because I have mountains of oak leaves to deal with every year, as well as a loot of cardboard! It was a struggle to keep up with the green layers but I finally met a neighbor who now supplies me with grass clippings every two weeks. I am in the forest, so I located my lasagne bed in a shadier spot, and use it as a slow compost bed, and oak leaf disposal system. I rotate spots where I bury garden and kitchen compost. I know it’s working well because this year I have 4 volunteer potato plants that moved into the bed. One was devoured by my regular deer visitors, so I dug itvup and discovered new potatoes -delicious! Now I’m using deer netting to protect the other 3 plants, and I hope to harvest potatoes in a few weeks. One question: Since my bed is so heavy on oak leaves, do I need to add any additional nutrients to get a better balanced soil? I am looking into shredding the leaves to help them avoid matting and compost more quickly.
Decomposed leaves have a lot of nutrients, but to get more I would suggest adding herbaceous ingredients like cut grass. The leaves are decomposed primarily by fungi and for a balanced soil you should have the green ingredients that are decomposed by bacteria.
I love this idea of using stuff throughtout the year in next years lasagna garden, keep expanding every year!
Love your " I kill " T-shirt !!! 💕
The first year of our 8 x 10 Gardens were the most difficult. Soil in New England is from glacial deposits. Mostly we have rock and sand and clay deposits. Because of the pond we had plenty of decaying matter at the outlet which was called black muck . And we also use kitchen scraps and turn them in every spring time. We actually saved over the winter in screwtop jars under the kitchen sink
I do this in my planter boxes. I put a planter box at the end of the row in my garden. Then I add about two inches of moss at the bottom. Then a layer of green compost scraps followed by a layer of brown compost scraps. I add earth worms to help with decomposition. Then I water it and add another green scrap layer. After that I put a layer of the clay heavy soil from the yard on top, just enough to cover the scraps. Then I repeat the layers; green, brown, earthworms, water, green, clay. Repeat until the planter box is full. I set up a second planter box next to it and repeat the process for that one. And so on. When planting time comes I mix the box and take out any scraps that haven’t broken down yet. Those go in my stacking composter in a lasagna pattern with layers of manure and a heavier amount of earth worms, to break down more slowly. The planter box that I previously composted in gets a layer of finished worm castings from the bottom layer of the stacking unit and then I add the seeds for the new crop. I also harvest worm tea from the stacking unit as a liquid fertilizer for my crops once a week on top of regular watering. Clay soil takes a long time and a lot of plant material to amend but it’s really good at holding on to nutrients. I add garden scraps to the lasagna whenever I can. Long term it would be nice to put the soil back in the ground and grow there, but my current method is growing tons of fruits/veggies/herbs/edible flowers just fine. The average household makes about 200 lbs of compostable waste every year. Thank you for teaching people how to use it in a variety of ways in their garden.
Sounds excellent
Show the green moss growing on one side of my lawn is going to be incorporated. I was just considering that before I reconstruct the surface
Great video. Oh yeah, I'm totally going to build one of these myself. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lasagna to get out of the oven
I really look forward to your videos. I think I have seen them all. The way you present yourself and your knowledge , well it is enjoyable and refreshing. Can't wait for the next one. I have been gardening for about 50 years and I am still learning every day and I want to learn more. Take care and stay safe.
Wow, thank you!
Super interesting. I think I’m going to do this just to keep the ground warm during our winter if you can call it that, (may get to 31•F for a couple days)for my citrus trees. Got to ❤️ Ca coast.
One of the better videos/explanations of lasagna gardening. I'm hoping we'll be able to move to another place where I can try it out. Thanks, Scott.
Love the shirt 😂
Thanks Scott. Well done step by step video on how to set this method of gardening up and explaining how you make it work for you. I am experimenting with this method in a small area of my garden to see how the cardboard breaks down and the time it takes to do so at the base of the pile.
Thank you so much for your videos. I learned so much from you. Keep them coming? Much appreciation from Bulgaria.
I love your shirt 😂
Thanks for the video Scott. Love the tshirts!
I got that lasagna book right after it was published. I have gardened this way for years. I was amazed to see your video because I got that book out just this morning to read again! Lol I do always put manure in my recipe. I get it free from the county fairgrounds after the fair, they have lots of it. Lol
Every one needs a buddy Steve.
O yeah...!! I like your conversation style sir. You are legend agri field mentore..!! Best wishes for you always..
Starting this this evening as soon as it cools off. Thanks Scott!
Just got done reading the book "Lasagna Gardening" and loved it. Thanks for the video 😀
Hahaha I love that shirt. Just thinned some seedlings today and I was brutal. I didn’t the last batch and now I have too many plants that I don’t know what to do with. They’re taking up a lot of space haha. Never making that mistake again.
i was trying this in the yard, but just had too much loose shreded paper that worried me so i put a frame around to contain it...became a compost bin. plan is to move the bin once it breaks down and plant it in place! (can you tell i'm feelin quite clever!!!)
It's what we did last yr. Plus another one this year. We can't physically turn our compost soo we make lasagna with our scraps/leaves/ manure ECT. This is a good way to make our clay dirt grow something. Lol
Very helpful for finally getting this started!👍
Sounds like a very good way to compost. I have heard of this but never tried it.I wish I had the room to try it.
Definitely will do this! I have horrible clay soil and i want to plant squash . Time to collect the material!
this is the video i've been needing to see. thanks so much.
Great video Mr. Lebowski.
Totally brilliant!!! Absolutely loved and learned much
I like your shirt :)
minus the sweat LOL
Great video.. easy to follow and very informative ❤😊
Trying it this fall! Turning a rocky hill into a garden wish me luck.
Good luck!
I absolutely love your videos! I learned so much! Thank you for sharing so many details
Really excellent video!
great video and info. Thxs. Greetings from Argentina
Very nice in depth information 👍
Love the shirt.
I like cooking too.
Getting the materials is the hard part , are you just making compost with this lasagna style gardening ?Good video Scott.
thank you
Love that shirt!
Thanks! It's available in my merchandise store that you can access under my videos.
Commenting on this video less than a min after it was posted. Theres already a down thumb?! Wth, people?
Is there such thing as dislike bots?
Probably just a missclick by someone who was too eager to start the learning experience
Think the thumbs down is going on a lot. We all keep getting it
It may be because of the type of composting... I can think of some issues.
Alyssa McK some people are just plain mean!
Thanks for another great video. I'm learning so much on your channel. How concerned should I be about herbicides if I'm collecting grass from curbside collection piles? I understand some of them can take a long time to break down. I live in a neighborhood where most people have landscapers take care of their lawns and don't know what's being sprayed on them.
If you aren't sure of the source, you can still collect the grass but put it in a pile or compost bin for many months. Some herbicides can take months to dissipate.
Thanks Gardener Scott. I started mine last Fall & it's looking good for Spring planting! Question: can I use a NE corner under trees in my UK garden to make more soil this way? I would love to possibly make better use of that dead spot to make more "gold"!
Sure. I've made mounds of leaves, wood chips, grass, manure, and other organic materials I had and put them in back corners of the garden. It's a good use of space.
Thats perfect. I appreciate your reply. All best to you Gardener Scott.
I love the idea of using materials we & our neighbors already have on hand. Thanks for this great information. Question Gardener Scott...can I cover the pile with wet cardboard or will it rob the pile of oxygen? I was just thinking of ways to keep the squirrel off. Thanks!!
The cardboard will reduce oxygen levels until it begins to break down but it is better than plastic.
@@GardenerScott will remove soon as i can then when food scraps start to degrade. Thanks Scott.
Gardener Scott, thx for another wonderful video. Would the weed seed heads be inoculated with the heat from the pile or would these become viable later in the planting process? Just wondering. Thx again and keep it up! Name is Brian 🤙🏽
This won't heat up like a compost pile so the seeds will stay viable. I use weeds with flower heads but before they set seed.
I'd thought this up some years ago as a project for my future garden even before I'd heard of lasagna gardening. That brought confirmation it actually works. I had thought of adding some horse manure too. Would you recommend it?
Horse manure is not super-rich in nutrients but it sure has organic matter and holds water. Beneficial crawlies seem to like it as well. Just be sure it's not contaminated with persistent herbicides, that can be a bit of a nightmare.
Yes, horse manure can be good. However, if the horses use salt licks I don't recommend it.
@@GardenerScott Thank you!
I'm wondering about millipedes in my compost but not many earthworms, is that a good thing? There are so many, it is a little off putting when I put compost in a pot and dozens of them are moving around. Could it be that the pile too wet? Thank you for all of your very informative well organized videos. They are a wonderful resource for any gardener!
Millipededes can be good because they digest decaying organic matter. They like wet conditions so drying things out may reduce their numbers or cause them to move.
How long would it take to break down to usable soil, on average? Thank you for this great idea!
Much depends on temperatures and moisture levels. Warm, moist conditions can break it down in a few months. It will take longer when drier and cooler.
When you trim your tomatoes what do you do with the trimmings? Compost it??
Most is composted, but I let small trimmings stay on the ground as extra mulch.
@@GardenerScott can you do this with tomatoes trimmings with powdery mildew? Or do you toss that?
Good stuff. Compost piles are over-rated. Just toss it into the garden.
Thanks for the great video! I am looking to build raised beds in my backyard this year, but I also want to incorporate the lasagna gardening method and plan to use peat and compost. I have a bad back so the beds might be 2-3 feet high and they will be build onto of established garden soil. Would you say this is possible and would I just incorporate the peat as a brown layer and compost in between green/brown? Thanks again!
You can definitely do this in a raised bed. The peat is a brown. I like the idea of compost as extra layers too.
@@GardenerScott Thanks a lot!
Don’t forget to add urine. Yes regular ole pee will help it decomposes fast with lots of nitrogen. Plus it us free liquid gold and better than water.
If I already have a garden with plants in it, but with very hard clay soil, do I do this method between, around the plants?
Should you add worms or will that take care of itself?
My local worms always find it. I've never had to add any.
Especially with leaves you won’t be able to count how many will live there
The dirt here is hard red clay. Breaking the ground is a nightmare. I’ve decided to try Lazzagna. Some of the steps I’ve taken in prep might help someone. Ive been collecting boxes from a food market. I’ve got a decent chicken poo, leaves and coffee ground compost pile cooking. Turning it once a week. It’s been 6 weeks and the leaves are broke down enough they are almost gone. Starbucks gives me big bags of grounds nightly. I’ve collected hundreds of pounds of spent coffee grounds. Getting free woodchips via piles the state has on a road project nearby. Workers told me I could take as much as I wanted. Some of it is halfway composted. The city gives away free leave compost for my dirt rows. If your area takes leaves then you can likely get compost there too. I’m sprouting my own plants. Do I need to worry about leaching from the woodchips affecting the soil/plants? I do have to feed my chickens but I spent zero getting the stuff for my garden. Just a lot of labor getting going.
That would take some serious patience to hold off for a year.
Does the grass clippings have to be fresh or can they be dried out?
Either way. Green grass can clump together so I usually mix it with other material.
If you use pulled weeds and weedy grass clippings, won't it cause more yucky weeds in the bed?
Most weeds and grass grow from seeds. If they are used before seeds develop there won't be yucky plants in the bed.
would be more effective mixing hugelkultur and lasagna system to create a top soil?
That can be effective. Hugelkutur uses fungi to break down the material primarily and lasagna uses bacteria, so the blend can make a very healthy soil.
Thinking out loud... I wonder if you initially plant nitrogen fixating plants like peas, then you can start growing without adding fertilizer.
It's a good concept. Legumes like peas can add nitrogen to soil if they aren't allowed to flower and set pods. Even then it's usually not enough to fully support the growth of other plants.
It certainly can't hurt. As Scott said nitrogen fixing cover crops won't provide all the N you'll need, but it's a start. Always having roots in the ground helps get the beneficial microbes going, too... and creates all sorts of pathways in the soil for water and air. I don't tear the cover crop roots out, just cut them down tight and plant right into it. The old roots will just break down and become part of the soil again.
Hey Gardener Scott, I tried this method and was good except, I have Bermuda grass, it grew up through the cardboard and was a total bear to pull up and I was never able to get really rid of it. How can I do this type of gardening when I have this type of grass? Thanks love your videos.
Bermuda grass is a difficult problem. An herbicide to kill the Bermuda grass and then cardboard on top of that may work.
@@GardenerScott Thank you for answering.
I would avoid herbicides and just layer your cardboard twice to three times as much. Overlapping pieces so there’s no cracks for it to grow through. Past that, just staying on top of weeding (I know, I hate it too)
Hello Gardener Scott😍: My neighbor uses “weed and feed” on his grass so can I still use the grass?
Yes you can! 😊
You can, but use the long decomposition process. Some of the herbicides can stay active for months so I don't recommend planting in the bed right away.
It being January, is it too late to do a lasagna garden for this upcoming spring?
Maybe not, but it depends on your climate. It can take months for the material to decompose so if you have warm conditions and can keep the bed moist it might be usable for planting this year.
@@GardenerScott I guess it won't hurt to start small and try.
Thanks for the response and for sharing your knowledge!
I noticed that you didn't set up the lasagna in a "pan" or other type of established bed. Was that intentional?
Yes. The original point of lasagna beds is to quickly and cheaply make a bed where there wasn't one before, like right on top of a lawn.
Yes. It's intended to be as easy a way to build a bed as possible. I do use similar methods in established beds. Thanks for the comment, Matt.
What keeps the weeds and cut grasses from sowing their own seeds into the bed?
If you cut the grass before it sets seed it will keep new plants from growing.
I can never find enough green compost.
I live in an extremely windy area- what can I do to keep my layers from blowing away?
Here's one of the things I do: ua-cam.com/video/4L-SYnwJ3ME/v-deo.html
What about the crabgrass can I layer over that?
The cardboard and depth of organic matter should be enough to smother the crabgrass.
Hello Scott!
I would like to ask, why don't you use manure? You never use it? Don't you like it, or just it is difficult to get it in your neighbourhood?
Becouse I (living in the village) have access to a lot of old cow and horse manure, and it work great in our garden, in Hungary. What is your oppinion in this subject. Thanks! Cheers! :)
Zoltan, if you have access to manure or old hay that has been sprayed with persistent herbicides, that's great for gardens! Here in the United States, some hay producers are using highly persistent herbicides. Even after horses eat this hay, it remains in their manure and will kill plants for months or even years later. Gardeners are being warned not to use hay or horse manure without knowing for certain whether or not these persistent herbicides were used to grow the hay. Since many horse owners do not grow their own hay, it may be difficult or impossible to find out this information. Hopefully, you won't encounter this problem where you live. Happy gardening!
I meant to type HAS NOT been sprayed with persistent herbicides. Make sure you know how the hay was grown and what the animals were fed. That is very difficult to find out here in the United States.
@@maryannrondinella5680 Thanks God, my friend has bio-fields for his cows and horses, 1km from my garden , where i can get it. That is the source, it is poison free.
And the straw is "old" straw. I dont know how to say it. It was taken out of the field, and it overwintered under the cows, and now more than 1 year old.
I get your point, it is a valid question :) Thanks for mentioning! Better think twice, then not thinking at all :)
I like it, but I don't have a good source for manure. The people I know with horses use salt licks and that manure is high in salt. There is no cow manure near me. I am planning on using alpaca manure soon. And I use chicken manure when I can get it.
Can I use the grocery store brown paper bags instead of cardboard?
Sure.
Gardener Scott - Why are trees behind you bare? Just curious.
We had temperatures that dropped into single digit lows during April. It killed the leaf buds of many trees in my area.
@@GardenerScott my heart goes out to a gardener. it's hard work but rewarding. i saw the hail damage. stay strong. i watch everyone of your videos.
Is there a link to where I can buy a copy of your shirt?
You can click on the merchandise links below my videos or check out the store here: ua-cam.com/channels/WsI0LmiDyezbnN2JCL4P9w.htmlstore
Did the same but added grass as green material.a little afraid now that u said grass is considered brown material.Will I face any problems?
It depends on the grass, but you shouldn't have problems. I use dried grass so it is a brown. Fresh cut grass is a green.
I wonder how a straw and manure "lasagna" would work for growing tomatoes. Hmmmm.
I've used that mix for potatoes with success.
I think it would be excellent especially if you let it break down for a while. After all, some people plant right in bales or piles of straw...
Works very well. I owned horses for many years and composted many tons of manure this way.
Should I avoid using grass that may have gone to seed?
Avoiding grass and weeds that have gone to seed will reduce the risk of new weeds growing in the bed. If you don't mind pulling the small plants when they emerge, you can use them.
👌
Scott I have piles of grass, pine needles, leaves etc on my property but I find the ants love to live in them. I don’t want the ants in my raised beds so I don’t know what to do with the ants😢
Ants can be good to improve soil drainage and add organic material into soil. Unless they are fire ants I let them do their job in the garden.