No Dig Gardening
We learned about no-dig or “lasagna” gardening earlier this year and have set up a few no-dig beds.
There isn’t ONE single way to do a no-dig garden.
The way I see it, there are three components in the no-dig system:
- Isolation
- Nutrition
- Protection
Isolation
You can set up a no-dig garden on virtually any level surface… a growing (or not growing) lawn, concrete… any non-toxic level surface.
The first layers isolate the surface below from the surface above.
You can optionally start with dark plastic. If your surface has growth – weeds or lawn – the dark plastic “turns out the light (sun)”, prevents water from getting to the area directly, decreases oxygen and increases heat. Basically… smothers, burns and dries up any growth underneath.
If you’re setting up on concrete, you don’t need to be concerned about below surface growth.
The next two layers are cardboard and newspaper. Best to remove tape and labels from the cardboard and to use only black ink newspaper. You can use one or both of these. Both will suppress any below surface growth. They also compost/decompose over time. While they don’t add nutrients, they’re worm friendly.
Nutrition
You’ve isolated the garden, now you want to create a nutritious growing medium to feed your plants.
The first layer in this component is generally alfalfa or lucerne hay. Alfalfa is high in calcium. Blood meal adds high nitrogen. Bone meal adds phosphorus.
Compost or well rotted manure add primary and secondary macro and micro nutrients as well as microbes and good bacteria which feed the composting process.
Protection
Your top layer is straw. Straw holds moisture in, keeps weeds down.
