Former Outrageous Garlic Chive FootholdAs my gardens expanded, I learned the value of mulching and keeping weeds tamed. However, even the best laid plans seem to go arye!
So something I have done (even before the book) is what is commonly referred to as lasagna gardening. Probably not the extent that I presently enjoy the easy-way-to-great-soil but it proved the old adage: Necessity is the mother of invention.
I first started this process with cheap, black landscape plastic over the (ridiculously tenacious) Bermuda grass and cover it with grass clippings, mulched leaves, peat moss and pine needle mulch as well as chipped wood and pine bark mulch. Initially, any plantings I made were literally cut into this ground covering. Over time, the plastic was removed and the Bermuda had to me routinely weeded out (or, gasp! sprayed with Round-Up).
Over the 17 years I have dug in the dirt of my two-and-a-hald-acre wood, the soil has been enriched by the mulching practices I employ. Honestly, as much as I think about moving from my home someday, it would be almost impossible to bid farewell to the wonderful garden areas I have been blessed with! ;-)
My most recent lasagna project involved laying newspaper, grass clippings, mulched leaves and a bit of paving sand atop the "Outrageous Garlic Chive Foothold" area of my gardens. I absolutely adore the wonderful snowy-show of their bloom during the extreme heat of an Oklahoma August. However, these faithful herbs fall into the invasive category!
This mix (which is currently being "watered" so as to get the newspaper nice and soppy) will be topped with a blend of compost, cotton seed hulls, cow manure (from "my" Brown Swiss milk cows ... at the dairy where I get my raw milk) and some more grass clippings during the next two days.
