Great Resources
Useful tools to help you improve the health of your landscape
Lasagna Gardening
There are a number of classic gardening books that have helped changed they way we garden. One such book is Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza, that explains a simple, yet powerful way to prepare plant beds organically. The book’s title borrows from the way lasagna is made – using a luscious layering of components – and cleverly ties into the author’s last name, Lanza.
The “lasagna” method is a no-dig, no-till process of layering components such as newspapers, leaves, grass clippings, cardboard, straw, etc., allowing them to decay in place, and then planting into the rich fertile soil which remains. Lanza’s process is a wonderful way to eliminate a lawn, in a completely organic way. If you stick with “lasagna” components that you already have on site, this is a great way to prepare plant beds sustainably.
Lasagna Gardening empowers readers to replace the tedious digging and the tremendous soil disturbance which the traditional preparation of a plant bed involves. Unknown to many gardeners, each teaspoon of soil contains millions of living microorganisms that are vital to healthy, fertile soil. Your soil is literally alive! The process of digging or rototilling actually kills many of these valuable living critters in the soil.
Digging or even worse, rototilling, also harms soil structure. Healthy soil has many tiny air pockets that help give soil its structure and allow for air flow – critical to the health of many plants. These nooks and crannies are greatly diminished by the slicing and dicing of a shovel or rototiller, and lead to compacted, anaerobic soil. “Lasagna gardening” is easier on you and far, far better for your soil. A simple, but powerful method!
Pick up a copy of this wonderful book!
From Kim Eierman at EcoBeneficial!
More Great Resources
Finding Native Plant Nurseries
Over the past decade, it has gotten easier to find native plants, but it can still feel like finding the Holy Grail. Native nurseries have grown in numbers, but are not as common as native enthusiasts would like. An increasing number of conventional nurseries are selling native plants, but traditional…
The Pollinator Partnership
Learning about pollinators and how to help them can be a challenge – not only finding reliable information, but finding information that you can actually use. One of the most helpful resources available is the Pollinator Partnership. The Pollinator Partnership is a non-profit organization, describing itself as “the largest in…
Into the Nest
If you find yourself captivated by birds in your landscape, you are not alone. According to the latest research report from the USDA Forest Service, almost 68 million Americans participate in bird watching and photographing. Even with a great pair of binoculars or an expensive camera with a huge telephoto…