Can Lasagna Gardening be Used to Plant Small Shrubs?
Lasagna gardening sounds appetizing, and it is a good method for growing the vegetable portion of this pasta dish. However, this method of creating productive garden beds is appropriate for shrubs and even fruit trees and ornamentals. Does this Spark an idea?
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Expert Insight
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In her book "Lasagna Gardening," Patricia Lanza describes the particulars of creating a rich lasagna garden bed with minimal work and no digging. Using common materials such as cardboard, peat moss, compost, wood ash and other organic materials, you can quickly transform an overgrown, weedy area into a rich growing bed by simply piling these materials on top of the ground.
Benefits
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When you build a lasagna bed, you can control its depth by including different organic materials in layers. Build a deeper bed for fruit trees, large shrubs and other plants that will grow large, or keep your lasagna bed shorter for vegetables and small shrubs. When the growing media is 12 to 24 inches tall, you'll have a suitable growing area for your small shrub.
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Considerations
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The University of Minnesota Extension website lists the following shrubs that remain under 5 feet tall: barberry, boxwood, summersweet, smooth hydrangea, alpine current, Rugosa rose, clove currant, garland spirea and other spireas, spreading Japanese yew and Meyer lilac. Very small shrubs include cranberry cotoneaster, burkwood daphne, savin juniper, Russian cypress and the smaller spireas.
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References
- "Lasagna Gardening"; Patricia Lanza; 1998
- University of Minnesota Extension: Fitting Trees and Shrubs Into the Landscape
Resources
- Photo Credit Cavan Images/Digital Vision/Getty Images
