no dig flower bed?

I just tried something new and wonder if it's going to work. I'd love to hear from anyone with experience in making a no dig flower bed successfully.

The dry land above the bog area surrounding my fish pond is covered in weeds It's mostly hard clay that can easily bend a shovel. Not to be whipped with weeds I burned off a 42 sq ft section, covered the area with about 8 sheets of newspaper, then topped it off with 2 40 lb. bags of cow manure/compost (1.14 a bag) and 4 bags of cheap (1.07) top soil. Planted some seeds and now I'm waiting to see what happens. The bee balm, coneflower and mexican sunflower seeds have their first leaves. I'm wondering if the roots will penetrate the hard ground underneath in order to get the plants to maturity.

The thicker the papers are the better it works,worms will come to the papers,and the clay becomes workable,soon you have a flower bed,instead of weeds.Mike

Thanks, Mike. I'll keep going around the edge of the pond with newspapers; and try to grow some wild flowers instead of wild weeds.

I believe this method is called 'lasagna gardening'. I have a book about it but have never tried it. I am going to try to do a bed over the Winter that will be ready come Spring.

Berrygirl, does your info say to lay down cardboard first, newspaper second, then top soil followed by mulch? I read somewhere that this method would give you good soil the following spring. Haven't tried it yet but if the worms come to do their job like Mike says they will, then it is certainly worth a try. I just tried the newspaper and soil for some this season luck.

Cordele,
According to Patricia Lanza in her book 'Lasagna Gardening For Small Spaces', she starts with newspaper and uses that as her base. I don't recall her mentioning cardboard. I know some folks recommend it but I don't think she does. I'm not going to use it either.

I use news paper as the light barrier and it seems to work fine. The only difference is that I try to layer in a car bale of peat with the manure and potting soil. I am more familiar with the cardboard as a mulch in veggie gardens to keep down weeds and keep the soil from drying out. Either one should break down fairly quickly in our climate.

Beth