Newbie question here....

We live on basically sheet lava here....with about 3" of 300year old organic matter. I am fascinated by reading of your Lasagna Gardens..... Would they work for plants other than, say, vegies? Would they work for small bushes? I read people growing corn in them....wow!!!!

Definitely getting 'the books'.... thanks so much!!!

Carol

Carol - it would definately work, but if you only have 3" of soil you would have to plan on raised beds if you are looking at shrubs - But beds can be raised to any height you want - you might want to consider building them in a step pattern, with higher (deeper) beds at the back and lower ones in front. This could be very interesting.

Interesting gardening problem, gardening on sheet lava is one most of us don't face.

Hmmmmmm. Good information. We do have some OLD beds that have a cinder base...maybe 1' deep....I could build those up!

My concern (thought of over night) is water retention. We often get 30" a month rain in the winter... Do the newspapers etc. make for soggy feet? I must research this....maybe I need to add layers of cinders too.

Just what I need...another major project!!!

LOL

oh boy...I wish I had that rain problem! ; )

"We get..." 160" of rain per year...according to the books. Recently a drought only about 130" but it comes in gusts and spurts....with maybe 30 days with No rain and then buckets.

oh boy.....hhheheh

AlohaHoya, don't yall have very rich soil though? What color is it? Red?

They have good soil up North...where the sugar cane fields were-ash fall from the volcanoes. WE have lava!!! It's black and it's hard!!!! Our main medium for growing is cinder and it is akin to hydroponic. LOL

Wow! Then I guess raised beds are the way to go.

How much 'soil' under the Lasagna is necessary for it to be 'effective'?

Well if you have a 1' to start off with as stated in your earlier post. I would try building it up somemore if possible. Things like compost are good. I'm not much of a Lasagna gardner, but there are others here that are.

Under the lasagne - the optimum is to have soil that needs amending - so if you are working on clay, or sand, or something that has a more plastic quality than sheet lava, the lasagne bed helps to condition that soil. I think the areas that you describe as cinder would take to this well - what you would be doing is adding in humus into the cinder. Interestingly, I suspect you are very short of worms in your area, and it is worms that lasagne relies on for 'mixing' the new compost/soil into the existing soil. The absence of worms does mean they you will be the one doing the mix - forking over lightly to blend the cinder and the composted material. The lasagne bed shouldn't prove problematic as far as drainage - and in fact it should even out the water that your plants are getting - retaining during the drought and allowing run off during the deluge. But if you are using raised beds, with timber or stone retaining walls, I would drill/make run off holes.

You might want to incorporate some of the Bokashi thinking in this too - since I think your cinder/lava surface might be very low in useful microbes.

Aloha, thanks for bringing this to the forum. Its extremely interesting.

Great resource for EM in Hawaii http://www.emhawaii.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=44

HI,

Laurie1 - good info. Actually, we DO have lots of worms and Milipedes...we get mulch from the county green waste and after 2 years our pile is 1/2 worm castings!!!! (or milipede castings!!!). I am going to work on part of a bed as an experiment....I like the idea of using organic 'trash' to good use!!!!

I bought some EM from him. Unfortunately...he really hasn't a clue what it is about!!!

I have so much to learn!!!

Can you do a lasagna bed around established plants? I have a raised be with a Plumeria tree where the soild is rock hard (I even got a thread going on that). If it's feasible, the lasagna technique would be very helpful in my situation.

Rob....I think that if you raised the level of 'soil' around the plumeria - touching the trunk - it could rot.

I agree. I'd too would be very cautious about that.

Aloha, great to hear you are already up to speed with EM - and even better that you have loads of worms and millipedes - you are 3/4 of the way there.

Oh Laurie...I just need to get over the back surgery and get some energy!!!!! SO much to do!

Owwww - back surgery, yeow. Too much surfing no doubt. Make plans, and read, and relax - quickest way to get back your energy.

I just picked up Anna Pavord's latest book, 'The naming of Names, the search for order in the world of Plants'. Rivetting read, and great pictures! Was up until after midnight last night, just couldn't put it down.

Good point...I didn't think of that, on rotting the trunk. Bummer.

Put a lose collar around the trunk???? so air CAN get in??????

OOOOooooo gotta get that book!!!!! Currently reading a biography of Elizabeth Tudor in her early formative years and the conflicts to her becomming Queen...the Reformation etc. Wow...what a read!!!

Excellent - good queen Bess, my goodness she was a tough ol' girl! But it wasn't until Queen Charlotte, the wife to Mad King George, that we got a gardener on the throne.

I'm not convince about the collar around the plumeria - rob, how old is this tree? More than a couple of years? And is it showing signs of distress?

Here's a nice blog with great pictures showing how to garden on Hawaii lava with raised beds. http://lava-to-lilikoi.blogspot.com/

Isn't that a wonderful site - thank you compostr.

I think that is pretty much what we are talking about here - excellent!

Yes....I have raised beds with rocks as the edges. They work well.....and good for small areas. For my vegies, now, I am using 50 gal. pots.