Direct sowing & cardboard

[Gorse]

Hi, I was thinking to cardboard/lasagna mulch in a couple of different plots, one riddled with horsetail, the other with couch grass. The things I was thinking to sow into these plots are things that want to be directly sown. Can you direct sow on top of lasagna/sheet mulching or can you only transplant module grown plants, as you need to pierce a hole in the cardboard for the tranplants to grow through?

Any help greatly appreciated,

Many thanks

[charles]

The first year of mulching thick growth of perennial weeds is tricky for growing unless you spread a lot of compost, at least 10cm. And direct sowing into mulches laid now is tricky, I would recommend planting.

[zuf]

Direct sowing in deep mulch lasagna works best in rows or in patches of compost (see pics below).
Cardboard beneath lasagna material breaks down fast enough for plants to grow, especially if it’s wet when laid down.

[charles]

Amazingly neat Zuf. If I did that here, blackbirds would kick it around looking for worms, do you have such birds?

[zuf]

Thanks a lot! There are blackbirds here, we call them kos. But there is no pressure, they have wild nature all over. Lots of forest edge, mulch, meadows etc. Of course, they occasionally go through mulch and compost, but it doesn’t do much damage. In suburbs and in urban setting they have problems with dogs, blackbirds and such animals. Also red slugs are a big problem! They are so aggressive, we fortunately don’t have them but there are others and there is not much damage. Again, plenty of nature. But yes, compost is still the best to use on a garden and since i tried it last year i recommend it to everyone, especially in urban setting. Most of garden beds are covered in compost. 🙂 For lasagna gardening, for me autumn leafs are the best for first layer and on paths, i find them extremely useful at weeding from autumn till early summer!

[John]

Zuf’s third photo puts me in mind of Andy Goldworthy
Click for Andy Goldsworthy image
The allotment garden as art!

John

[John]

Here is the Andy Goldsworthy image …

John

[Author]

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