Starting A Sheet Mulch Garden

Sheet mulching is a super easy no dig garden!  See how to build one in your garden.

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Sheet Mulch Gardening

So what is sheet mulch?

Sheet mulching is a term used for laying different materials over the ground in layers to decompose and build garden soil.  This type of gardening is also known as no-dig, no-till, composting in place, and lasagna gardening.

It is a great way to build the quality of your soil.  Many sheet mulching garden fans have heavy clay, stony soil or even sandy soils and this method of gardening allows them to grow a productive garden without having to dig

What Materials Can You Use As Sheet Mulch?

Anything that will break down can be used in this type of garden.  So if you think about what you might put in the compost bin, this type of gardening can use similar materials.

Let’s run through some common materials that are used in sheet mulching and why.

Cardboard

Cardboard boxes when broken down laid flat on the ground and overlapped to cover splits and gaps act as a pretty good weed barrier. 

They block the light from getting to whatever is underneath and help to keep the moisture in the soil.  I’ve used cardboard to create gardens and just as a weed control technique for years and cardboard boxes are almost always the first layer in a sheet mulch garden.  They are the base that everything else is then placed on.  Wet cardboard, mostly stays put, and removing as much packing tape as possible will save you from having it blowing around the yard later as the cardboard decomposes.

Newspaper and Paper

Like cardboard, paper-like brown packing paper or newspaper are used very readily in sheet mulch gardens.  They break down quicker than cardboard and, if used in thicker layers, can help to block weeds.  For weed blocking, you really need like the whole newspaper and it works better if the paper is damp to reduce it from being blown away.  Glossy magazines or junk mail usually isn’t put in a garden, the chemicals and inks can leach into the ground but some people are not concerned by that and use them anyway so it’s up to you.

Autumn Leaves

As I’m writing this it is fall and boy do we have a lot of leaves here in New England.  Even in the drizzle and rain, it’s still beautiful Maine with the gorgeous red, yellow and orange hues of the trees.  Leaves are one of the key ingredients to a lasagna garden.  Sheet mulch gardeners love fall!  Trees are pulling up nutrients from the ground that then decompose from the leaves as they break down.  Forest floors are often deep, spongy soil, full of nutrients and life.  When leaves are added to a sheet mulch garden, they break down slowly, adding humus to the soil, helping to improve soil texture, raising the organic matter, and helping to improve water and nutrient retention.

Compost and Manure

Compost is alive with microorganisms that help to turn these once-living materials into nutrients that your garden plants can use.  It adds nitrogen to help start breaking down the sheet mulch materials that are high in carbon like paper, or cardboard.  Manure contains even more nitrogen, but not everyone wants to use manure and it’s not totally necessary for a sheet mulch garden either.  I’ll be honest, when we had chickens and I had it available, I used chicken manure in creating the garden or adding to the compost. 

Right now, I don’t have any birds so we’re not using them.  When we used manure, we had to wait longer after any application to the plants or the garden before we could harvest, that is to help ensure no pathogens or disease-causing microbes are passed to the plants we are harvesting.

How do you build a sheet mulch garden?

I love this method of building a garden for fall because winter helps to break down the sheet mulch materials so they start to be ready for planting in the spring.  So, let’s talk about putting this all together. 

At your chosen garden area, lay flattened cardboard.  Make sure to overlap it well at the edges to reduce the weeds working their way through the gaps.  Wet the cardboard to help keep it in place.  Remember when choosing a place to put your garden, it needs to have 8 hours or more of sun ideally in the summer to help your plants thrive and ripen. 

If you have big weeds like I do, trample down the weeds, a plank of wood or a plywood board can be very helpful, especially if it is as wide as your beds will be.  If you don’t have a board to help, then a good pair of boots to help tread things down works just fine.  You can also cut the weeds first and just let the cut weeds lie right on top of the ground, then cover with cardboard. 

I’ve not completely decided which method I’m going to use in creating my garden yet.  Our land is riddled in ticks and fleas because it has been neglected so we’re trying to decide the best method for us to reduce the ticks getting onto us as we build the garden.

Once you have your cardboard layer, it is really a case of adding other layers of materials, like lasagna.  I add newspaper or packing paper after the cardboard to help block the more tenacious weeds, then I layer on the fall leaves.  Then, to help keep those leaves in place, I would then add compost, then maybe some straw from a bale that got wet, them more compost.  Other people add layers of kitchen scraps after the drier, more carbon-rich materials, then a layer of compost or topsoil. 

Compost or topsoil is the last layer that is placed on the sheet mulch and can be a thicker layer.  6 to 12 inches is not uncommon.  These become the areas that get planted so are often made deeper so you can get planting earlier.

You want your sheet mulch layers to be thick.  As the layers decompose, your bed will shrink down.  This is normal.  Worms will take materials into the soil and the structure of your soil will begin to improve and it will start becoming more spongy and your garden will thrive better each year. 

How think should the layers be?  Well depends on how much material you have available, 2 inches thick is usually the minimum, and 4 to 6 inches is where most gardeners build their sheet mulching layers.  Some do more if they have more materials and that’s fine too! 

Once your layers are in place, you can water the new garden bed to help keep things in place and start the decomposing process.  I like to use bokashi tea in the watering can to get things started, but just water is ok! 

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How soon can you plant into a sheet mulch garden?

If you have a thicker compost or topsoil layer on top of your sheet mulch layers, you can plant it up or sow seeds earlier.  This is what I tend to do.  I don’t like bare soil, it’s an opportunity for other plants to come in and get established before my planned plants do! 

Seeds will be easier as they will take time to germinate and grow.  As their roots start working down the layers, you want those lower layers to be decomposing and releasing nutrients without overly fresh nitrogen which can cause your plants to die off. 

I also prefer to build this type of garden in the fall and I will scatter straw over the soil or compost layer to protect it from the rain and snow.  The decomposing can be going on over winter and the garden is ready to roll in early spring.

Do you grow your garden using sheet mulching? Let me know over in the Facebook group 

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