Taking up your lawn? Making a new bed out of grass?  TURF makes excellent compost, really beautiful results, but has to be done in a certain way. Now is the time to do it for the spring. ‘Sod’ layering, like lasagna composting, is an easy way to break down grass and turn the area into a planting bed. Composting with sod layers will provide a nutrient rich soil space, but it does take some time.

How to Layer Sod

Learning how to layer sod in the lasagna compost pile is simple. Turn the sod over and then spread a layer of wet newspaper over that. Put in fine nitrogen organic matter, such as leaves topped with soil or compost. Coat the surface of the area with more soil. Then add carbon rich material.

The newspaper will prevent the grass from growing back up through the soil. You can also use saturated cardboard, but make sure you remove any tape and do not use the waxed kind, as it will take too long to break down. The layers of material will help break down the sod and turn it into usable soil. Each layer needs to be about an inch or so thick with a total height of 18 inches or more.

Composting with sod layers is not hard and you can layer in any order as long as the first layer is newspaper or cardboard and the last layer is carbon. If you want the process to go faster, weight a sheet of black plastic over the pile to keep the heat in. Check it frequently to make sure the pile is lightly moist. In five to six months, turn your beautiful new soil all ready for planting.