"Susan Solomon wanted to know whether or not a "lasagna" bed would work in
her hot and dry area,

Hello Susan,

Actually the reason to shred the paper was precisely to help it decompose
faster in dry areas such as Tucson where close friends used to live. Their
soil was, well, arid soil and no matter what kind of amendments were put
into it, it remained less than satisfactory unless you planted solely
natives which in those days weren't of interest to them and several phone
calls later I suggested a modified lasagna bed.

Any way, the first thing was to apply a pre-emergent weed killer, a product
that has been used for ever at the test garden here in Portland and in most
botanical gardens without any effect other than to kill the grass and the
weeds for which the label indicates it is appropriate. i.e:

Com-Pleet® 41% Systemic Grass and Weed Killer

New extra strength formulation.
Kills unwanted weeds and grasses.
One pint makes over 10 gallons of finished spray and covers up to 3,200
square feet.
Com-Pleetly kills the root.
Labeled for use around vegetable gardens, fruit trees, flower beds, trees,
shrubs and other residential areas.
Contains Glyphosate.
Available in pint and quart bottles.
for use around: Home Lawn Flowers Vegetables Ornamentals

This is but one of about 200 available in the market. There is also Topgun
Weed Killer
by Safer that you can use after the fact if you don't want to use or forget
or have no access to pre-emergent weed killer, but subscribing to the old
Spanish proverb: "It is better to prevent than to cure" is my motto in the
garden. You can pick and choose the one suggested for your area by simply
asking at your local nursery. One of the advantages of this is that by
killing the roots of the weeds you don't have any competition where you
plant your roses or companion plants to them.

We applied the grass and weed killer also to the paper so it was quite
saturated, and wet
it well. Since nearby where they lived there was a stable, it was a cinch to
get manure
which we spread evenly over the beds we were working on. After that, they
used some of
their compost and we covered everything with small bark which decomposes
faster than the big bark even in Tucson. Their roses, like everyone else's
demanded plenty of water and only when
they started to travel again it became a problem for them to keep up their
gorgeous garden.

I cannot speak for anyone else's experience but in 33 years of growing roses
I have never
killed a rose by applying weed killer, or any other spray. In fact, many a
rescued rose came
with its own luggage of weed roots entangled in her/his own, and only after
pulling and applying
weed killer they were restored and somehow able in a shorter period of time
than it would have happened otherwise, to grow back some root capillaries. I
don't know that everyone understands what pre-emergent weed killer is but a
Google search will tell you the differences between it and others.

At any rate, we have used and will continue to use Preen every Spring with
excellent results all over our garden and every year we have less and less
weeds to deal with, our roses and all the perennials including the closest
to the ground such as our 16 different kind of violets thrive (and the Lily
of the Valley is coming up like crazy which in our case makes for nothing
more than big broad smiles, as my mother used to leave tiny pots with a pip
in bloom every May first on our night tables because we all believe that if
you wake up the first of May with lilies of the valley, you will have beauty
around you all year long) so at least here, we will continue to do what we
are doing.

In Portland actually we have used cardboard and whole newspapers precisely
for the reasons that made you write: "constant rain". By shredding the
newspaper you are allowing a bit of air to come in contact with your soil
while the pre-emergent weed killer stops the potential weeds from taking
advantage of this factor. The little pockets of air allow the manure,
compost and whatever you
add to your soil to actively decompose the paper and if you keep on adding
mulch - which in your area I would suspect is a necessity both for water
conservation and for the sake of the roses - in a couple of years you will
have the most delicious friable soil you could dream of.

If you have any questions and I know the answers I will be happy to give
them to you. Bob and Phyllis were very happy with the result of the modified
lasagna bed in their gardens. They installed a deep irrigation system but it
failed once or twice while they were traveling and they decided that such a
big garden was tying them down. Eventually they sold the property and moved
back to Encino, but the people who bought it I was told were in love with
the roses. Who wouldn't?

And how are your roses doing?

Allegra