If you found this video helpful, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Using Cardboard As Natural Weed Control 1:12 How To Stop Weeds With Weed Fabric 2:39 Using Cardboard To Stop Garden Weeds 5:19 Results 6 Months Later! 8:48 Lessons Learned 10:07 Reusing Cardboard Twice 11:41 Adventures With Dale
My comment is late to the party, but-I often put COW MANURE under the cardboard to help encourage decomposition of the cardboard, and nurture the microbe & earthworm health, but I haven't done a time-lapse like you do, but my impression is that moo-poo helps break down the cardboard and decompose the weeds.
I'd love to see another 6 month follow up! Maybe a short? I've seen videos where they've taken core samples of landfills going back to the 1950's and come up with newspapers that you can still read the date on! This leads me to believe that Oxygen has an impact as well.
Thank you for recording this experiment with the cardboard. My hypothesis is that if the cardboard had soil or mulch over it rather of having landscape fabric over it, it would have broken down much more significantly over 6 months. Would be another good experiment!
I'm sure it would have, but I think the large sheets didn't help. After witnessing this, I think tearing it into small pieces or shredding it is the way to go if you want it to break down at a reasonable rate.
Iowa Zone 5a. Last October, laid same size or larger cardboard sheets around garden perimeter and covered heavily with leaf mulch. Cardboard still visible but on its way. Soaked through with melted snow. What I've noticed here is that fall mulch doesn't fully compost until mid to late June. Cardboard will be the same I'm sure. Needs water + heat. I'm really pleased with the barrier aspect of cardboard. Slow decomposition means it's in place for a long enough time to keep weeds from germinating. I would use it throughout the garden, but I'm afraid it wouldn't let the water through to the plants. Might also be heat issues with it.
He did two things wrong IF the intention was soil preparation. You are correct, you put down cardboard and not mulch, but compost on top. This is soil preparation for future planting. IF you just want to keep things from growing you can put whatever you want over the cardboard and any kind of mulch is fine. But soil prep means that worms and other life work their way up through the cardboard and pull nutrients down into the soil and that requires a compost that will feed living organisms. THEN, the critical ingredient, WATER. Yes, when you are preparing a bed with cardboard and compost, you need to make sure the soil is wet enough and you can't do that with a tarp on top, and in fact a tarp will block oxygen and CO2 from interacting with the soil and that's not good either. In other words I don't know what it is he thinks he was trying to do, but whatever it was the only thing I saw was death from no water.
@@TheMillennialGardener … I think the cardboard needs to stay intact and overlap and cover any holes, no matter how small … it helps to wet the cardboard before layering the mulch on top …. An organic compost/mulch will break down the cardboard within six months, but it needs water/rain to interact with the mulch on top and the soil beneath it … the dead weeds should also decompose …
I've used cardboard as a weed block for years. Just have to make sure you remove the clear tape and I don't use any with a shiny surface. Love your channel and I get a lot of very useful information from you. 👌
I'm a lazy old [74] guy - the cardboard goes down with all tape & labels, etc still attached. Toss enough dirt, weed harvests, or whatever on top to prevent the cardboard from blowing away on our occasional windy days. Sunshine, moisture & time will cause the tape & labels to loosen on their own so after many months when I have a moment I can easily rip off these nuisance materials & put them in my trash. I sometimes wish we were still allowed to have a burn barrel, but I'm a law-abiding good citizen [& the fines are outrageous...].
@@ahcrxwhen it rains. The cardboard becomes suctioned together and it’s very difficult to separate. It causes a heavy matting for a long time and when it breaks down it keeps it dark and prevents weeds from popping through. As for laying down cardboard for barrier you need to get it wet for it to break down and cause a great weed barrier. Plus if you’re using as a true weed barrier with real plants. It causes it to breakdown faster and make a better weed barrier. Tip - while you’re laying it. Spray it with the hose every few yards so it stays in place until you lay your mulch down. You can use newspaper too, but you need to lay several layers at a time for it to do as well as cardboard
We have used loads and loads of cardboard around our yard with wood chips on top of the cardboard. We can buy a trailer full of wood chips at the dump for $35 and we raid dumpsters (with permission) for cardboard. We are on an acre, so it took a lot of cardboard and chips. It did an excellent job of suppressing weeds. It has been a few years now since we did our last loads and we need to do some areas again. We didn't bother taking off all the tape. If it came off easily we pulled it off but if it was stuck we left it. Eventually the cardboard breaks down and the tape remains and we pick it up and put it in the trash. I just got done putting down cardboard with landscape fabric where I wanted to grow potatoes in pots. For most weeds it's like magic. The exceptions where I live are bindweed, which will grow a long ways in the dark under cardboard or anything else to find a way out, and common mallow, which will also try to find a way around it. It's better to clear out some of the mallow before putting the cardboard down. I am in Southern Utah, zone 5.
I have used cardboard with leaves over it with great results. Recently, I used it in a new location. I discovered that quack grass will crawl three feet to get out from under it. It also comes up in any cracks, gaps, or holes.
Cardboard, compost on top. This is how no-dig gardeners/farmers often get a plot ready. If you have especially stubborn weed grasses then you could throw the barrier on top of the cardboard/compost. The compost on top of the cardboard is really what gets the earthworms and other life starting to do their thing and pulling stuff down into the ground, improving the natural biome underneath where you want it. Yes, they will also consume the cardboard by itself but give them more food with the compost and you get better results for the soil. This matters if you want to plant there. Because you just had cadrboard and a cover on top the soil underneath would have dried out, so it's not going to do what you thought it would do. So, preparation, like what people talk about and your experiment does nothing to suggest they are wrong, is they lay down cardboard, THEN put compost on top, THEN add water, because your soil can't dry out if you want worms to get in there, right? Funny thing about water and life, they tend to go together and that soil was bone dry.
To make removing the tape and labels from brown cardboard boxes easier I highly recommend weathering them for a bit. The sun and rain will help to break the bonds making the unwanted materials far easier to remove than without weathering 👍
I’m in Texas. I put cardboard down in july for a melon patch. I didn’t cover with tarp or anything else. The cardboard is still there covering the grass. Yes, we had drought last summer but freeze and rain over the winter. I’m ok with the cardboard still there. I was only hoping for the St Augustine grass to be dead and easily removable. I have cardboard walkways around raised beds. Weeds are only at the edges.
this is exactly what I was about to do. My vision was for a vine area, covered in cardboard and later mulch, loaded with brushwood trellises for pumpkin, squashes, and melons! Weaving giant dreamcatchers for support. Also bags of potato. Using T posts and mesh to keep deer out with removable annual fence. Lowest cost, modular, reusable and easy to set up!
I think the guy was just showing what he uses around his raised beds. The right arrow on your keyboard will fast forward past the things you don't care to watch. ... Just saying :)
Thank you!!!!! Finally, some validation. I've been gardening for about 35 years. Went through the whole gamut of using various methods to keep the weeds out. The best for me is a combination of newspaper and cardboard. Newspaper to put up a perimeter around the plant and cardboard on the rows. I use thin cardboard and poke holes into them for water and aeration. Then top the whole thing with bark mulch. This method keeps the bark from sinking into the dirt when it rains, the holes allow moisture to seep through but keeps the weed at bay. If I want to add more plants, I push the bark to one side, pull up the cardboard and plant. Works for me.
When I originally placed it, I soaked the entire area with a hose to get it started. It's been dry here, but "dry" where I live is still wetter than half the country.
Nice one! I use cardboard as a tarp over my unused bed during the winter. No weeds come spring planting time.😃 It also keeps the soil critter happy.🐞 Hey Dale!🐕
Man! I recycle tons of cardboard ever week. I tried blocking weeds/grass with it with no success. I did not, however, overlap it nor did I put the weed barrier down over it so they continued to push their way in between. I need to try this again. Thanks.
Yes! Cardboard is great for eliminating weeds and grass, but I put down 2 layers of cardboard and made sure that the ground is 100% covered (no holes or space so air and sun cannot get between boxes). Then I laid down barrier fabric over the boxes. I used it around my trees and in my raised beds and walkways and no weeds!!!
@@NaseerOmranI’m not sure, but I think the weed barrier really helps because cardboard breaks down over time, which means weeds can pop up again-especially with alot of rain.
@@privateprivate1914ok thnx for your response. weeds have grown trough the weed barrier i put on them and between the stones i put on top. Ill try putting cardboard under the stones.
I used cardboard to create a no-till flower bed. I laid down the cardboard just before a freezing rain, which welded it into a single sheet. I then placed chopped leaves on top and covered all of it with black plastic with some holes poked in it. I placed a light layer of mulch on top for aesthetic reasons. the following spring I transplanted by cutting into the plastic. Worked great! I think the soaking/freezing hastened the breakdown. By the way, I live in middle Tennessee
I used cardboard to landscape a new area in my lawn for new bushes, small tree etc. I covered the grass as you did then had the bushes and tree planted in a cutout area of the cardboard last summer. Soaked the cardboard to soften it and then I covered everything with a heavy layer of mulch. I kept watering the area for the plants and it's now March. It worked. I will put on a fresh layer of mulch this May, but it saved a lot of backbreaking work removing a 15 x 25 area of grass and weeds.
@@TheMillennialGardener and as it breaks down under there it feeds the soil with great nutrients. I find it acts like an incubator. I cover my cardboard up with leaves. The result is always fantastic rich soil. Attracts plenty of earthworms too!
Here in VT we tend to get a good balance of heat and rain such that I find cardboard put down in spring or summer with organic mulch on top is largely broken down in 6-8 weeks to point of needing another layer added. At this point I tend to go 2 layers deep which has the added benefit of being able to offset the edges between the layers and thus completely exclude the light with no gaps through the cardboard.
I’m well shocked it hadn’t broken down…. As we use it in compost pile and it disappears but we do writ it up and obviously the compost pile is kept fairly moist so that will break it down. Like the look of the new apple tree too. Glad you have managed to get something to add this year. Always nice to add extra fruit plants/ trees that will produce for years.
It looks like shredding and burying is important if you want reasonably fast breakdown. Whole sheets don't go anywhere fast. This new apple tree was a red-fleshed apple called Pink Pearl. The flowers are stunning.
I have had great success with cardboard! this spring I put a layer of cardboard over grass, plus cow manure compost and mulched leaves covered with wood mulch and now in fall it's ready for plants!
My experience has been different. I have used cardboard in my yard for many years. Most recently I have used it layered 2-3 thick with a thick layer of wood chips on top. The first year I do this on my garden paths the weeds are still likely to come through, and the cardboard is completely gone the next year. My backyard garden will just get cardboard patches and another layer of chips this year, but my farm garden will need to get the whole 2-3 layers of cardboard and a thick layer of woodchips. It is still worth it to me (at age 65 and digging my own chips from the town pile) but I do have some landscape fabric for quick cover if spring springs too early for me to complete the task. I just remove the plastic when I get enough supplies to do the job.
I'm using all three: cardboard, newspaper, and dollar tree weed barrier. I am surrounded by trees and strictly container garden. I just want weeds to be gone!! Great video as usual.
Thank you for your honesty about your experiments. Your hypotheses of why the cardboard break down did not occur as you expected makes a lot of sense. I enjoy your channel. Thank you again for your videos.
I have a small 48x12 in ground vegetable garden. For years most of my work was weeding. Last summer I used cardboard to lay down walkways in between rows of veggies. This cut down my weeding by 2/3. The weeding was a whole lot less. And the cardboard does thin out and will need to be replaced. I’ll toss the old into my compost box when we till this year. So, it does compost. Just longer than 6 months.
Great video thanks. Some tips...1.Overlap the edges of the cardboard. 2.Place cardboard pieces under gaps or holes to prevent weeds growing through.3. Wet the cardboard thorougly when it's in place - this is essential to help the cardboard to breakdown and provide a great food resource and home for worms. Weed mat and/or/ mulch on the top as desired.4.If preparing for growing, lay compost on top of the cardboard before mulching. Any weeds which appear are easily pulled out while they are tiny.
Here in Houston (9A) I used cardboard to suppress weeds for the first time last year. It works great! But with the clay soil here, the cardboard is always wet, so has broken down completely. I saved all my boxes and will put another layer of cardboard down this year. It definitely saved me a lot of time weeding… like I barely weeded at all, versus having to constantly weed before. 😂
Good to know. I live in Houston as well. I have been saving boxes for a while now, and I plan on implementing this method as a weed barrier. I figured the cardboard would break down quicker in our environment, but if it reducing weeding in any amount, I will be happy.
I am new to gardening. You put cardboard directly over ground. Do you remove grass first...I do. Then you put mulch over cardboard and plant. How you know when the cardboard has degraded? When it has, how do you replace it....just move the mulch aside and replace or remove everything down to the earth then redo cardboard and mulch?
This is exactly what I needed to see. I've always used cardboard in my flower beds with mulch to minimize weeds, but now I know to double down with cardboard and the weed barrier to have bullet proof penetration for weeds. I'll also use this for my mulch and stepping stone walkway. Truly appreciate this!!!
I've found the cardboard used as a weed barrier will break down if if the bed is created for the beginning of spring . With the longer days & extra ground heat plus surface heat from continued long sunny days it will break down providing nutrients. I'm in Sth East Queensland , winter can be really chilly but no snow to contend with the rest of the year is sub tropical , lots of rain . So for me I swear by the use of cardboard & congratulations ," The Millennial Gardener ",👏 top garden viewing.
I had heard of using newspapers (no slick magazines, color print inks) so I tried it under cypress mulch. It worked pretty well. 10 + years later I re did the bed and the newspaper that was next to the house and under the eaves could still be read.
I put cardboard down around 4 small raiesd beds o suppress creeping buttercup in Nova Scotia Canada. We had one of the wettest summers on record but the cardboard didn't decompose a bit suring the summer. What it became was the daytime sleeping area fort hundreds of slugs, I was disposing of 50 p[lus a day through June July and August. The bonus was it also became a home for a family of red backed salamanders which also eat slugs. The downside is I can't walk on the carboard paths in case I squash a salamander. I notice nnobody checks the undersides of wet cardbaords, but they should. I don't suppose you will read this after posting it 6 months ago!
Did you place mulch on top of it? Thickly mulching on top of it should prevent those issues. You can also use a mulch like cedar, which is scented and repels some insects.
I've been experimenting with using thin pieces of cardboard in some spots of my garden and also using the brown packing paper I get when I order stuff from Chewy for my cats in other spots of the garden. I also have some rolls of brown paper that is normally used for putting down when you paint stuff. I haven't used the weed barrier material though. Keep in mind I'm a first time gardener, so EVERYTHING is an experiment for me at this point..haha! I figure that if the weeds can't get any sunlight, they probably won't grow. When I use the brown paper, I fold it a few times until I can't see sunlight through it, then I place it wherever I don't want weeds and I cover it with about two inches of mulch. Along the edges of my flower garden, I did this and then put a layer of river rocks on top of the mulch- mainly for decoration, but also to prevent even more sunlight from getting to the weeds. In spots where I used the thin cardboard, I wet the pieces before placing them and then covered them with the mulch. I figure it will help the cardboard to break down faster and offer some moisture for the soil and the creatures that will break the cardboard down further with time. So far no grass or weed sprouts! Yay! It's only been two months, so we'll see how everything turns out as time goes on. But the parts where I have only mulch...I'm pulling unwanted grass sprouts out almost everyday eventhough I have about three inches of mulch in those spots. I can say that I prefer using the paper because it's easier to form fit around corners or weird shapes- It's just easier to use in general. I've had a peek under the mulch covered paper and the weeds are indeed dying under there. That's a good sign! Same with the areas where I put the cardboard. No sprouts and lots of dying weeds! So far so good! You just happened to pop up in my feed this morning. I'm subscribing and am about to go watch more of your videos. I wish you a most lovely day!
This was a great experiment as a weed barrier ! It Will Break DOWN IF; WET IT DOWN FREQUENTLY to encourage breakdown sooner and Worms will break it down for you too ! Remove ALL PLASTIC Tape , Labels On The Cardboards to breakdown! ! Plastic does not breakdown .. Thank you for sharing !
I really appreciate the effort you put into making these experiment videos and show us the result in the same video. I think the cardboard didn't break down because of the lack of moisture. I put cardboard under my new raised beds last summer. Within a month or 2 I had evidence of earthworm activity so I know they came up from the native soil. I decided to move the beds to a new location over the winter, and found no remnants of the cardboard when I removed the beds and soil, it had completely broken down. I already bought the same weed cloth for my new garden walkways but have never seen staple gaskets like that before and will be ordering those soon, too. Thanks for another very informative and well done video.
I utilize package card board boxes, but I much rather use the cardboard sheets/slips that you can get at Costco or Smart & Final…much larger, no ink, no tape and no holes! Also, moisture is the key to breakdown. I lay a think layer of wood chips on top of the cardboard. 5 months into the rainy season in Los Angeles and the cardboard is almost gone and the worms are happy.
If you added mulch over the cardboard, it would have decomposed. I added mulch over half of my lawn with cardboard over it and it was constantly wet. After about 6 months, it was still there, but it disintegrates with any movement.
I think your theory as to why the cardboard hasn't broken down is spot on. Great analogy. The grass you're trying to kill out looks a lot like the stuff I have in the yard.
The grasses here are tough. Due to the intense rainfall, hot sun and incredible pest pressure here, the native and naturalized plants and weeds are tougher than nails.
I use my old boxes in my walkways under mulch and only have the surface weeks that germinate in the soil blown into the mulch. Love the info shared on this channel.
i add soil and mulch over my cardboard and it is completely composted by the next season. i use it as a natural weed barrier and the cardboard encourages worms for some great soil health :) i have a couple of areas where i dont get any weeds. i just add some new wood chips as needed. i dont even fertilize said area- whatever i plant thrives, even planted closely together. thanks for always posting great videos!
It takes a long time for the cardboard to break down. I helped on a community garden/food forest and we placed the cardboard in the fall and then in the spring planted the area and added drip irrigation. It needs a lot of moisture to breakdown. I had to cut through the cardboard to dig holes for plants. Even three years later some of the cardboard is still underneath.
I used cardboard around seedling trees- with a bit of mulch on top. Worked great for a couple of years in Massachusetts. Also I watered the trees a lot during those years.
HELLO FROM UPSTATE SC, I JUST WATCHED YOUR VIDEO ON THE WEATHER PREDICTION, I WILL BE FOLLOWING YOUR ADVICE, BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOU HARD WORK ON THIS PIECE!!!
I put wood chips on my cardboard in the fall and it's already gone. Mulch and moisture are your friends when you have cardboard. You could even put compost down right on top of it. It also helps the cardboard lay flat if it's already wet.
Yeah... water would definitely have helped in the decomposition process. You also need to have mulch on top of the cardboard rather than your landscape cloth.
You've had drought for 6 months. I've put cardboard down below wood chip on the paths and organic matter in the beds, side by side and they were both almost completely gone after about 9 months. Maybe sooner but I didn't check. I do live in Ireland and we have a very wet climate.
In my experience this usually works great. I have terrible quack grass, which also spreads from both seed and underground rhizomes. I've been layering cardboard, wood chips, cardboard, wood chips for a few seasons now and in one area where it's really bad, it still comes through and takes over! In one place, I put a large planter over the cardboard and at the end of the season the rhizome was just coiled around and around under the planter waiting for light. I've been working bit by bit to dig out the rhizomes in that area. Zone 4.
Sometimes, those rhizomes just can't be killed. However, I have noticed that after a few suffocations, they get so weak they pull up easily. It's never truly zero-maintenance, but weed barrier has reduced my weeding time by 95%. The only way to avoid weeding is to not care 😅
What a great video! Thanks for showing the "after" condition of the cardboard. I just covered my garden beds with cardboard that would have otherwise been waste. I put raised beds over the top, covering the remaining cardboard with mulch. I'm delighted to hear that the weed suppression may last more than just a season!
I have used several layers of cardboard with great success in my garden. I breaks down a lot faster in a wet humid climate. The only problem I has was little termite looking bugs... same for wood chips. the was in sw GA - hot humid climate
This is the second video of yours I've watched where you have answered the EXACT thing I was wondering about. I am about to put in a couple of raised beds in our backyard and our yard is basically weeds and a tiny amount of St. Augustine. I have watched a lot of youtube videos where people are tilling up all the weeds, putting down leveling sand, etc. and I was just thinking...can't I just throw down some carboard and weed barrier and call it a day? Maybe put some nice wood chips on top for a path? Definitely going to try it now after watching this video!
OCC has an extensive recycling rate across the Country. Using exposed weed fabric raises the temp of your garden. To stop rhizomes overlay the cardboard by six inches. Use three inches of mulch on top.
I use cardboard under mulch in areas where I plant things. But to clear an area of weeds etc in order to create a planting bed, I put down a length of black pond liner, and with the summer sun on it, anything under it gets cooked to death in a week.
The cardboard breaks down better if you put organic material on top of it. Weed barrier allows moisture out as well as in... and the black color is a solar radiator. I put cardboard in-between my raised beds with mulch ontop last summer... never had a weed. This year the weeds are starting to come through on the edges as the rhizomes are working there way in. I raked it back and the cardboard is almost completely deteriorated.... and is now really nice looking compost. The drawback is... I have to replace more cardboard to prevent weeds. :P
I purchased a home last June, the back yard has no grass and nothing but weeds. I was busy unpacking and getting the house organized so I didn’t do anything about the weeds. I just kept cutting them down so my little beagle could use the yard. Over the winter I made big plans for the yard, and was so excited until I found out the weeds are Japanese knotweed (which is growing through my foundation). They grow through rhizomes and spread like wildfire. After consulting with the Ministry of Natural Resources (in Ontario) there are few things known to kill it, but one is to put down black plastic for 3-5 years to kill it. Now that I’ve found your video I’m going to put cardboard down first, and then the plastic as you have done. I’m hoping it may speed up the process. Thanks for the great idea.
Thanks so much for your channel. I’ve used your recommendations to great results. I live in Raleigh, NC (zone 7b), and I’m planning to try the satsuma citrus and dwarf banana trees in my yard starting next summer. I use cardboard as a weed barrier in my food forest and gardens. It needs to be wetted when placed and needs to be watered by rain in order to break down. It feeds the soil (worms and pill bugs, a.k.a. rollie polies, really enjoy it), and it will last for a few months before fully breaking down, even over winter. Mine is under a layer of wood chip mulch.
Uncovered or just covered with organic bark mulch or wood chips would have allowed more water to help decompose the cardboard. The mulch hides the rather unpleasant look. Uncovered looks bad but likely works fine. Have to use cobbles or bricks to hold the cardboard pieces down in the wind.
It should have been sprayed with water under the cardboard and then once you get it all in place soak it down very well then cover it up it will break it down in 3 to 4 months in the winter or summer
I soaked the cardboard down very well when I placed the weed barrier on it initially. But, it has been fairly dry (for here, anyway). I think leaving it as whole sheets on top of the soil line is going to take forever to break down no matter how much rain you get. If you want it to break down quickly, I think shredding it and burying it is the way to go.
Right it will break down faster with compost or manure placed on top especially with the plastic because that will keep it warm and create moisture between the layers … almost the same as ripping the cardboard into pieces and putting it in dirt . 🧐🧐
So everything you've said is totally accurate...I might just add that if you can find dew worms and include them prior to laying them down on to the dirt...they will add to the deterioration of the cardboard...and yes moisture is also critical!!
Thanks for showing the experiment. I had a friend who used the brown wrapping plain paper as well as cardboard to kill the weeds, then covered with landscape covering. i really want to get rid of grass & have just a stone covering area.
I did put cardboard on my front yard to stop weeds on summer time two years ago but it was too hot for me to keep doing it since I was removing rocks to lay it( Georgia summer) I decided to wait. Waited until September to finish and cardboard was still intact but the clay dirt underneath became rich black soil full of warms. Not what I planned for. At that time had no intentions whatsoever to do any gardening related work. Now I’m interested in gardening and I know for sure how to get rich soil. By the way, while didn’t stop the weeds completely for too long only have to work there about 3 months of the year pulling those.
I never use a plastic weed barrier as it can make the soil toxic. You need to wet the cardboard on both sides and cover with 2 inches of soil and 2to 4 inches of wood chips or wood mulch. For me, this kills the weeds and lawn. The clay soil below even breaks down with all the worms working at it. Thanks for your experiment.
Very informative video! I did notice 2 things that seemed polar opposites tho. I see the point of weed barriers is to keep new things from growing, yet composting is to help new growth. It seems to me that using cardboard in the point of this video was to help prevent new growth. That seems the opposite of cardboard breaking down to help with new growth. I think the cardboard did exactly what you wanted in this case by preventing new growth. When it starts falling apart is when it it ready for the compost bin.
The reasoning behind the cardboard was to use it as a biodegradable weed barrier. Because the weeds here are so awful, weed barrier may not be enough. The idea was to add cardboard as an extra layer to ensure they could never grow through the weed barrier, and that the cardboard would break down on its own after the weeds were suffocated. Well, to my surprise, the cardboard didn't break down much. It clearly takes longer to break down than commonly believed, at least on top of soil.
@@TheMillennialGardener I see, but it turned out to be a good thing. The longer it takes to break down, the longer it acts as a weed barrier and less like compost.
I put down cardboard for my new no till bed and the rain and topped with leaves and pine straw and it is almost completely broken down from when I put it down Jan 5th. I think more water and the somewhat impervious landscape fabric made a difference in your breakdown.
AHA! Good video - I plan on removing all the plants in the beds around my home (except for my palm trees) and replacing it with large rocks and using planters for my plants. This process will help with the wire grass I can't seem to get rid of - even after digging down a foot to get to the rhizomes. I can spray around my palms to prevent growth there - it won't hurt them as long as I'm careful.
With no rain no worms to help decompose . I got some big boxes from neighbor was perfect using around asparagus bed an cherry tree then covered with 2 to 3 inches of free bark mulch in garden edge I have creeping ivy an climbing cucumber that can cover my cherry tree fingers crossed works good to kill these weeds out
Keep in mind that "dry" for me is still wetter than most people west of the Mississippi. "Dry" around here is a month that gets less than 3 inches of rain. In many places, that would be a wet month. We average around 70 inches of rain here a year, so to have a year where we only get 50 inches is near drought conditions. In 90% of the country, that would flood them.
I use cardboard + compost + mulch + water. It breaks down in a season. I do this every year. You need the compost on top of the cardboard to start the process and you have to add water. Mine is watered along with the plants regularly. At the end I have no cardboard left and quite a few worms.
In my area, I use cardboard for most garden beds. It works reasonably well. I was forced to resort to commercial grade landscape fabric for my front flowerbeds. I have a weed called. “Mare’s Tail”. It had no trouble piercing through the cardboard. Some of the quackgrass also was able to get through. The landscape fabric did the trick! All the holes were made by using a torch. This kept the edges from fraying. I covered the landscape fabric with pine bark mulch. It created a visually pleasing surface that does not break down as easily as other mulches.
I also have gangster weeds and grass. It seems to just grow through things. This year I used 6mm black plastic, no weeds, plants are growing. I was afraid to use it before because I thought no air and water would get to the plants roots. They seem to be fine. My side garden has weeds all over.
I saved a lot of cardboard and I was going to put it down this fall to stamp out privet weeds. It is pretty wet in my yard all winter. Kind of pondering now, what to do.
I do container gardening, I hope the card board last a long time. When it's wet I plant right through it. only the plants I want hopefully survive , without weeds.
If you are sheet mulching you need to put the card or newspaper down then cover with soil or mulch. Using that fabric defeats the object. I do it all the time, breaks down pretty fast any time of year.
Having done this without the plastic weed barrier almost all year long i can safely say that thats the reason yours was preserved so well. Mine needs constant refills so to speak because the natural elements constantly break them down, sun, rain, wind, pets, bugs, and unless i put the heavy duty plain cardboard almost overlaping, that terrible weed still finds a way to fool it. I wish i could get my hands on wood chips to lay on top heavely. Sadly it not readily avalaible on my side of the jungle.
Idk where you live, but in our area you can contact those companies that trim trees & chip them, & they'll bring you a load of wood chips for free whenever they're in your area, bc otherwise they pay to get rid of it... We got a whole load of them when our neighbor took out some trees totally free~ that's how we learned about it, & the company was eager to pass the word along, as it helps their bottom line.
The new apple tree is a red-fleshed variety called Pink Pearl. My other two are Sundowner and Winecrisp. You have to grow heat-tolerant varieties here, because our summers are wet and miserable. If you're in SC, you know what I'm talking about.
Compost on top of cardboard as mulch would made it decomposed in no time like Charles Dowding does. I can verify it works, planted cherry tree in October and I cannot find any cardboard below the compost mulch. Even in my compost bin it breaks down quickly with no heat.
I bet it has to be several inches deep and kept constantly moist. A lot of commenters are mentioning that even buried under wood chips, it still lasts a year, and I believe that.
@@TheMillennialGardener@ The Millennial Gardener Not really, I put around 2 inches of compost on a layer of overlapping cardboard on the 14th of October. I wanted to block grass in order to protect the tree. It is the 14 of March, so exactly 5 months have just passed since planting, and this was over winter. I just went to check and dug through the compost layer, there is no sign of cardboard. I followed the tips of Charles Dowding, who creates no-dig beds this way, he has conducted several experiments all documented on YT, he says on average it takes around 6 months for cardboard to disintegrate. Granted, my winters are rather mild, rarely dipping below freezing and there is a lot of humidity, but 2 inches of compost is not much either. Lastly, wood chips would not work that quickly as moisture is critical to the whole process and compost is much better at retaining water. Also, I would not consider your video a failed experiment because cardboard killed the grass, but because of the setup, you came to a different conclusion. I would recommend you to repeat this experiment without the fabric, but only with compost and cardboard.
10: exacly, I placed carbord on my garden and it didn't breack down at all during winter, but if I bury pieces on the decomposing bin they dissapear quite fast.
solarizing it works as well if its a sunny location,put painters plastic down,the sun will get through and bake with heat n humidity the heck out of the weeds
It took two years to kill every root and seed that had broken through my tar driveway. I covered the driveway with cardboard, then covered the cardboard with large-size black plastic trash bags. Most of the weeds were dead the first year, but a few survived, and some had broken through all around the edges. This spring, the 2nd year, the stubborn weeds are finally dead and gone.
I use cardboard all the time. However, I only cover it with mulch and it breaks down within 6 months and I've put it down at different times of the year. I'm in 7B in NC.
If you found this video helpful, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 Using Cardboard As Natural Weed Control
1:12 How To Stop Weeds With Weed Fabric
2:39 Using Cardboard To Stop Garden Weeds
5:19 Results 6 Months Later!
8:48 Lessons Learned
10:07 Reusing Cardboard Twice
11:41 Adventures With Dale
Lack of oxygen and water. Thanks for your videos! We love the fact you add timestamps.
We don't care for the JUNGLE, referring to online shopping.
My comment is late to the party, but-I often put COW MANURE under the cardboard to help encourage decomposition of the cardboard, and nurture the microbe & earthworm health, but I haven't done a time-lapse like you do, but my impression is that moo-poo helps break down the cardboard and decompose the weeds.
I'd love to see another 6 month follow up! Maybe a short? I've seen videos where they've taken core samples of landfills going back to the 1950's and come up with newspapers that you can still read the date on! This leads me to believe that Oxygen has an impact as well.
Just wet it and put a little soil/compost/dead leaves/dirt on top of it.
I’ve seen a lot of other people spray the cardboard with water before putting mulch on top.
Why?
Same.
Thank you for recording this experiment with the cardboard.
My hypothesis is that if the cardboard had soil or mulch over it rather of having landscape fabric over it, it would have broken down much more significantly over 6 months. Would be another good experiment!
I'm sure it would have, but I think the large sheets didn't help. After witnessing this, I think tearing it into small pieces or shredding it is the way to go if you want it to break down at a reasonable rate.
You're right, my cardboard paths are covered by mulch and break down much faster.
Iowa Zone 5a. Last October, laid same size or larger cardboard sheets around garden perimeter and covered heavily with leaf mulch. Cardboard still visible but on its way. Soaked through with melted snow. What I've noticed here is that fall mulch doesn't fully compost until mid to late June. Cardboard will be the same I'm sure. Needs water + heat. I'm really pleased with the barrier aspect of cardboard. Slow decomposition means it's in place for a long enough time to keep weeds from germinating. I would use it throughout the garden, but I'm afraid it wouldn't let the water through to the plants. Might also be heat issues with it.
He did two things wrong IF the intention was soil preparation.
You are correct, you put down cardboard and not mulch, but compost on top. This is soil preparation for future planting. IF you just want to keep things from growing you can put whatever you want over the cardboard and any kind of mulch is fine. But soil prep means that worms and other life work their way up through the cardboard and pull nutrients down into the soil and that requires a compost that will feed living organisms.
THEN, the critical ingredient, WATER. Yes, when you are preparing a bed with cardboard and compost, you need to make sure the soil is wet enough and you can't do that with a tarp on top, and in fact a tarp will block oxygen and CO2 from interacting with the soil and that's not good either.
In other words I don't know what it is he thinks he was trying to do, but whatever it was the only thing I saw was death from no water.
@@TheMillennialGardener … I think the cardboard needs to stay intact and overlap and cover any holes, no matter how small … it helps to wet the cardboard before layering the mulch on top …. An organic compost/mulch will break down the cardboard within six months, but it needs water/rain to interact with the mulch on top and the soil beneath it … the dead weeds should also decompose …
I've used cardboard as a weed block for years. Just have to make sure you remove the clear tape and I don't use any with a shiny surface. Love your channel and I get a lot of very useful information from you. 👌
Yep! I included that info in the video to be clear. Also, remove the shipping labels.
@@TheMillennialGardener I did hear you say that after I posted. Sorry. I watched it later.
Does it get soggy when it rains and tears apart? Cheers
I'm a lazy old [74] guy - the cardboard goes down with all tape & labels, etc still attached. Toss enough dirt, weed harvests, or whatever on top to prevent the cardboard from blowing away on our occasional windy days. Sunshine, moisture & time will cause the tape & labels to loosen on their own so after many months when I have a moment I can easily rip off these nuisance materials & put them in my trash. I sometimes wish we were still allowed to have a burn barrel, but I'm a law-abiding good citizen [& the fines are outrageous...].
@@ahcrxwhen it rains. The cardboard becomes suctioned together and it’s very difficult to separate. It causes a heavy matting for a long time and when it breaks down it keeps it dark and prevents weeds from popping through. As for laying down cardboard for barrier you need to get
it wet for it to break down and cause a great weed barrier. Plus if you’re using as a true weed barrier with real plants. It causes it to breakdown faster and make a better weed barrier. Tip - while you’re laying it. Spray it with the hose every few yards so it stays in place until you lay your mulch down. You can use newspaper too, but you need to lay several layers at a time for it to do as well as cardboard
We have used loads and loads of cardboard around our yard with wood chips on top of the cardboard. We can buy a trailer full of wood chips at the dump for $35 and we raid dumpsters (with permission) for cardboard. We are on an acre, so it took a lot of cardboard and chips. It did an excellent job of suppressing weeds. It has been a few years now since we did our last loads and we need to do some areas again. We didn't bother taking off all the tape. If it came off easily we pulled it off but if it was stuck we left it. Eventually the cardboard breaks down and the tape remains and we pick it up and put it in the trash. I just got done putting down cardboard with landscape fabric where I wanted to grow potatoes in pots. For most weeds it's like magic. The exceptions where I live are bindweed, which will grow a long ways in the dark under cardboard or anything else to find a way out, and common mallow, which will also try to find a way around it. It's better to clear out some of the mallow before putting the cardboard down. I am in Southern Utah, zone 5.
I have used cardboard with leaves over it with great results. Recently, I used it in a new location. I discovered that quack grass will crawl three feet to get out from under it. It also comes up in any cracks, gaps, or holes.
I’ve used 2-4 sheets of newspaper under mulch as a weed barrier. Works great and is super easy!
Will this damage my trees in any way?
Cardboard, compost on top. This is how no-dig gardeners/farmers often get a plot ready. If you have especially stubborn weed grasses then you could throw the barrier on top of the cardboard/compost. The compost on top of the cardboard is really what gets the earthworms and other life starting to do their thing and pulling stuff down into the ground, improving the natural biome underneath where you want it. Yes, they will also consume the cardboard by itself but give them more food with the compost and you get better results for the soil. This matters if you want to plant there.
Because you just had cadrboard and a cover on top the soil underneath would have dried out, so it's not going to do what you thought it would do.
So, preparation, like what people talk about and your experiment does nothing to suggest they are wrong, is they lay down cardboard, THEN put compost on top, THEN add water, because your soil can't dry out if you want worms to get in there, right? Funny thing about water and life, they tend to go together and that soil was bone dry.
Exactly!
Spray weed with organic fertilizer. Cover with cardbrd and mulch. Check for breakthrus. Repeat as stated above.
I put cardboard under about 3-4 inches of wood mulch in my pathways 2 years ago and it still isn’t fully broken down. The worms love it.
Wow, that's a long time. In whole pieces, it clearly takes awhile.
To make removing the tape and labels from brown cardboard boxes easier I highly recommend weathering them for a bit. The sun and rain will help to break the bonds making the unwanted materials far easier to remove than without weathering 👍
Good point
That's the most helpful comment ive seeen!! Thank you!!!
I’m in Texas. I put cardboard down in july for a melon patch. I didn’t cover with tarp or anything else. The cardboard is still there covering the grass. Yes, we had drought last summer but freeze and rain over the winter. I’m ok with the cardboard still there. I was only hoping for the St Augustine grass to be dead and easily removable.
I have cardboard walkways around raised beds. Weeds are only at the edges.
That's a really good idea - cardboard under the melons not only prevents rot, but I bet it blocks a lot of pests. I may have to steal this 😆
this is exactly what I was about to do. My vision was for a vine area, covered in cardboard and later mulch, loaded with brushwood trellises for pumpkin, squashes, and melons! Weaving giant dreamcatchers for support. Also bags of potato. Using T posts and mesh to keep deer out with removable annual fence. Lowest cost, modular, reusable and easy to set up!
Nothing better than clicking to watch a cardboard weed stop idea and immediately have to watch an expensive weed barrier sponsored advertisement.
I think the guy was just showing what he uses around his raised beds. The right arrow on your keyboard will fast forward past the things you don't care to watch. ... Just saying :)
oh stop whining
Thank you!!!!! Finally, some validation.
I've been gardening for about 35 years. Went through the whole gamut of using various methods to keep the weeds out.
The best for me is a combination of newspaper and cardboard.
Newspaper to put up a perimeter around the plant and cardboard on the rows. I use thin cardboard and poke holes into them for water and aeration. Then top the whole thing with bark mulch.
This method keeps the bark from sinking into the dirt when it rains, the holes allow moisture to seep through but keeps the weed at bay.
If I want to add more plants, I push the bark to one side, pull up the cardboard and plant.
Works for me.
What do you pon the cardboard down with?
@@opcrafterdope5159 What does "pon" mean?
You have to soak the cardboard if you want it to decompose at all. That cardboard looks completely dry. At least your weeds are gone!
When I originally placed it, I soaked the entire area with a hose to get it started. It's been dry here, but "dry" where I live is still wetter than half the country.
Nice one! I use cardboard as a tarp over my unused bed during the winter. No weeds come spring planting time.😃 It also keeps the soil critter happy.🐞
Hey Dale!🐕
Good idea. I assume you have to weigh it down with bricks or something to hold it in place. It blows all over the place when it dries out.
Man! I recycle tons of cardboard ever week. I tried blocking weeds/grass with it with no success. I did not, however, overlap it nor did I put the weed barrier down over it so they continued to push their way in between. I need to try this again. Thanks.
I bet you just need a thicker layer and need to secure it better. It will eventually smother what's underneath.
Yes! Cardboard is great for eliminating weeds and grass, but I put down 2 layers of cardboard and made sure that the ground is 100% covered (no holes or space so air and sun cannot get between boxes). Then I laid down barrier fabric over the boxes. I used it around my trees and in my raised beds and walkways and no weeds!!!
WhAt if you didnt add barrier fabric? Do you think it would have helped?
@@NaseerOmranI’m not sure, but I think the weed barrier really helps because cardboard breaks down over time, which means weeds can pop up again-especially with alot of rain.
@@privateprivate1914ok thnx for your response. weeds have grown trough the weed barrier i put on them and between the stones i put on top. Ill try putting cardboard under the stones.
I used cardboard to create a no-till flower bed. I laid down the cardboard just before a freezing rain, which welded it into a single sheet. I then placed chopped leaves on top and covered all of it with black plastic with some holes poked in it. I placed a light layer of mulch on top for aesthetic reasons. the following spring I transplanted by cutting into the plastic. Worked great! I think the soaking/freezing hastened the breakdown. By the way, I live in middle Tennessee
Sounds like you made a biodegradable landscaping fabric. Good idea!
I used cardboard to landscape a new area in my lawn for new bushes, small tree etc. I covered the grass as you did then had the bushes and tree planted in a cutout area of the cardboard last summer. Soaked the cardboard to soften it and then I covered everything with a heavy layer of mulch. I kept watering the area for the plants and it's now March. It worked. I will put on a fresh layer of mulch this May, but it saved a lot of backbreaking work removing a 15 x 25 area of grass and weeds.
That's great! Cardboard lasts a really long time. That much is clear.
@@TheMillennialGardener and as it breaks down under there it feeds the soil with great nutrients. I find it acts like an incubator.
I cover my cardboard up with leaves. The result is always fantastic rich soil. Attracts
plenty of earthworms too!
@@TheMillennialGardener That mulch is clear.., Great video!
Here in VT we tend to get a good balance of heat and rain such that I find cardboard put down in spring or summer with organic mulch on top is largely broken down in 6-8 weeks to point of needing another layer added.
At this point I tend to go 2 layers deep which has the added benefit of being able to offset the edges between the layers and thus completely exclude the light with no gaps through the cardboard.
Love these projects that span months. It saves so much time for folks with trial and error. Thanks
They're the best way to run experiments - from start to finish. They take a long time to film and monitor, but it's worth it.
I’m well shocked it hadn’t broken down…. As we use it in compost pile and it disappears but we do writ it up and obviously the compost pile is kept fairly moist so that will break it down.
Like the look of the new apple tree too. Glad you have managed to get something to add this year. Always nice to add extra fruit plants/ trees that will produce for years.
It looks like shredding and burying is important if you want reasonably fast breakdown. Whole sheets don't go anywhere fast. This new apple tree was a red-fleshed apple called Pink Pearl. The flowers are stunning.
I have had great success with cardboard! this spring I put a layer of cardboard over grass, plus cow manure compost and mulched leaves covered with wood mulch and now in fall it's ready for plants!
My experience has been different. I have used cardboard in my yard for many years. Most recently I have used it layered 2-3 thick with a thick layer of wood chips on top. The first year I do this on my garden paths the weeds are still likely to come through, and the cardboard is completely gone the next year. My backyard garden will just get cardboard patches and another layer of chips this year, but my farm garden will need to get the whole 2-3 layers of cardboard and a thick layer of woodchips. It is still worth it to me (at age 65 and digging my own chips from the town pile) but I do have some landscape fabric for quick cover if spring springs too early for me to complete the task. I just remove the plastic when I get enough supplies to do the job.
I'm using all three: cardboard, newspaper, and dollar tree weed barrier. I am surrounded by trees and strictly container garden. I just want weeds to be gone!! Great video as usual.
Thank you for your honesty about your experiments. Your hypotheses of why the cardboard break down did not occur as you expected makes a lot of sense. I enjoy your channel. Thank you again for your videos.
I have a small 48x12 in ground vegetable garden. For years most of my work was weeding. Last summer I used cardboard to lay down walkways in between rows of veggies. This cut down my weeding by 2/3. The weeding was a whole lot less. And the cardboard does thin out and will need to be replaced. I’ll toss the old into my compost box when we till this year. So, it does compost. Just longer than 6 months.
I put kitchen scraps under cardboard. Worms love it!
I'm sure that helps keep them moist to enhance breakdown.
Great video thanks. Some tips...1.Overlap the edges of the cardboard. 2.Place cardboard pieces under gaps or holes to prevent weeds growing through.3. Wet the cardboard thorougly when it's in place - this is essential to help the cardboard to breakdown and provide a great food resource and home for worms. Weed mat and/or/ mulch on the top as desired.4.If preparing for growing, lay compost on top of the cardboard before mulching. Any weeds which appear are easily pulled out while they are tiny.
Here in Houston (9A) I used cardboard to suppress weeds for the first time last year.
It works great! But with the clay soil here, the cardboard is always wet, so has broken down completely.
I saved all my boxes and will put another layer of cardboard down this year.
It definitely saved me a lot of time weeding… like I barely weeded at all, versus having to constantly weed before. 😂
Did you put the weed barrier on top of your cardboard?
Good to know. I live in Houston as well. I have been saving boxes for a while now, and I plan on implementing this method as a weed barrier. I figured the cardboard would break down quicker in our environment, but if it reducing weeding in any amount, I will be happy.
I am new to gardening. You put cardboard directly over ground. Do you remove grass first...I do. Then you put mulch over cardboard and plant. How you know when the cardboard has degraded? When it has, how do you replace it....just move the mulch aside and replace or remove everything down to the earth then redo cardboard and mulch?
And your clay soil is being improved.
This is exactly what I needed to see. I've always used cardboard in my flower beds with mulch to minimize weeds, but now I know to double down with cardboard and the weed barrier to have bullet proof penetration for weeds. I'll also use this for my mulch and stepping stone walkway. Truly appreciate this!!!
I've found the cardboard used as a weed barrier will break down if if the bed is created for the beginning of spring . With the longer days & extra ground heat plus surface heat from continued long sunny days it will break down providing nutrients. I'm in Sth East Queensland , winter can be really chilly but no snow to contend with the rest of the year is sub tropical , lots of rain . So for me I swear by the use of cardboard & congratulations ," The Millennial Gardener ",👏 top garden viewing.
I had heard of using newspapers (no slick magazines, color print inks) so I tried it under cypress mulch. It worked pretty well. 10 + years later I re did the bed and the newspaper that was next to the house and under the eaves could still be read.
Unbelievable.
Wow!
You did say that the cardboard had to be wet for it to decompose.
my husband shreds the cardboard along with the clean junk mail and use it in the compost as the carbon
Shredding is definitely the way to go if you want it to break down at a reasonable rate.
I put cardboard down around 4 small raiesd beds o suppress creeping buttercup in Nova Scotia Canada. We had one of the wettest summers on record but the cardboard didn't decompose a bit suring the summer. What it became was the daytime sleeping area fort hundreds of slugs, I was disposing of 50 p[lus a day through June July and August. The bonus was it also became a home for a family of red backed salamanders which also eat slugs. The downside is I can't walk on the carboard paths in case I squash a salamander. I notice nnobody checks the undersides of wet cardbaords, but they should. I don't suppose you will read this after posting it 6 months ago!
Did you place mulch on top of it? Thickly mulching on top of it should prevent those issues. You can also use a mulch like cedar, which is scented and repels some insects.
I've been experimenting with using thin pieces of cardboard in some spots of my garden and also using the brown packing paper I get when I order stuff from Chewy for my cats in other spots of the garden. I also have some rolls of brown paper that is normally used for putting down when you paint stuff. I haven't used the weed barrier material though. Keep in mind I'm a first time gardener, so EVERYTHING is an experiment for me at this point..haha! I figure that if the weeds can't get any sunlight, they probably won't grow. When I use the brown paper, I fold it a few times until I can't see sunlight through it, then I place it wherever I don't want weeds and I cover it with about two inches of mulch. Along the edges of my flower garden, I did this and then put a layer of river rocks on top of the mulch- mainly for decoration, but also to prevent even more sunlight from getting to the weeds.
In spots where I used the thin cardboard, I wet the pieces before placing them and then covered them with the mulch. I figure it will help the cardboard to break down faster and offer some moisture for the soil and the creatures that will break the cardboard down further with time. So far no grass or weed sprouts! Yay! It's only been two months, so we'll see how everything turns out as time goes on. But the parts where I have only mulch...I'm pulling unwanted grass sprouts out almost everyday eventhough I have about three inches of mulch in those spots. I can say that I prefer using the paper because it's easier to form fit around corners or weird shapes- It's just easier to use in general.
I've had a peek under the mulch covered paper and the weeds are indeed dying under there. That's a good sign! Same with the areas where I put the cardboard. No sprouts and lots of dying weeds! So far so good!
You just happened to pop up in my feed this morning. I'm subscribing and am about to go watch more of your videos. I wish you a most lovely day!
Oh, that is what that paper is for, to put down when you paint. I found a roll of it and did not know.
This was a great experiment as a weed barrier !
It Will Break DOWN IF;
WET IT DOWN FREQUENTLY to encourage breakdown sooner and Worms will break it down for you too !
Remove ALL PLASTIC Tape , Labels On The Cardboards to breakdown! ! Plastic does not breakdown ..
Thank you for sharing !
I really appreciate the effort you put into making these experiment videos and show us the result in the same video. I think the cardboard didn't break down because of the lack of moisture. I put cardboard under my new raised beds last summer. Within a month or 2 I had evidence of earthworm activity so I know they came up from the native soil. I decided to move the beds to a new location over the winter, and found no remnants of the cardboard when I removed the beds and soil, it had completely broken down. I already bought the same weed cloth for my new garden walkways but have never seen staple gaskets like that before and will be ordering those soon, too. Thanks for another very informative and well done video.
Also there is less sun in the winter, and the weed blocker blocked what little winter sun there was. The sun breaks cardboard down faster.
Moisture has to be present.
Why use landscape cloth at all?
I utilize package card board boxes, but I much rather use the cardboard sheets/slips that you can get at Costco or Smart & Final…much larger, no ink, no tape and no holes!
Also, moisture is the key to breakdown. I lay a think layer of wood chips on top of the cardboard. 5 months into the rainy season in Los Angeles and the cardboard is almost gone and the worms are happy.
If you added mulch over the cardboard, it would have decomposed. I added mulch over half of my lawn with cardboard over it and it was constantly wet. After about 6 months, it was still there, but it disintegrates with any movement.
I'm sure keeping it wet all the time would have sped things up. But, keeping it dry is better for weed blocking.
I think your theory as to why the cardboard hasn't broken down is spot on. Great analogy.
The grass you're trying to kill out looks a lot like the stuff I have in the yard.
The grasses here are tough. Due to the intense rainfall, hot sun and incredible pest pressure here, the native and naturalized plants and weeds are tougher than nails.
If you put soil over it, the extra humidity would have allowed more break down. You basically put a tarp over the cardboard.
I use my old boxes in my walkways under mulch and only have the surface weeks that germinate in the soil blown into the mulch. Love the info shared on this channel.
And they pop out easily like butter! Thanks for watching!
i add soil and mulch over my cardboard and it is completely composted by the next season. i use it as a natural weed barrier and the cardboard encourages worms for some great soil health :) i have a couple of areas where i dont get any weeds. i just add some new wood chips as needed. i dont even fertilize said area- whatever i plant thrives, even planted closely together.
thanks for always posting great videos!
It takes a long time for the cardboard to break down. I helped on a community garden/food forest and we placed the cardboard in the fall and then in the spring planted the area and added drip irrigation. It needs a lot of moisture to breakdown. I had to cut through the cardboard to dig holes for plants. Even three years later some of the cardboard is still underneath.
You need to add soil/compost/mulch on top of the cardboard for it to retain moisture and break down.
I used cardboard around seedling trees- with a bit of mulch on top. Worked great for a couple of years in Massachusetts. Also I watered the trees a lot during those years.
HELLO FROM UPSTATE SC, I JUST WATCHED YOUR VIDEO ON THE WEATHER PREDICTION, I WILL BE FOLLOWING YOUR ADVICE, BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOU HARD WORK ON THIS PIECE!!!
You're welcome!
I put wood chips on my cardboard in the fall and it's already gone. Mulch and moisture are your friends when you have cardboard. You could even put compost down right on top of it. It also helps the cardboard lay flat if it's already wet.
I just tried your cardboard hack for around my garden beds.
It works. It takes a long time to break down.
Yeah... water would definitely have helped in the decomposition process. You also need to have mulch on top of the cardboard rather than your landscape cloth.
I’ve used cardboard for well over a year, works great. I’ll have to use weed mat on top like you did.
You've had drought for 6 months. I've put cardboard down below wood chip on the paths and organic matter in the beds, side by side and they were both almost completely gone after about 9 months. Maybe sooner but I didn't check. I do live in Ireland and we have a very wet climate.
In my experience this usually works great. I have terrible quack grass, which also spreads from both seed and underground rhizomes. I've been layering cardboard, wood chips, cardboard, wood chips for a few seasons now and in one area where it's really bad, it still comes through and takes over! In one place, I put a large planter over the cardboard and at the end of the season the rhizome was just coiled around and around under the planter waiting for light. I've been working bit by bit to dig out the rhizomes in that area. Zone 4.
Sometimes, those rhizomes just can't be killed. However, I have noticed that after a few suffocations, they get so weak they pull up easily. It's never truly zero-maintenance, but weed barrier has reduced my weeding time by 95%. The only way to avoid weeding is to not care 😅
Wow. Good info!! Everyone is using cardboard in their raised beds as filler and not shredded.
😮
If you want it to break down, definitely shred it!
What a great video! Thanks for showing the "after" condition of the cardboard. I just covered my garden beds with cardboard that would have otherwise been waste. I put raised beds over the top, covering the remaining cardboard with mulch. I'm delighted to hear that the weed suppression may last more than just a season!
I have used several layers of cardboard with great success in my garden. I breaks down a lot faster in a wet humid climate. The only problem I has was little termite looking bugs... same for wood chips. the was in sw GA - hot humid climate
THANK YOU…. Plan to use cardboard - HELLO TO DALE!
This is the second video of yours I've watched where you have answered the EXACT thing I was wondering about. I am about to put in a couple of raised beds in our backyard and our yard is basically weeds and a tiny amount of St. Augustine. I have watched a lot of youtube videos where people are tilling up all the weeds, putting down leveling sand, etc. and I was just thinking...can't I just throw down some carboard and weed barrier and call it a day? Maybe put some nice wood chips on top for a path? Definitely going to try it now after watching this video!
OCC has an extensive recycling rate across the Country.
Using exposed weed fabric raises the temp of your garden.
To stop rhizomes overlay the cardboard by six inches. Use three inches of mulch on top.
I love these long term experiments! So much more valuable than hearsay and opinion.
I use cardboard under mulch in areas where I plant things. But to clear an area of weeds etc in order to create a planting bed, I put down a length of black pond liner, and with the summer sun on it, anything under it gets cooked to death in a week.
Thanks for your update on weed barrier! I'll be using cardboard in my garden spaces to prevent weeds!!😁🇱🇷🤗
It really does work, and it clearly lasts a long time!
The cardboard breaks down better if you put organic material on top of it. Weed barrier allows moisture out as well as in... and the black color is a solar radiator. I put cardboard in-between my raised beds with mulch ontop last summer... never had a weed. This year the weeds are starting to come through on the edges as the rhizomes are working there way in. I raked it back and the cardboard is almost completely deteriorated.... and is now really nice looking compost. The drawback is... I have to replace more cardboard to prevent weeds. :P
I purchased a home last June, the back yard has no grass and nothing but weeds. I was busy unpacking and getting the house organized so I didn’t do anything about the weeds. I just kept cutting them down so my little beagle could use the yard. Over the winter I made big plans for the yard, and was so excited until I found out the weeds are Japanese knotweed (which is growing through my foundation). They grow through rhizomes and spread like wildfire. After consulting with the Ministry of Natural Resources (in Ontario) there are few things known to kill it, but one is to put down black plastic for 3-5 years to kill it. Now that I’ve found your video I’m going to put cardboard down first, and then the plastic as you have done. I’m hoping it may speed up the process. Thanks for the great idea.
Thanks so much for your channel. I’ve used your recommendations to great results. I live in Raleigh, NC (zone 7b), and I’m planning to try the satsuma citrus and dwarf banana trees in my yard starting next summer. I use cardboard as a weed barrier in my food forest and gardens. It needs to be wetted when placed and needs to be watered by rain in order to break down. It feeds the soil (worms and pill bugs, a.k.a. rollie polies, really enjoy it), and it will last for a few months before fully breaking down, even over winter. Mine is under a layer of wood chip mulch.
Uncovered or just covered with organic bark mulch or wood chips would have allowed more water to help decompose the cardboard. The mulch hides the rather unpleasant look. Uncovered looks bad but likely works fine. Have to use cobbles or bricks to hold the cardboard pieces down in the wind.
It should have been sprayed with water under the cardboard and then once you get it all in place soak it down very well then cover it up it will break it down in 3 to 4 months in the winter or summer
I think if you would have went the cardboard down and sprinkled some top soil on it it should have broken down faster.
I soaked the cardboard down very well when I placed the weed barrier on it initially. But, it has been fairly dry (for here, anyway). I think leaving it as whole sheets on top of the soil line is going to take forever to break down no matter how much rain you get. If you want it to break down quickly, I think shredding it and burying it is the way to go.
I ment, wet the cardboard first
Right it will break down faster with compost or manure placed on top especially with the plastic because that will keep it warm and create moisture between the layers … almost the same as ripping the cardboard into pieces and putting it in dirt . 🧐🧐
So everything you've said is totally accurate...I might just add that if you can find dew worms and include them prior to laying them down on to the dirt...they will add to the deterioration of the cardboard...and yes moisture is also critical!!
Thanks for showing the experiment. I had a friend who used the brown wrapping plain paper as well as cardboard to kill the weeds, then covered with landscape covering. i really want to get rid of grass & have just a stone covering area.
A very helpful, honest video for me as a relatively new Gardener ❤❤❤
I did put cardboard on my front yard to stop weeds on summer time two years ago but it was too hot for me to keep doing it since I was removing rocks to lay it( Georgia summer) I decided to wait. Waited until September to finish and cardboard was still intact but the clay dirt underneath became rich black soil full of warms. Not what I planned for. At that time had no intentions whatsoever to do any gardening related work. Now I’m interested in gardening and I know for sure how to get rich soil. By the way, while didn’t stop the weeds completely for too long only have to work there about 3 months of the year pulling those.
I never use a plastic weed barrier as it can make the soil toxic. You need to wet the cardboard on both sides and cover with 2 inches of soil and 2to 4 inches of wood chips or wood mulch. For me, this kills the weeds and lawn. The clay soil below even breaks down with all the worms working at it. Thanks for your experiment.
Very informative video!
I did notice 2 things that seemed polar opposites tho.
I see the point of weed barriers is to keep new things from growing, yet composting is to help new growth. It seems to me that using cardboard in the point of this video was to help prevent new growth. That seems the opposite of cardboard breaking down to help with new growth.
I think the cardboard did exactly what you wanted in this case by preventing new growth.
When it starts falling apart is when it it ready for the compost bin.
The reasoning behind the cardboard was to use it as a biodegradable weed barrier. Because the weeds here are so awful, weed barrier may not be enough. The idea was to add cardboard as an extra layer to ensure they could never grow through the weed barrier, and that the cardboard would break down on its own after the weeds were suffocated. Well, to my surprise, the cardboard didn't break down much. It clearly takes longer to break down than commonly believed, at least on top of soil.
@@TheMillennialGardener
I see, but it turned out to be a good thing. The longer it takes to break down, the longer it acts as a weed barrier and less like compost.
Yes I’ve been using cardboard also. When it does breakdown , all that remains is the tape strips , so I’ve learned it’s better to remove that
I put down cardboard for my new no till bed and the rain and topped with leaves and pine straw and it is almost completely broken down from when I put it down Jan 5th. I think more water and the somewhat impervious landscape fabric made a difference in your breakdown.
AHA! Good video - I plan on removing all the plants in the beds around my home (except for my palm trees) and replacing it with large rocks and using planters for my plants. This process will help with the wire grass I can't seem to get rid of - even after digging down a foot to get to the rhizomes. I can spray around my palms to prevent growth there - it won't hurt them as long as I'm careful.
With no rain no worms to help decompose . I got some big boxes from neighbor was perfect using around asparagus bed an cherry tree then covered with 2 to 3 inches of free bark mulch in garden edge I have creeping ivy an climbing cucumber that can cover my cherry tree fingers crossed works good to kill these weeds out
Keep in mind that "dry" for me is still wetter than most people west of the Mississippi. "Dry" around here is a month that gets less than 3 inches of rain. In many places, that would be a wet month. We average around 70 inches of rain here a year, so to have a year where we only get 50 inches is near drought conditions. In 90% of the country, that would flood them.
@@TheMillennialGardener yes we gat around 30 inches of rain maybe but last year was close to half of that rain was far an few from summer to winter
I use cardboard + compost + mulch + water. It breaks down in a season. I do this every year. You need the compost on top of the cardboard to start the process and you have to add water. Mine is watered along with the plants regularly. At the end I have no cardboard left and quite a few worms.
you do a great job. very informative. lovely garden.
In my area, I use cardboard for most garden beds. It works reasonably well. I was forced to resort to commercial grade landscape fabric for my front flowerbeds. I have a weed called. “Mare’s Tail”. It had no trouble piercing through the cardboard. Some of the quackgrass also was able to get through. The landscape fabric did the trick! All the holes were made by using a torch. This kept the edges from fraying. I covered the landscape fabric with pine bark mulch. It created a visually pleasing surface that does not break down as easily as other mulches.
I also have gangster weeds and grass. It seems to just grow through things. This year I used 6mm black plastic, no weeds, plants are growing. I was afraid to use it before because I thought no air and water would get to the plants roots. They seem to be fine. My side garden has weeds all over.
I saved a lot of cardboard and I was going to put it down this fall to stamp out privet weeds. It is pretty wet in my yard all winter. Kind of pondering now, what to do.
I do container gardening, I hope the card board last a long time. When it's wet I plant right through it. only the plants I want hopefully survive , without weeds.
If you are sheet mulching you need to put the card or newspaper down then cover with soil or mulch. Using that fabric defeats the object. I do it all the time, breaks down pretty fast any time of year.
Having done this without the plastic weed barrier almost all year long i can safely say that thats the reason yours was preserved so well. Mine needs constant refills so to speak because the natural elements constantly break them down, sun, rain, wind, pets, bugs, and unless i put the heavy duty plain cardboard almost overlaping, that terrible weed still finds a way to fool it. I wish i could get my hands on wood chips to lay on top heavely. Sadly it not readily avalaible on my side of the jungle.
Idk where you live, but in our area you can contact those companies that trim trees & chip them, & they'll bring you a load of wood chips for free whenever they're in your area, bc otherwise they pay to get rid of it... We got a whole load of them when our neighbor took out some trees totally free~ that's how we learned about it, & the company was eager to pass the word along, as it helps their bottom line.
Ive watched other videos where the cardboard is sprayed with water which gets decomposition started 💡
The fabric kept the sun out too! No sun no weeds! Great job! What kind of Apple trees do you plant? Thanks for all the video's! Marlene, Farmer in SC
The new apple tree is a red-fleshed variety called Pink Pearl. My other two are Sundowner and Winecrisp. You have to grow heat-tolerant varieties here, because our summers are wet and miserable. If you're in SC, you know what I'm talking about.
Where you buy the apple tree?
I use newspaper and cardboard,mulch on top in garden beds, my granddad born 1900 used paper for decades
Compost on top of cardboard as mulch would made it decomposed in no time like Charles Dowding does. I can verify it works, planted cherry tree in October and I cannot find any cardboard below the compost mulch. Even in my compost bin it breaks down quickly with no heat.
I bet it has to be several inches deep and kept constantly moist. A lot of commenters are mentioning that even buried under wood chips, it still lasts a year, and I believe that.
@@TheMillennialGardener@ The Millennial Gardener Not really, I put around 2 inches of compost on a layer of overlapping cardboard on the 14th of October. I wanted to block grass in order to protect the tree. It is the 14 of March, so exactly 5 months have just passed since planting, and this was over winter. I just went to check and dug through the compost layer, there is no sign of cardboard. I followed the tips of Charles Dowding, who creates no-dig beds this way, he has conducted several experiments all documented on YT, he says on average it takes around 6 months for cardboard to disintegrate.
Granted, my winters are rather mild, rarely dipping below freezing and there is a lot of humidity, but 2 inches of compost is not much either. Lastly, wood chips would not work that quickly as moisture is critical to the whole process and compost is much better at retaining water.
Also, I would not consider your video a failed experiment because cardboard killed the grass, but because of the setup, you came to a different conclusion. I would recommend you to repeat this experiment without the fabric, but only with compost and cardboard.
Thank you for the information. I heard it takes 9-12 months for cardboard to decompose, depending on your location.
I have used cardboard for years and will put mulch on top...works well.
10: exacly, I placed carbord on my garden and it didn't breack down at all during winter, but if I bury pieces on the decomposing bin they dissapear quite fast.
My neighbor uses newspaper under his mulch. I use weed barrier and I have weeds popping through. I might try it.
solarizing it works as well if its a sunny location,put painters plastic down,the sun will get through and bake with heat n humidity the heck out of the weeds
It took two years to kill every root and seed that had broken through my tar driveway. I covered the driveway with cardboard, then covered the cardboard with large-size black plastic trash bags. Most of the weeds were dead the first year, but a few survived, and some had broken through all around the edges. This spring, the 2nd year, the stubborn weeds are finally dead and gone.
I covered the cardboard with mulch Back in April. 2.5 months later, it is pretty much all gone, with very soft and broken down layers left.
I use cardboard all the time. However, I only cover it with mulch and it breaks down within 6 months and I've put it down at different times of the year. I'm in 7B in NC.
I did this, but I put organic matter like leaves, mowed grass and other stuffs. over my cardboard and it deteriorated pretty quick.