Don't Mulch With Cardboard - Find out why
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- Опубликовано: 24 авг 2024
- Cardboard or paper mulch is becoming popular but it is not a good idea for the garden.
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Don't Mulch With Cardboard - Find out why
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I've used cardboard and newspaper in park shrub beds, in new hedgerows, around newly planted trees etc. It's phenomenal. The park shrub beds mentioned above were literally dying, everything was struggling to survive, the top soil was virtually non existent and dry as a bone. I chopped all the shrubs back hard and left the cuttings on the large beds, put tonnes of used stable manure, the leaves and grass cuttings from the previous year. Soaked the beds with water, then tens of tonnes of newspaper and cardboard. Park users thought I was mad. Then covered that with wood chippings at six inches deep, heavily watered that and left it. I did less weeding in the following 5 years than in half a summer previously. The shrubs flourished the soil stayed frost free and never dried out even through two droughts. But this is the key factor, the insect life returned fundamentally under the cardboard and paper layer in the cool moist environment. They pulled everything down and created a new top soil as the cardboard degraded. Two students helped me with the huge task, as temporary summer staff, and couldn't have done it without them. The results were stunning and I continue to do the same 30 years on.
Couple of practical facts:
1) worms love decomposing cardboard (if you ever kept worm bin, you would know that)
2) somehow water does percolate through sheet cardboard so the soil under it is always moist just like under regular mulch
With that said, I only use cardboard to kill grass/weeds (in a new garden bed, or previously thinly mulched old bed overtaken by weeds).
No worms do NOT love cardboard - they like a moist dark place - manure works just as well as cardboard.
Just because the soil is moist under it does not mean water "percolated" through it..
The water makes it below the cardboard because it is porous. Once saturated, the water moves to the soil beneath. Layered soil works the same way.
In my experience, dry cardboard behaves in a manner similar to peat moss. It's pretty hydrophobic, but once dampened it stays damp for a while if you then cover it with a layer of compost and a surface mulch.
Worms definitely seem to love it. I leave a stack of cardboard near my garage to keep it damp and somewhat malleable. The double layer stuff sometimes splits and there's almost always at least one worm hanging out in the corrugation. Would they prefer a rotting banana? For sure. But for most people this otherwise a waste material and using it may not be as effective as other additions, but it certainly has more value than detrimental effect.
@@Gardenfundamentals1no my guy. worms love the glue in cardboard because it grows fungus and bacteria and all kinda nasty wonderful things they like to eat. you can actually run a full bin off nothing but compost juice, shredded cardboard and shredded leaves and they will do just fine. They actually really dig cardboard. Anyone who's run several species worm will tell you the same. But what a thick layer of cardboard does means they aren't able to move through the layers. but if you pull that cardboard back you'll always find tons of worms under it if it's still moist. It's why you always put a layer of shredded compost, and layer of compost, then woodchips to top it all off.
I've used cardboard for years. Works great.
Hi, this week I added cardboard under two avocado trees that have thick weeds and put grasses on top to help it break down, but days later, even though I drenched the cardboard first and it’s been raining quite a lot, the ground underneath is dry, and the cardboard dries out between the rains. Do you use it around your trees? I’m afraid rain isn’t getting thru and I’m thinking I have to remove it like he says and just pile on the stuff directly into the soil.
@@LSinclairoh wow, I’ve never had this issue, how much layers of cardboard did you use? 😮
@@LostInThisGardenofLife Only one layer, with part of one slightly overlapping at another’s edge. But…after a rainy period, on another tree that had had cardboard around it a few weeks longer with branches etc on top, I noticed the ground underneath was wet, and the cardboard had started to break up and fall apart. So it may be perfect, I’m just uncertain about it for my own use. I’m now using lots of overlapping non-seeded weeds and branches instead. Not as good at keeping out weed growth, but the weeds’ roots don’t get a strong foothold.
@@LostInThisGardenofLife *How many
@@sheezy2526 so random, and actually “much” isn’t improper in this usage. 😭🤣
Have to disagree with you on this video. Worms love it. I have tested this over the years with various materials and cardboard attracts the most worms. It softens very quickly, the first rain or even a heavy dew will do the job. If covered with moist mulch, the mulch stays in place. It does an excellent job of stopping weeds, in both new and existing garden, which would grow straight through mulch alone. I think people may have problems when they use the glossy cardboard, but the plain brown type is great. I put the cardboard down, cover it with some mulch or even loosely placed lawn clippings, through a hand full of chicken mature based pellets over the top and job done. I even grow potatoes on sheets of cardboard and mulch. By the end of the growing season I have a great crop of potatoes and excellent compost. I use this method under fruit trees so as not disturb the roots but make use of the space.
You say " Worms love it." - Tell us how you did the control to prove this? how did you collect and measure worm numbers?
Yep! I watched this video and my first impressions are of a grumpy old armchair gardener. As a general rule, I've always found that if you dig it up, once the cardboard has been wet and sitting there for a while, it's full of worms, and under it is full of worms. I'm not going to bother counting the worms. But it seems to do very well for me. I have found that just using mulch and no cardboard will more often just result in lots and lots of weeds.
I add manure and compost before laying the cardboard, and I poke holes in it with a fork so water can perk down through it. That's the winter lay up. This way I keep weeds from showing up in the early spring before I might get to one spot or another. But once I start planting, most of the cardboard comes out and the mulch goes down
Once the garden is matured, I use less and less of it and just go to the mulch. If I have weeds popping up in a particular spot, I keep some cardboard around for that.
Been doing this for years, way before cardboard became a popular miracle-myth.
David, SC
As long as you realize that cardboard only lasts a few years it's fine. Worms like it and so does mycelium. If you cover the cardboard with chips and introduce wine cap mushrooms (Stropharia rugosoannulata) both the mushrooms and your plantings will do well. That does mean you will need to do it again because the mycelium converts both the chips and cardboard to dirt fast. Maybe faster than you want but you will have fewer weeds along the way.
I've always regarded cardboard as a biodegradable geotextile that disappears after about 2 years (at least where I live). Good for blocking aggressive grass and weeds in a new bed, if covered with a few inches of soils rich in compost + mulch on top + watered regularly.
Yes and no. I agree that if you place cardboard down around your desired plants, and then mulch over it, and the cardboard is allowed to dry out, then yes, it sheds water. This issue can be easily overcome by sloping the cardboard toward the plant that you want the water to get to. This works, and continues to suppress weeds around your desired plant.
But... I continue to use cardboard for edges, with mulch on top. Even something so simple as grass clippings. Works a trick to keep the ever vigilant grass outside my garden beds. I also use it in pathways with wood chip on top. Again, sloping the cardboard towards the plants that I want to get any water if the cardboard dries out.
So your advice is good, on some levels. What I would suggest is to continue to use cardboard where you need it, when you need it, to keep weed pressure down. Especially in pathways and garden borders. But, like any tool and opinion, everyone is going to use it their own way. Have a great day.
But you can do all this without the cardboard.
It's weird he's got such a bias against it, maybe he's shilling for corporations because its free.
Burn cardboard and realize that massive amount of heat is free energy for the garden.
Corrugated gives a haven for insects and greater surface area for moisture to adhere. I layer it under leaves and scatter fertilizer on top.
@@rosskstar agree it's weird, I keep looking for a level headed response that respects people's positive experiences with cardboard. None to be found.
@@smshh33 I toss mine into a compost bin made with big pallets and threw in lots of urine for the nitrogen, the pile keeps shrinking~! btw, keep an eye out for Christ' healing "hidden manna" of Rev 2, now being delivered.
@@smshh33 lol
I use cardboard through all the walking areas in my garden to keep weeds down. It works well and every time I lift it up it’s wet with a bunch of worms. I don’t think the worms are attracted to the cardboard, I think they’re coming up because the cardboard helps keep water in the soil so the worms are coming up for oxygen. They are never dead, so they obviously get enough oxygen through the cardboard. Studies have shown cardboard does block about half of various gasses ability to move in and out of soil, but using it to keep weeds down in walkways has no effect on growing beds and blocking %50 doesn’t mean the other %50 is insufficient for what plants need. If you’re blocking %50 going in, you’re also blocking %50 from escaping so the numbers are deceiving. Just think of the effectiveness of no till gardening vs tilling. Only use brown cardboard with minimal printing and all tape and labels removed. If you e ever left a cardboard box in the rain you know it’s porous. It also biodegrades throughout the season. I highly recommend utilizing cardboard if you cannot afford mulch.
I am in North Florida and love cardboard. I don’t have time to prepare and plant my planned Yuuge garden. I bought swampland too so my planting area stays rather wet from Mid June through September. I always keep two 4’x8’ plots initially covered by cardboard. When Home Depot puts garden soil on sale for $2 the cardboard gets covered, the seeds go in and I am harvesting something in 30 to 50 days. My UHaul box cardboard seems to breakdown to almost nothing in 6 months. I also use the boxes to plant trees HugelKultur style to get my tree roots up about a foot above the moist land and over time surround these boxes with 4 foot fallen trees collected off the land.
I cut a bunch of slits in the cardboard prior to installing with arborist chips on top. This facilitates better percolation from the start. Water doesn't plane to the low side as readily. Six years in doing it this way.
Cheers
I saw the Oklahoma Extension service use cardboard in their raised bed garden to stop light from getting through to grass in their raised bed gardens and pathways. Bermuda is so tenacious that it would have to be replaced as it broke down or was penetrated by the grass..
I have to disagree. I built all my raised beds on top of cardboard BUT you have to saturate it.first I pile it up flattened out in a wheelbarrow and fill that with water from the hose. Then it DOES let the water through. If you only use mulch, you get perennial weeds coming up through it. Believe me, my entire garden thrives using cardboard as a weed barrier and the soil is so full of worms.
Now you read cardboard attracts termites
@@MLR-jw5em Maybe it does, I wouldn't know, we don't get termites here
I use cardboard with mulch over it. But here's the kicker. I have my drip irrigation under it so the water I do use doesn't evaporate so easily.
I put cardboard down as a base layer and then mulch and compost after that. You can use it in compost and in my experience, worms love to eat it. Also, cardboard breaks down pretty quick so I’ve never seen a problem with water not getting through.
I layer cardboard and kitchen compost, wet it down to decompose. Im working a 14'x8' bed and once I get it built up. Im putting hardware cloth down for ground diggers then setting concrete block raised beds. Then filling with twigs & straw.
Set up fence, lay down mulch & get my seedlings planted. Fill raised beds. Its taking awhile, then creating diy olla's for watering and compost worms in beds, for fertilizer. I harvest rainwater as an apartment dweller so its alot of work but I love it.
The compost in place with cardboard is attracting all kinds of worms and polinators.
I used cardboard when I had a knee injury and couldn't get down to pull weeds in a small 10 x 4 walkway at the side of my home. I didn't put mulch on top, but I may do that as I do not plan to plant anything there, it's full shade. Purely for convenience to get to my Heat pump for service if it need is and look better. I may put flagstone and pea gravel on top of the cardboard as it is a walkway.
Dig deeper into science. Cardboards great for microbes and microfungi for the benifets. What people mistake is not actual putting soil down before the mulch or hay
I put down cardboard & old wood mulch to get rid of grass & weed where I wanted to put a new orchard in & it really worked. BUT the cardboard disappeared within less than a year. Weeds were popping up so I dug down & couldn't find a trace of the cardboard. In areas where I JUST had cardboard (no aged wood mulch) the cardboard lasted a lot longer.
l raised nightcrawlers for a few years and they will indeed eat older cardboard once it starts to degrade. in fact they consume it quit rapidly. I like cardboard because it will disappear completely. plastic and landscaping material will eventually break down leaving a mess all in your soil that's very tedious to clean out.
Oh my God! WRONG! Cardboard is a fantastic mulch and worms love it! It’s the worm casings that enrich the soil. I have 100 fold more worms now after using it for 5 years. Just shred it with a 24-sheet paper shredder (Amazon basics has a great one) or a wood chipper if you have one, but remove any tape and labels first. They remove very easily. It looks great and you can dye it any color you like with mulch dye sold in most home depots, garden supply store or Amazon. DO NoT use colored cardboard- just the regular brown cardboard with tape and labels removed.
Everything I do is wrong!!!! Whhaaahahaa😢😢😢😢🤣😂👍
Aww my friend, what other mistakes have you made, in the garden specifically.
😂
😂
Been using cardboard for years and it works for me. I just use a pitchfork and punch holes in the cardboard and the water flows right through. Exposed cardboard with no mulch on top hasn't worked well for me. The mulch on top keeps the water from sheeting off and breaks down the cardboard. I guess its use varies from one gardener to another.
If you have your cardboard covered with mulch - how do you know how much of the water runs into the hole you made and how much runs away?
@@Gardenfundamentals1 Unless it's a torrential downpour, the mulch will retain the majority of the water and pass it through the holes in the cardboard. I honestly haven't set up a way to know exactly how much if any runs off. As I said, it works for me. If it doesn't work for you, that's fine too. I can only speak from my experiences.
This is helpful about the pitchfork! I will try that! As it is now (and I too have piled matter (palm fronds ) on top to help it break down), I’ve checked and the soil underneath is dry to the touch. Thanks.
I dont use cardboard, I use 4 sheets of newspaper. The weeds are very aggressive where I live, and in my experience just mulch isn't enough.
Good video, you kept this more accurate than most. The main issue is moisture. However despite what you said It actually is a substantial source of carbon and combined with high nitrogen compost/ferts like chicken poops it breaks down into great soil. You also missed the mark regarding worms. Worms can live off cardboard and some commercial farms largely use it to feed their worms. That said the castings are subpar compared to more diverse and robustly fed worms. Anyways in the end it's moisture that's the main issue.
I want to reiterate that If you put cardboard down and cover it in chicken manure it's a boon but then you won't be getting the weed suppression. In the end it's just a bad choice for weed suppression for the reasons you mentioned and yes as a first year sheet mulch it's pretty unbeatable. You should be adding high nitrogen to it however or it will use the nitrogen in the soil and plants won't perform optimally.
All in all it's a good video, and ppl need to heed this advice
1) Cardboard does not break down into soil - which is sand, silt and clay. It does add some carbon, but it is a very light material and therefore does not add very much.
2) I doubt any commercial farm is raising worms on cardboard. It is used as bedding - not as food.
Its rainy season, grass grows out of the leaf mulch, dried grass hve seeds which later with moisture got new grass... Im gonna use cardboard to kill off grass and potential weeds for my upcoming winter season cropping
I use cardboard as a mulch to kill crab grass. When I used mulch alone, the crab grass grew right up through it like there was nothing there at all
Thank you. I can't afford mulch. I can gather up some leaves and put a few potato peelings in them, but apparently, you've never seen food raised from completely poor people. Thanks for your words of wisdom tho.
Where do u live Dennis if u don't mind me asking?
ya and the weeds come right up thru the deep mulch as i just found out after laying 58 bags of mulch 3 inches deep :(
I just came across a video that was about "sheet mulching." I watched it and in the side-bar, I noticed this video, about why sheet mulching is so bad. And it does make sense. Myself, I have never put mulch on my gardens. I never saw the reasoning. The weeds still grow through. Plus, in the old days, the advice was always to put down black plastic under the mulch, which I always thought was a bad idea, for some of the same reasons you list for sheet mulching. What I don't understand is why people are so afraid of and/or lazy about weeding. Why?
Because, I have to tell you, it only takes me about 20 minutes a week to weed my gardens, if that. It's so easy. The trick is, to do it every week to keep the weeds from getting started at all.
I just take a hand-rake and turn all the soil around each plant. I start doing this in April, usually about a month after I've removed all the leaves (I cover my beds with leaves to protect them from salt that is thrown on the nearby walkways. I don't have a choice about the salt, so all I can do is protect my gardens.) Depending on the type of trees you have, the leaves can be very beneficial over winter. I have a maple tree and find my bulbs love it! 15 years ago I started with 5 daffodil bulbs. Now I have about 250 and I give many away every few years when I split them. I pile all the leaves on my gardens in fall, then remove them in March. That, by the way, is a really easy chore, although if you have a windy, dry fall, then it can be work. But in the spring, I just pull the leaves off and put them in a garbage bin, then dump them in the woods nearby. And, usually, I find my daffodils and crocus are already starting to come up under the leaves.
Then I leave my beds alone for about a month, enough time to give all the perennials time to emerge. Then I start turning the garden. Besides being a great way to discourage any weeds from growing, this is also an effective way to keep the soil absorbent after each rain. I've been developing these gardens for about 15 years now and, at this point, I hardly even get any weeds. But I keep turning it anyway. Also, in the spring, I put down coffee grounds (used and then dried) and crushed egg shells. The coffee grounds discourage most garden pests while the egg shells add calcium to both the soil and the birds. :) I leave that for a few weeks, then I use Miracle Grow's Bloom Booster fertilizer once every week to 10 days into July or until I run out. And, of course, unless it rains I water every other day (every day if the temp goes about 90 dF). Generally, my gardens look pretty good. I enjoy them.
It seems like people are always trying to find 'an easier way.' But I find, do a little work regularly, and that's easier than anything else.
Lazy/afraid of weeding? Congrats on your raging case of abelism.
definitely using cardboard just what i need to keep weeds away next to my driveway. No room for plants anyway. Sounds perfect for my purpose. Thank you 😃
Thank you! What you said makes so much sense! I really thought using cardboard would keep my garden moist but it really didn't at all. I need more mulch👍
Cardboard works well for me in Northern Virginia. It is very hot and humid during the growing season and all mulch decomposes quickly. Maybe worms love it because the ground is cooler underneath the cardboard. Weeds still come through wood mulch here because it breaks down so fast. Canada must be much different with its cooler temps and shorter growing season.
"Maybe worms love it because the ground is cooler underneath the cardboard." - then they like the cool - not the cardboard.
@@Gardenfundamentals1 and so the cardboard is creating a beneficial habitat for the worms, which will eventually consume the beneficial microorganism that decompose the cardbord.
so in conclusion, cardboard is great for plant production, as it promotes a healthy habitat for all beneficial organisms, and is a fundamental source of essential Carbon, the basis of life
@@666bruv No, the only thing cardboard is good for is killing weeds. You want beneficial decomposition etc that is what mulch is for. And he just finished saying cardboard prevents water from percolating through so how is that beneficial for organisms?
@@MamboMikeWellnessCoach it's already been stated
@@Gardenfundamentals1 they like the cool from the cardboard. Which is free.
I have used cardboard & wood chips on the pathways in my veg garden for years - does a good job of keeping weeds down and keeping pathways from being muddy. Currently I'm trying 'living pathways', using white clover. I have 20 3' x 18' beds in my main garden, planted 3 of the walkways with clover to try it out, and I will gradually convert more if this works out, as the cardboard\wood chip mulch breaks down. I have to add, the soil in the pathways that have been covered with cardboard & wood chips is quite nice, and the clover germinated well and is growing nicely. Waiting to see how it fairs through winter and into spring next year. I agree, using cardboard mulch on the planting beds is not a great idea.
If you're using wood chips you don't need the cardboard. The reason the cardboard is working better than if you didn't use wood chips is because the wood chips layer is absorbing moisture(keeping the cardboard saturated) and letting air circulation get at the cardboard layer breaking it down quicker. The saturation is enough to allow rain to get past that cardboard layer to a decent degree. Without the wood chips the dry cardboard repels rain and the ground under it won't get the rain it needs. What I'm saying is the wood chips are doing all the work here.
With that said I promise you that you're depleting nitrogen from the soil to breakdown all that carbon. That's basic composting 101.
While I'm a fan of empiricism it should be tempered by the understanding it doesn't inherently apply to any situation other than your own situation, which itself will also change over time. In other words if something has worked in the past or is right now doesn't mean it will continue to work or if applied to another situation it will work.
I have used just wood chips and they work great - you do not need cardboard.
I’m doing the exact same thing and getting good results. Wood chips alone don’t keep the weeds down. It’s a good solution for walkways. Beats plastic fabric anyway.
@@Gardenfundamentals1 I think you do not need cardboard depending on how deep you layer your woodchips. As soon as that grass or weeds sees any kind of light your layer of woodchips are gonna be worthless. Then it will look like crap and then good luck trying to mow it. Using cardboard is not for worms but for extra assurance that weeds or grass do not grow threw. I mulch my garden beds with just mulched grass and leaves in the fall and grass clippings in spring and summer.
Clover is a problem for me in SC. It invades mulched areas and flowers close to the ground attracting yellow jackets that sting us and our dogs. One of our dogs is afraid to go out into the lawn when it is blooming...most of the summer.
Oh haha I'm looking specifically for year 1 information as I'm just starting my garden! I was concerned for a second. What you said about cardboard for following years makes sense, I was just worried it wouldn't be a good way to kill grass/weeds in a new garden bed
I did not put down cardboard but used rolls of brown untreated paper as a base in a single layer then added chips on top about 4” deep. Figure that one layer of paper will break down fast enough
I use cardboard for shading only, protect the soil from direct sun in hot days, keeps the moisture in the soil. when watering I take them away.
You raise a good point, thank you for sharing. Peace
Many thanks for sharing this info. I only wish you had shared it this past spring before I carefully cut and placed cardboard around my peppers before adding a few inches of straw on top. Hopefully the cardboard will be mostly broken down by next spring, otherwise it won't be difficult to push back the straw and remove it. Thanks again
I wouldn't worry if it's not broken down by the time you are ready to plant. Just open up the cardboard and plant into the soil below.
I've used cardboard in my indoor garden. It works better than cover crops for smaller containers where worms are not practical. It allows the soil to stay moist enough for mycelium to flourish. 💚🌿
Cardboard is great. Except I save leaves in the fall and mulch with large thick leaves. It add nutrients and will pack down and inhibit weed growth to a manageable level.
What if I just want to use cardboard to avoid digging and putting in mulch and gravel.
Just bought a house and don't have much to fix the yard. I just want to kill weeds and cover up the dirt so my dog can go out and not come back inside so dirty all the time. I don't care about growing plants, I've always used pots for decorating.
Proper sheet mulching works great.
I am planning on using cardboard to suppress weeds, and to poke holes on it to plant beans for nitrogen fixation.
Once the beans begin to show signs of flowering, I am planning on chopping and dropping them for the mulch (and any other leaves and twigs I maneged to collect until then).
Would this be a good methodology to suppress weeds and enrich a neglected soil?
I only use it as he said or if I’m trying to kill thick grass
A few years back I was able to score several large bags of shredded cardboard, and said to myself that I could put this to use somewhere in my garden. BIG MISTAKE ! I have been growing potatoes in compost and hay for a couple of years with good results and thought that I would mix it in. The results of doing this was the biggest invasion of slugs I have ever seen ! To this day my number 1 pest problem are slugs, when before they were just a nuisance..
Cardboard seems to be hydrophobic. I've never seen anyone use cardboard with putting dirt or a mulch on top. Once saturated with a mulch on top it does stay hydrated and does let water through. It actually breaks down fairly quickly with a mulch or soil on top of it. Lasts long enough to smother and kill the weeds or grass but does begin to disappear by the following season.
I've used carboard to line all my garden paths under wood chips and used it to effectively kill weeds and grass to start a new bed area. Tons of worms and critters in the soil where it was laid
I was planning on using cardboard mulch again this year under my mulch to help suppress the Bermuda grass that heavily invades my gardens beds in S Carolina. Hand pulling this stuff is a nightmare. It will creep across the mulched cardboard eventually too. Not sure what to do now!
Bermuda grass is difficult to control even with cardboard.
I finally thought of a use for all this online shopping cardboard piling up so I'll be skipping mulch and only cardboard. I leave ample space around the plant for water to get to. The worms will be fine, I have tons.
I colored newsprint around the tomatoes. I was always told not to use colored print as mulch or in worm forms due to metals in the pigments? Do that hold true or just old wives tale?
How about turning the carboard into mulch first?
Has anyone tried growing gardens in enriched soil containers in Florida's extremely Sandy soil surroundings to slow the leaching away of nutrients? I'm trying it now for the Florida winter less climate. Tomatoes in such boxes seem to hold into the moisture better longer.
My worms disliked this video....
Seems like most people that use cardboard as a weed suppressor disagree with Mr know it all 😱
your suppose to use woodchips or hay on top of the cardboard. you put a layer of compost on top of the cardboard. you also drill into the cardboard to plant new stuff. it's something you do like once every other year not things you do every season. Worms love cardboard. It just has to have holes in it to begin with. there's cardboard shredders who will hole it for you. so you go in layers of cardboard then a layer of compost then a layer of woodchips. but you still plant in what's UNDER the cardboard and woodchips. using a drill or you can just stick a shover in and move it to the side same idea s woodchips.
Building raised flower bed 32sf either 12-18 inches in depth over existing in-ground flower bed. Given the depth would I need cardboard to stop the weeds from coming up?
Well I have an area that’s angled on the side of my house that is not worth mowing but I have a couple sprinkler heads there but I know I can plant like some grass or something in there but I’m not gonna do anything right now. What do you suggest just to edge it off and then do use mulch over the grass or spray the grass out or the weeds out and then put the mulch down? What do you suggest
Good point! What about shredded cardboard?
I put glossy semi glossy cardboard in a hole then the plant. Now I’m reading termites likes cardboard
Just what I don’t want to do undo it
Ants love it too! Found out the hard way my whole entire front and back yard got infested
There are two different houses in my neighborhood that are using just cardboard as a mulch. Ack! Unbelievably ugly! I could understand if they piled wood chips on top, but it's just a bunch of flattened boxes!
That will be me 😂
I concur. Cardboard creates a barrier and takes too long to break down in my garden.
Appreciate the applications of the scientific method throughout your videos. Thank you!
I have a garden bed that I haven’t touched in almost 2 years and now the weeds have taken over(I mean out of control). This year I plan to work on my garden bed and plant perennial plants. Now since this will be my first time working on the garden bed should I just throw a thick layer of mulch around the garden bed or combination of cardboard and mulch to suppress weed?
Newspaper and mulch works well.
Do you know a method that works with sour wood germination
Hi Robert,
Do you have experience with renewing the lawn, using a slim lasagne starting from news paper and/or card board, then applying a mixture of compost and sandy and silt-rich dirt?
I heard that people apply paper or card board to stop the weed underneath. I can well imagine that for instance my crab grass and speedwell will not germinate under the paper and/or poke through it. The paper/card board may also fight the various kinds of clover in my lawn.
But will paper or card board prevent quack gras (Agropyron repens syn. Elymus repens) and ashweed (Aegopodium podagraria) from poking through? I have both in my garden including the lawn. As long as I mow fairly regularly they will not really dominate and crowd out the wanted grass species in the lawn. But from the lawn they grow into the garden beds. And they are fast. Under the mulch quack grass runners grow half a meter in 3 months easily. Continuously digging those out is a pain. But if I don't fight them continuously they quickly establish within the root ball of the shrubs in the bed which I want to keep. And then I will not get rid of them anymore without pulling out all the plants. Ashweed runners are not that fast, but they are even more difficult to eradicate. Ashweed roots and runners tier off too easily and only 2 cm long pieces left 10 cm deep in the soil are enough to establish a new plant.
I am neither a friend of chemical (broad-band) mace, nor will I pamper the lawn continuously like a golf course turf, continuously fertilize, water and mow on weekly basis.
?? that is called sheet mulching.
ruclips.net/video/zQ4b1gPObLw/видео.html
This guy is usually on point but everything he said in this video is completely wrong. He didn’t get anything right. Literally every single point haha.
Mulching and the principle of composting have to work together. Incorporating the greens (fertilizer) and browns (cardboard, leaves, grass) are symbiotic to each other.
Balance of Nature has its own wonder. ......... Vitamins without the minerals needed to utilize the nutrients may do more harm than good.
If I try this on a fairly rural area won't it attract snakes and other animals to live under it?
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I call BS on you
My cardboard garden would disagree with you seriously!