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Post by desertwoman on May 29, 2024 13:08:27 GMT -5
How long do you find the cardboard lasts before breaking down- those of you in wet climates and those of you in drier climates? A couple of months? 6 months? a year? more?
I've used cardboard in areas where I will want to plant things, so I have not thought about longevity. But I was thinking of using it in an area that will be decorative where I will not be planting anything. I will be covering the barrier with bark mulch, it will rarely get walked on and only get watered from our desert rains. I'm trying to minimally (if not completely) use products (like weed cloth in this instance) which release micro plastic into the environment (or my body) but am not adverse to using the weed cloth if cardboard would have to be replaced every year.
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Post by pepperhead212 on May 29, 2024 19:32:58 GMT -5
The main thing I use cardboard for is preventing the weeds in my bean row. It lasts the entire year, and might last a second season in a dry year, but not longer. And I try to use the thicker CB for that.
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Post by emmsmommy on May 29, 2024 20:21:40 GMT -5
desertwoman, our climate is much wetter than yours so the cardboard breaks down quicker. I cover mine with 4-6" of wood chips and it seems to smother most of the weeds. My new bed sat for a month with cardboard covering the area underneath and around it and the only weeds I had to yank were some creeping Charlie that popped through where the wind had lifted the cardboard. In the area beside of the new bed I'm experimenting with black plastic to cook the weeds. I'll be growing directly in the ground and likely using cardboard and wood chips as well. In theory (in my head at least) the soil will be minimally disturbed and the wood chips will eventually break down and leave me with a much improved garden area
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Post by gianna on May 29, 2024 22:18:30 GMT -5
There are so many variables. I've used it around trees and on paths, 1-2 layers, covered with 4 or so inches of mulch. With only natural rain in your area, you might get a couple of years. But if you do water the area - about a year. It's really hard to tell however, because it's covered with mulch, you can't easily see how much it's decayed. But even if the cardboard partially decays, the mulch itself will help keep the weeds at bay another year. And those that grow are easily pulled. You can just add more mulch on top. Even more cardboard. It won't last forever, but what does?
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Post by raphanus on May 31, 2024 15:03:55 GMT -5
Cardboard sheet mulching definitely has some benefits in dry climates. Probably more for retaining soil moisture than anything since weed pressure is fairly low in dry climates anyway. I’ve seen decent results with it in PNW and excellent results with it in the desert. In my subtropical climate, cardboard breaks down within a month or so and it doesn’t really suppress weeds, it just selects for weeds that don’t mind growing under cardboard, or weeds that grow right through cardboard. Cardboard will kill grass, but other weeds like Florida betony, nutsedge, dollarweed, duckweed, chocolateweed, Asiatic dayflower, they just grow fine under it, through it, and on top of it. A lot of our weeds will grow right through landscape fabric after a few months. For reliable weed suppression, we have to use heavy silage tarps or solarize the weeds with clear greenhouse plastic, or use ASD where you apply a carbon source and a nitrogen source and then seal the area with clear plastic which will kill literally everything from weeds to bugs to diseases in the soil. Weed control remains by far the most challenging aspect of organic farming in the Deep South. We’ve solved most insect and disease problems, but weed control is still really difficult.
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Post by heirloomfan on Jun 3, 2024 10:34:38 GMT -5
Here in the Denver, CO area, I tested cardboard for the first time last year and found it worked well. Didn't get a lot of rain to break it down, but the sprinklers in the beds did help it break down. It's then easy to remove at the beginning of the new season and put down fresh cardboard. I begin saving bigger boxes starting in the winter so I have some on hand and just use a box cutter to cut them to fit. I also have tried the clear plastic tarps in the beds, those work OK too to cook the weeds and the weed seeds in the soil and once they are softened and wilted, easier to remove. But the cardboard does provide a barrier where the sun can't get to the weeds but still seems to not harm the beneficials that are on the soil. I have one bed where I laid down the cardboard and then put larger pots of things like peppers right on top of it and will try it out this year to see how well that works.
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Post by emmsmommy on Jun 5, 2024 13:00:36 GMT -5
I'm actually to the point where I grab cardboard whenever I see it available. I generally remove any tape and/or staples and store it in the shed until I need it. It's amazing how a huge stuck of cardboard quickly dwindles when using it in the garden.
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Post by gianna on Jun 5, 2024 22:05:30 GMT -5
I'm actually to the point where I grab cardboard whenever I see it available. I generally remove any tape and/or staples and store it in the shed until I need it. It's amazing how a huge stuck of cardboard quickly dwindles when using it in the garden. I save all the cardboard that comes into the house. I flatten it and put it behind one couch to store. I use it for all sorts of things from putting it under litter boxes, using bits of it to level celery trays, making fire starters, art stuff, etc, etc, etc. Main uses are in the garden and covered with mulch. I love the stuff. it's so useful. Thanks, Amazon!!
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Post by emmsmommy on Jul 14, 2024 14:32:55 GMT -5
A bit of a note about the cardboard use in the new garden. Last week I slit holes in the cardboard and planted 48 pepper plants directly in the ground. We haven't had any significant rain for a few weeks yet the soil under the cardboard was moist. Maybe it was the fact that I kept the cardboard covered with the black plastic I've been using to kill the grass and weeds in that area but I would have thought the fact that it was covered with plastic would have made it extremely dry. Hmmm...
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