Cardboard mulching, lasagne gardening, call it what you will but I'm doing anything to keep the weeds down.
Our milder winters over the last few years mean that some of the weeds can grow steadily on and then with the first taste of spring they grow like mad and I'm back to digging over beds to remove suborn weeds instead of getting on with planting and other nice jobs!
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| Beginning to cover the dormant veg beds with cardboard. |
This year I've been trying everything I can. From using my chickens (which worked really well and I'll do that next year) to using old carpet as a mulch (falls apart and is now a pain to get rid of - I know you told me so!).
This autumn I've been covering beds with cardboard. I've been doing it just before it's going to rain, as once it's wet it seems to stay in place regardless of the wind. I've had a good supply of good sized pieces from different people and I've been doing it for a few months now and it seems to be working. The weeds are dying off and it should rot down fairly quickly ready for planting in the the spring, It saves buying any black plastic, which would be my other option, and is a good way of recycling.
Anyone else using cardboard as a mulch over winter?
I am expecting a good crop of weeds as our vegetable beds are new and on previous ground that was for grazing I might try some cardboard on some of the beds.
ReplyDeleteMine was as well and it takes some getting on top of (I'd imagine as I'm not on top of mine yet!). buttercups are my biggest nightmare! The cardboard should help - try it and let me know how you get on. Anything to stop them seeing daylight!
DeleteBlack silage pit plastic is very good too. I find it's a good idea to take the cello tape and brown sticky tape off the cardboard because it doesn't rot and becomes a nuisance. I have also mulched with corrugated sheeting and old plywood sheeting and it works.
ReplyDeleteI take as much of the plastic off as I can and then rake up the rest when the cardboard rots away. I used ply wood outside my shed for a couple of years and it helped keep the mud away!
DeleteI started putting down old roofing sheet metal pieces on the walkways this last year and it worked but the morning glory just spread it's roots under it and came out the other side. Still it was area I didn't have to worry about. I try and bury the rest of the garden so deep in barn waste it stops the weeds as well.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I had an opportunity to get and didn't, and I am still kicking myself for, were 4'x4' sections of pallet plastic. It's a heavy plastic that would have worked well for a barrier that comes on pallets and the warehouse I worked at was throwing it away. I should have taken some but didn't.
There's stuff I wish I kept but you can't keep it all! I'm enough of a hoarder as it is!
DeletePressed the wrong button!
DeleteThe nettles can get under the slabs if I let them. Hopefully one day I'll get on top of them and just have to deal with annual weeds, but I doubt it will be anytime soon!
Kev, I love cardboard for this purpose and use it all the time. If you take care to overlap your edges well (those pesky weeds find their way though, otherwise), and mulch on top of the cardboard to weigh it down and add a further barrier, you'll have beautiful seed ready soil in a season or two.
ReplyDeleteI've got some chicken muck to add on top so that will hold it down in places. I'm going to get as much cardboard as I can over the winter and also add it to the bottom of all the raised beds I'm going to add in.
DeleteWe don't mulch here so suffer the consequences in the spring! But we do have the pigs out on two of the veg paddocks now, so that should make the soil easier to plough next year, and should also keep the weeds under control. Well that is the plan anyway!
ReplyDeleteI use the chickens in the same way but on a smaller scale. I think using animals like that is a smart thing to do.
DeleteI really like the cardboard for keeping weeds down. It seems you can never get rid of the black plastic. A couple years ago I got a bargain on a large straw blower and we used barley straw last year. The chickens have made quite a mess of it which kept the weeds from sprouting but It was kind of a pain in the butt.
ReplyDeleteThe cardboard slowly rots away plus you can layer it with manure and grass clippings and straw and yard debris and one you get the worms started It is amazing how fast it turns into dirt.
Can't say that I have done this, but you have me thinking now :)
ReplyDeleteI think everyone wants to ensure that they present their best work at all times. This is so whether someone is writing in English or another language. Of course, it easier when you are writing in the language that you grew up speaking.
ReplyDeleteenglish prepositions
My parents have been using the no-dig method (cardboard covered in compost) on their veg patch and it works a treat.
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