Late last summer, I published a post about my weeding prowess and proudly posted the results of my work:
Not a weed to be found in site. I even shared my most secretive of tips on the proper weeding form:
A bit cocky, yes. Did I assume it would hold up over time? Yeah, I did.
But as you may recall, it all fell to crap only a month later. That is when I wrote about my struggles with the weed, red sorrel. And how I totally mismanaged how to eradicate these weeds.
Fast forward to this spring, and I’m stressing big time over my weed “issues”. Here is what things look like in the neglected section of my side garden bed:
Damn I’m lazy and/or need more time.
My immediate thought was to get in the dirt and start pulling like a raged lunatic. But I’m not that guy any more. I now count slowly to ten and review the options in my head. Pulling blindly didn’t work out in the recent past so we need a new approach. I have been making a concerted effort to plant in all available empty spaces but that wouldn’t work in this spot. Hmmmm …
I recalled reading up a bit on the use of cardboard as a weed suppressant. And guess who has oodles and oodles of cardboard sitting in their garage? It was time to surf the interwebs a bit before making a final decision on my next steps.
I found a great discussion on this topic at the GardenWeb forums which you can read here, and after reading each and every entry, decided I was going to give it a go. What was there to lose? Even if it fails miserably, I can chalk it up as a learning experience. Garden as labaratory, if you will.
Before I show you Operation Cardboard as Mulch, I also wanted to share an article with you that is anti-cardboard. You can read it here – “Why I don’t like carboard mulch”. Interesting stuff, but not enough to change my mind.
So here we go.
One section of the bed overrun with weeds:
And yet another weed party here:
Down goes the cardboard pieces, sort of like a jigsaw puzzle:
Next step was to soak the cardboard to keep it in place:
Final step was to put down a few inches of mulch to keep it all in place and to further squash out those undesirables.
Here is the first “before and after”:
And the 2nd “before and after”:
I have additional areas to hit up with more cardboard so this is only the beginning.
Here’s hoping the weeds die a painful death as they are starved of the sun.
I’ll be sure to keep you updated along the way; good or bad.
John
Step #1…go to store and buy huge jug of vinegar
Step #2…Put said vinegar into an empty spray bottle…
Step #3…Spray the living *#@* out of the weeds…
No need to thank me…you are entirely welcome..
No…please…it is my pleasure…
Cheers!
Linda :o)
Nice tip John, and I think it will work AND be good for the garden in the long term.
I’ve done it. It works, although things will sprout on top of the mulch. I second the vinegar comment, by the way. That works too.
I am going to try this cardboard method with the creeping charlie!
Eileen
Interesting ideas! Btw I se what I have at hand – vinegar or cardboards 😉 Thanks for sharing and have a great day.
My comment isn’t here that I so painstakingly wrote. Oh Well.
In a nutshell. Recycle your newspapers if you don’t have cardboard. Great addition to your soil every year once it breaks down. Easy!
This is my second season using cardboard and newspaper. It seems to be working pretty well. Some weeds still grow under the mulch and through some cracks, but they pull out easily.
Hi John,
Thanks for this post. We have too much weeds in our front and backyard as the previous owner of our home didn’t really care about the lawn. We also tried the vinegar plus hot water, works but very time consuming. I really enjoyed your posts and the photos are wonderful. Looks like I am going to be one of your regular reader/visitor!
Anah
Hi John
thanks for the post. You made my day! I have great problem with weeds and now I have the clue to remove it without using pesticides.
Festuca Glauca
Are the after pics immediately afterwards or months down the road? Just wondering if the seeds would eventually make their way through the disintegrated cardboard…