Stopping weeds growing using cardboard

[Harrriet]

Before I set my boys to work, has anyone had any success with putting cardboard down, watering it then putting mulch on top to stop weeds.

Works really well. Occasional weed pops up but nothing major ime

I created a new border on very weedy grass doing this, worked really well. Didn't kill everything, but got rid of the vast majority.

Thank you very much.

Yes, same here. I covered an area of grass that I wanted to mulch

Results after about 6 months under several layers of cardboard and a layer of weed membrane below. Down at the allotment.

Charles Dowding suggests covering the card with compost when setting up a new bed

@JohnofWessex as well as mulch or instead of.
@LadyGardenersQuestionTime That looks good,thank you for showing that.

My boys are doing a great job I will post a photo when they have finished.

I think it was cardboard then compost

https://charlesdowding.co.uk/blogs/no-dig-resources/beginners-guide

How do I deal with weeds?
This depends on how many and which weeds you have, especially perennials, and how much organic matter you can source. All options involve laying a mulch or cover of any light-excluding material. This could be only compost, if you have enough in proportion to the vigour of existing weed growth. Other materials are cardboard underneath compost, or black plastic on top of compost.

This is an intriguing idea! Sorry if I’m being dense but how do you dig into it to plant seeds? And also are the chemicals in the average cardboard box generally safe for growing veg?

Having laid it, you wait 6 months before planting. The cardboard will be gone.

Pics are;

• prep'd late Aug 23 (there are pots on it to make it look less bare),
• Daffs Mar/Apr 24 (planted late Jan 24),
• then in flower Jul 24.

I wouldn't use printed cardboard for veg areas. I'm doing a new strawberry bed and have only used cardboard without any print.
I'm now saving more for a fruit cage.

When the soil is really dry, water first, then lay the cardboard and mulch on top.
🙂

we used a few sheets of newspaper at a time soaked in a bucket of water, then topped with bark chippings. it worked very well, even stopped ground elder. Plus it was easier to plant through than cardboard. Don't grow vegetables/fruit though. Wet newspaper sheets were also easier to shape around the existing trees and shrubs that we kept and nothing has died from being exposed to whatever nasties you are about to tell me are in newspapers. This was pre-amazon being a big thing and pre-newspapers being online so cardboard was harder to come by than newspaper.

Get the large cardboard rectangles they have at the supermarket between pallets of bottles. No print (although I think printed cardboard uses vegetable dyes) and no tape to peel off. The card has various thicknesses depending on the weight of the bottle it's used to divide.

Yes, we've used Charles Dowding's No Dig method.