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Cardboard...

LewisiumLewisium Posts: 122
in Problem solving
So Charles Dowding said that cardboard should, in theory, limit the light for weeds and will eventually stop them from trying to break through.
A great idea in principle.
I've stuck some cardboard down, nailed it in with some old nails and covered it in some gravel (not doing barkchips again) I'm thinking worst case is that when the cardboard has gone from the worms munching it all, rain etc... It'll be easier to pull the weeds up anyway through the gravel I put down.

https://youtu.be/0LH6-w57Slw

Any thoughts? 
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Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Make sure the cardboard is thoroughly wet then cover with composted material, not gravel.   The plants' roots will get thru the cardboard more easily.

    We're doing this for the first time this year so no idea how good it will be but has to be better than digging and should improve soil structure no end.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    The cardboard won't necessarily do much with perennial weeds like bindweed.
  • LewisiumLewisium Posts: 122
    edited April 2021
    Obelixx said:
    Make sure the cardboard is thoroughly wet then cover with composted material, not gravel.   The plants' roots will get thru the cardboard more easily.

    We're doing this for the first time this year so no idea how good it will be but has to be better than digging and should improve soil structure no end.
    I was told gravel was good to suppress weed invasion, We could compare progress in a years time. At least my allotment looks a bit tidier. Still need about another 20 bags of gravel though!

    I'd of used compost but on a double plot allotment, I don't produce nearly near enough of it. I'm assuming it's a good sign of compost production when there's things growing through the metal cage composter I have? 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Charles Dowding says it works on bindweed and co.  I'll let you know as ours has sneaky, almost invisible, curled and twisted brown roots that go down to China.  We've never sprayed it but have spent hours forking it out and laying it on the paths to dry out and die completely.   There's still enough left hiding for it to come back relentlessly.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • LewisiumLewisium Posts: 122
    I have gravel as a floor in my greenhouse / polytunnel too & the mares tail is easy to see and I pull it out straight away. Just need to get my cardboard sheets covered with gravel ASAP.

    It'll slow then down if nothing else.
  • a1154a1154 Posts: 1,108
    I’m confused as to where you want to end up. Is this gravel for paths etc? or will these areas be for plants? If it’s for paths, don’t use cardboard, use something that doesn’t disintegrate. If it’s for beds, don’t use gravel. Sorry if I’m being thick, I can’t see what you are aiming at.
  • LewisiumLewisium Posts: 122
    a1154 said:
    I’m confused as to where you want to end up. Is this gravel for paths etc? or will these areas be for plants? If it’s for paths, don’t use cardboard, use something that doesn’t disintegrate. If it’s for beds, don’t use gravel. Sorry if I’m being thick, I can’t see what you are aiming at.
    Ultimately, I'm aiming at pathways or to make the areas surrounding my raised beds look better and to get rid of as many weeds as poss. That's why I put down 2 layers of overlapping cardboard and put gravel on it. 
  • a1154a1154 Posts: 1,108
    Why not weed fabric as you don’t want weeds or plants there? 
  • LewisiumLewisium Posts: 122
    The weed fabric I've seen is either really thin anyway or would be ridiculously expensive to be incorporated into probably 50% of my allotment. If the gravel is rubbish then I'll have to reassess. I was lead to believe the cardboard idea is a sound 1. Maybe I should of used organic material to cover it but gravel is what I can get a lot of to cover decent areas. 
  • delskidelski Posts: 274
    "nailing down with nails" seems wrong to me
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