The Case for Cardboard
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- čas přidán 19. 10. 2019
- A video about whether or not cardboard is a viable option for the production market garden (because hint? It may be).
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So, I don't have a "market" garden...but I do feed our family of 5 with the output of my Organic garden. I have been using discarded cardboard as weed suppression for over 10 years now. The local liquor stores and warehouse-type grocery stores always have free cardboard whenever I want it!
My method: In the Fall, designate a place to start a new garden bed. Put the cardboard on that patch of ground. Dump a pail of kitchen scraps or compost on top of the cardboard. Then, either muck out the straw from your chicken coop, or buy a bale of straw, and spread it out to cover the kitchen scraps and cardboard. Come back in Spring, like 8 mos. later, and plant your garden!! The cardboard breaks down in place, encourages earthworms in your garden, and kills the grass with ZERO effort. The kitchen scraps rot into compost right where you want it!
I call it Lazy Gardening!
I do the same 😉
That sounds great. I'm going to do this in the Fall too. Great information! You should make a video :)
Does the animals come and eat the food? Snakes ?
@Macy, Straw may not be your best bet if you want to remain “organic”, because the vast majority is sprayed with glyphosate (RoundUp)... consequently, you’ll have to contend with toxic chemical residue for several years...compliments of Monsanto.
I too practice this lazy style gardening that you speak of 😂😂 it's super easy 👍
Deeply soaked cardboard stays in place much better, suppresses weeds well, provides moisture to dormant weed seeds so they will sprout and then die from lack of light, which is what I want. It helps the cardboard stay soft and permeable and begin to decompose into soil. I use a kiddie pool or a deep tote bin. Leave it in for a few minutes until sopping wet. A cement mixing trough or other large rectangular bin would be more suited for your volume. Then I cover it with mulch, compost or wood chips, to retain the moisture. It's hard to saturate cardboard by watering on top of it but it's easy if you put it in a tub.
Love it. I leave mine in the back of an old Ford Ranger until it rains aplenty - and I never have to wait too long! Appreciate the tips.
I’m an old mechanical engineer and now created my own software business...but I’m obessed with agriculture! How we grow our food is THE answer to our problems - this cardboard method seems brilliant!!!! Seen lots of it - a great use for waste cardboard - worms love it!
do it attract plenty of earthworm ?
Same here...working on my grads degree in agriculture. My R&D is my farm in the Philippines.
@@mishapaulite2289 very cool 😎
@@bencyber8595 YES! Cardboard is made from wood pulp and provides food for earth worms! Try NOT to use any with printing on it or call the manufacturer to make sure the ink is made from SOY INK!
💯💯💯
The glue used in cardboard production is a water based cornstarch. It attracts earth worms which is a plus.
Could you provide any sources on that? I always wondered about the glue, but couldn't verify your statement on a quick Google search. I would be especially interested how common that type of glue is.
Ok, for Germany I found something about glue being corn-, wheat- or potatostarch. www.wellpappe-wissen.de/wissen/wellpappe/bauprinzip/verklebung.html
Happy composting everyone!
Our locally produced boxes (the brown types) are also safe, confirmed with some of the makers here (like NamPak). They said, off the record, in general, the low-colour or "three-colour" boxes are safe, cornstarch, etc type inks and are safe. Check for dull colours, like the greys, blacks, that crappy dark red, etc. Those are usually safe. Remember to remove the sellotape/packing tape and staples.
and the inc used is almost 100% of the time soy based so I would worry too much
A quick way to gather worms is to lay the cardboard down keep it moist. Check after a few days. Collect the worms and add them to make your own worm beds. Then just add kitchen scraps along with a ripe avocado split in two pieces. Lay the avocado peel side facing up. The worms will come to eat the avocado asap...the fats in the avocado attract worms. The more worms touch..the more they reproduce. It works with grain fed worms too.
I've been using cardboard for weed suppression in my backyard garden for almost 10 years, everything you are saying is inline with my experience. I love it, plants love it, worms love it, and it's free
👍👍👍
Wannabe Farmer yes indeed yes.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge! 10 years is a great length of time to be certain of something in the garden landscape. Thanks, I really value and appreciate your knowledge on this! :)
Does it attract termites?
Does the cardboard attract termites?
I created my first vegetable garden in my backyard and because of health issues I needed to reduce my weeding so I used cardboard down my aisles and just covered it with mulch. I just cleared out my summer garden to put in my winter and all of that cardboard had broken down. It also provided moisture retention for the roots that sought out the moisture. Lots of earth worms too.
We have a huge weed issue on our property because it's not only an abandoned dairy farm, it also was used for a time as a town landfill. The weeds, clay and rocks are horrible and we have struggled for several years with beds. We created a demonstration bed this summer, in July, planting perennials, bushes and trees, covered with a layer of cardboard and then several inches of woodchips. The plants took off, grew like crazy and the weeding could be taken care of in less than 15 min., once a week. We will be redoing the other beds over the next several years.
I've been fighting Bishops Weed for 30 years. I tried a section with cardboard, but I'm wondering if newspapers would work better. I don't want to use plastic.
Thanks for the info. We are starting a 'new' hobby farm that got tilled but not so great. Expanding my thoughts on using cardboard around my baby trees, fruits, etc. It's so beneficial for compost - why not try on a few and see what happens :)
I put cardboard over my soil bed used for cucumbers, zucchini and sweet corn, then sugar cane mulch over the cardboard. The transformation of this soil has been phenomenal 👉 it was moist and easily workable unlike prior years where it was dry and hard as a rock at sowing time when left bare over winter. And thank Christ, no more weeds to pull either.
I searched craigslist and found a cabinet company giving away cardboard by the pallet. they loaded a tied up pallet of cardboard right into my pickup truck. beautiful
The best cardboard I found is from a new housing development using siding. Dumpster diving for cardboard. The siding comes in 4’ x 15’ flattened cardboard box. Perfect for one row. There is no tape or much printing on the boxes.
This is awesome. Thank you.
THANKS
When I had to replace the siding on my house 4 years ago, I repurposed all the long siding boxes in my garden for the walkways, too. So convenient! I covered it all with free bark mulch I got from the city yard.
Charles Dowding is a market gardener in England. In the late fall he will use cardboard or old wool carpet to kill grass for a new plot of land.
I have been using cardboard for no-til flower farming for 2 years, but with a different method. I prep my beds with compost, top with cardboard, and then spread straw. I transplant into this as if it were landscape fabric. I've had weed free beds from the start! I leave this all in place all season and into winter (no need for tarping). In the early spring it's very easy to rake into the aisles and I start the process over again.
As seniors we have enjoyed using the cardboard layers to create larger front flower beds and more greatly eliminate so much grass to mow. We get cardboard wherever stores will let us. It helped us to hear about the soy inks, remove tapes, etc. we have done that. We do not use and plastic coated boxes(the shiny ones). Thanks for your video and thanks for everyone’s joyful comments on their success. Oh, and we collect rainwater in giant plastic tubs 🛁 to use on plants. So we dunk the card boxes whole down into those tubs and immediately we can flatten the soggy boxes and place in the garden beds. Then we put mulch down. Yard looks so much neater with the clear defining of the beds. I am subscribed! Ahna Atlanta/ga
We have a food processing plant here where I live and they sell food grade 5 gallon buckets that they receive food products in without the lids for fifty cents each and we use these to catch rainwater for watering our hydroponic gardening system via brute trash cans we refill via the buckets.
I used to live in Atlanta. The soil is terrible there. Now I live in Chicago. Chicago soil is 100 times better than Atlanta
I worked in the printing/converting industry for many years. The least-processed paper product is brown Kraft paper, like an old-school brown paper shopping bag. That's basically what plain brown cardboard is made of; the only additional steps are corrugating the middle layer and gluing it all together. There's simply no practical reason to bleach it or make it perfectly smooth or anything like that, that would only add cost to its manufacture. They've been using plant-starch-based glues and soy-based inks for many many years largely because it greatly reduces their need to use VOC solvents when they clean their machines and printing presses, and in many areas that's required by law now. All of which works to our advantage.
As the ATTRA statement points out, bleached papers, glossy coatings and so forth add many more concerns. So avoid them. And peel off any plastic-y tapes, packing slip pouches etc from the boxes you scrounge. Paper tape reinforced with string poses no problem. It's just that simple.
From what I understood, fiberglass threads do not breakdown in the soil? 50% or more of the cardboard available is taped with fiberglass reinforced paper tape. I've never seen paper tape in use on a shipping box, for at least the last 15 years, that wasn't reinforced with fiberglass. Just about impossible to get all the threads off with the tape, unless you can get a good freeze on the boxes before trying. I just immediately reject those boxes now, because a good freeze is difficult to get here.
Thanks 4 the additional info!
Dystopia Gear s
Rain Spring No one I know of has suggested not removing the tape.
@@rainspringing it comes off if sprayed with water....which you want to do anyway to weight it down and to conform to the topography of the area the cardboard is laying on.
We put cardboard right over pasture grass and put several inches of soil/compost on top and planted in it. Very few weeds and those mainly blew in or where the critters dug in the bed and tore the cardboard. Earthworms love it.
Yes, my experience is also that Earthworms and love it and also will breed in coffee grounds - great fun.
Heidi
I have seen videos of bad weeds like Canadian Thistle being killed off by cardboard and compost. It changed the fungal bacterial population of the soil biology. And that killed off the weeds. You have never experienced hell on earth until you get a garden full of Canadian Thistle! Dr Elaine Ingham did a lot of composting on pasture in Australia. She save the average rancher $200,000 a year on vet bills, reducing fertilizer and pesticide usage. Also more productivity as forage improved and they did not need to buy animal feed.
I love using cardboard. Getting older and can't mow and weed like I use to. I lay down layers of cardboard and cover with mulch. Works great!
I have been doing the same thing in my flower garden to keep weeds down. For the cardboard I just go my nearby walmart and they just give you carts full of cardboad that they get rid of. Just ask for it.
@@yes350yes I have seasonal bulbs and flowers self seeded into my flower garden. I can’t imagine covering the soil with anything but compost specifically to feed the soil.
And the soil is the only thing I feed.
So I have to bury a few weed seedlings here and there, they get stuffed right back into the dirt head first to feed the soil biology and make my soil ever richer. A move I can usually accomplish with a shoe or the handle end of my rake since my back is likely worse than the both of yours’ combined.
I never have to plant anything and my flower bed is biodiverse. Full of non natives and a host of native blooms along with several clovers that have all come up on their own that feed the soil as well as attracting and feeding a whole host of insects and in turn reptiles and birds.
That’s how nature does the
work- literally.
She has a very important job that we’re preventing her from doing and biodiversity is disappearing as a result.
Or in other words,
human habitat is disappearing.
If at this late stage we still can’t find it in us to make our gardens about nature, not just another way to please ourselves with as little effort as possible,
then we are truly screwed.
Please remove the cardboard and the wood chips, the ecosystem you occupy and presume to dominate has no use for these.
Please feed your soil biology, and let nature show you just how much life should be packed into a single square foot of space.
And remember; the only difference between a plant and a weed is a human judgement and as such,
is largely irrelevant.
I ❤ how it draws worms and improves the soil underneath. Love how it retains moisture! That’s huge!
I've done this forever just to block weeds in my flowerbed.
I love it just found you I'm a mother nature kind of girl lol now old lady 62 I've been blessed green body forget the thumb my neighbors called me the lawn angel using cardboard was my go to 50 years ago you can also use old shingles for landscaping I'm gonna go with rock now older no weeds less maintenance God bless you guys
We worked a construction job at a small hospital in the Congo several years ago. The guest house where we stayed had a refrigerator full of cardboard boxes stuffed with medications. The head doctor said it was to keep the roaches from eating the cardboard. His thesis paper before graduating medical school was on cockroaches and their ferocious appetite for cardboard boxes. It turns out that the roaches were going after the glue in the cardboard, rather than the paper itself. And yes, we still found a few roaches in the medical boxes. The doctor said that the seal on the refrigerator door needed replacing. 😅
My partner and I are starting a farm. We ARE using cardboard, for the whole thing. We did tarps first, then rock dusts and 6" mulch of compost and 5" of woodchips. It has been working great, this is a field of Burmuda Grass, and we did not want to till. So we are making a never till farm. Thanks for all the great videos!!!
Oh awesome! best of luck, y’all!
BadAppleArt That Bermuda grass is hard to destroy. I have it also, and each spring I watch carefully for runners, and remove them. This works in my back yard garden. Might be intensive in a larger farm, etc...
@@jimwilleford6140 Yes, we are experimenting lots with sheetmulching and tarps to see how to deal with it best on our farm.
@Bonnie Bon glyphosate in a handheld spray bottle??? Selectively using a small amount to solve a problem is not the same as spraying a 1000 acres of roundup ready crops.
Nice video. my favorite words in gardening are ' free local resource'... which I think is applicable to this type of video, especially for larger gardens or farms. The breaking point really is how easily you can get it.
This is a rare youtuber who is intelligent and pretty articulate and objective. Lots of very good information for anyone considering the cardboard method.
Hey Jesse! My whole quarter acre market garden is cardboarded! Bike boxes, no tape and huge and ikea kitchens come in lots of cardboard. It’s been excellent for weed suppressant.
You done excellent to de tape and lay in 2 hours! Impressed.
Great video. This helps people start.
Oh awesome! Also to be clear, i pick mostly without tape so that makes it waaay easier
I used a lot of cardboard after I pulled up my weed cloth. I had green worms under my weed cloth. My neighbors complained about the unsightliness edges of the visible edges of cardboard and Starbucks coffee filters. I've used so much cardboard that I no longer really need to. I made a triple thick path with my cardboard and covered it with grounds, sheet mulch. Now when I get a new bag of Starbucks coffee grounds I remove the filters from the grounds and save them in a bag. I use the filters for fillers. For example I just planted some roses and I laid the filters around the edges then I top them with grounds. A word to the wise is many garden clubs do not agree with sheet mulching, lol. When it's a nice sunny day I go my garage and get a bag of filters, then I get my pointed Sneeboer spade and deeply plant them away from prying eyes:-) Cardboard is also plentiful at your local grocery store. I used to always carry my groceries in an empty cardboard box. I take as much tape off the cardboard as I can but I don't worry bc it easily comes off in subsequent seasons after it's been rained and snowed on . Landscape fabric is expensive and cardboard is free!
I use it between mulch layers on my paths every year. I use it as path compost. every three or so years I harvest it to top off my beds.
Try this: on weeds put compost, on compost put paper and on paper put mulch - water and make holes for planting. This way, compost will not dry. If you put paper on weeds and then compost and then plant then it will dry.
Yes, Morag Gamble has a vlog saying this same thing. It can work, either way, it definitely just does take more attention and keeping up with the moisture if the cardboard is on bottom & if you don't have a nice, deep enough layer of compost for on top of it. If you don't have enough compost , it helps to add mulch to the top - grass clippings or something. I still prefer to do the cardboard on the bottom ( and to not have to mess with paper ), but have learned those things, especially for delicate plants like carrots. It of course, helps the most if one doesn't have to plant into it right away at all, but can leave it for a few weeks or over winter. Also depends on how much and how regularly is your rainfall.
I used cardboard and it really works! I used wood chips around the vegetables bed to encourage more worms. This year my vegetables are happy. No weeds too! Very happy with the result! I will recommend it to anyone.
If you 'feed' the soil first (i.e., add any nutrients you're planning to add- manures, minerals, compost teas etc), then your cardboard/newspaper, it evidently works quite well (Morag Gamble - Permaculture gardener does it that way). Then your compost on top, to hold it all in place, + a handful of compost into each hole with the seedling.
Cardboard does work great, but if you have a highly invasive grass, yo've got to stay on top of weeding it, because even layers of cardboard and 10cm+ pf wood chip won'tpget rid of it if you allow one small grass tuner to gain sunlight and continue it's weedy growth .
I did 3 cardboard beds this year. All started on what I call “virgin ground”. In other words right on top or grass. Two of the beds covered it in 3-4 inches of compost and planted onions in one and chard and cucumbers in the other. The 3rd bed we did hills of squash. They worked great!
Awesome to hear!
We are going into a second planting in those beds. Added a little compost to the onion bed and planting garlic.
The only weed pressure we had was from cut grass when hubby mowed a little to close or from weeds that tried to creep in from the sides. Otherwise as long as you have good cardboard coverage it will bock them from coming up underneath.
Using cardboard 4 years now for weed suppression and new bed building. Cardboard + wood chips + compost = reduced weed pressure. A nice equation for saving time over the long haul on my small scale garden. Beds without cardboard are a nasty weed headache for me. Great video Jesse.
So true I have tried wood chips they worked well for me, I didn't know about cardboard, I'll have to try it.
Kevin Keen what do you do with the cardboard after a growing season? It degrades and then you just repeat the cycle with a new layer of cardboard?
I love a video where I don’t have to do a video, I can direct people to your video!
Great information here on cardboard, the urban farmer, or inner city carbon where there are no trees to use their leaves!
I use cardboard like you’re doing here in my beds as well as in my grow towers where I wrap it around each grow unit for a few reasons. Love that you touch on the fact cardboard is totally organic, and the tip of wetting it which helps take the tape off, so true!
In the city I see so much cardboard going to waste and it kills me! This video is so important as TONS of cardboard is going to the landfill and for me, like you it’s such an important asset to organic growing!
I shred it too and use it for cat litter and sometimes add it as a carbon for my many thousands of “friends” (yes of course Red Wigglers) who live in our basement. Had to subscribe, great info and I thank you for sharing your important work freely!
Cardboard has been a life long tool. We always seem to live where there are thick woods, and wide open tree-less spaces in between. Usually if you can get any excess fallen leaves it's after planting a couple trees around the house structure, then waiting many years for growth, and leaves past what that tree needs around it's roots. I've never lived in a city, but the cardboard riches available in even tiny local towns, when you go in for something else, are wonderful!
I used cardboard in my garden in Paducah, KY, for several years. I didn't have a lot of extra $$ for soil on the top, but compost worked well. And where I didn't have compost, I just piled on the cardboard. Next year, lots of good growing soil.
I've done some of the same in our new gardens here in FL, 10A, but used sticks and grass from the mower, then cardboard, then soil. So far, so good.
I just got into my first home. It has a small yard, so I put a 3'x6'x18" raised bed and a sub pod init for vermicomposting. All the boxes we used to move into the house got broken down and layered in my bed with putting a thin layer of soil or compost in between the layers. It's half full right now with that method, now I have to wait until I have the money to purchase more soil.
Compared to the alternatives to ground preparation by a mechanical digger or weedicide cardboard is a clear winner from the get-go. Here in Australia where I live, we are going through an intense drought and my no-dig gardens built on a cardboard base I do credit for the ability to grow at least something as the water restrictions got more and more severe. It does not matter how well you build a bed if you have no water you are going to lose and we did lose a majority of the gardens, but what I could keep going was on a total household water use of 90 litres per day. It supplied enough greens and other produce to keep my small customer base going until I was able to start in a new location that has access to water not supplied through a municipality system.
I have continued with the new area to implement the same cardboard base set up as the old gardens, I could not afford to put organic style purchased soil inputs over the total area I could only buy in 10 cubic meters to get me started. As a longer-term solution, in other parts of the gardens I have used more woodchip as a top layer over the cardboard and planting straight into the ground with the idea that over time it will break down eventually giving me a better soil composition but in the meantime I will get some return from the area and suppress weed and grass growth. Regards Russell
Also watch for snakes bedding under the cardboard, i have copperheads and i found out the hard way!)
I used cardboard in my raised beds and put compost on top of that and grew onions, they were the biggest I have grown yet. I was surprised how quickly the cardboard broke down.
How long did you have to wait before planting?
Cardboard being corrugated helps air get into the soil which in turn aids in decomposition. I plant right on top the same day.
If earthworms have access to the cardboard, they will go thru it like a buzz saw. Worms seem to love it.
Great objective piece. I am not a farmer, but a back yard urban lasagne guy. I did my old garden in cardboard and a 2 inch layer of compost, mulched with straw, and it worked beautifully. Glad to see you experimenting on a larger scale. Best Wishes. My new beds on never used garden surfaces were more labor and material based intensive. Yet, once built I never have to do more really heavy labor. Just add a couple of compost on top when a cycle is finished, and cover with 4+ acres of straw. Replant n the spring. Fini.
I put it down before I top dress raised beds in spring, it gives me a nice clean slate. Also, always use it wet, that will save you time and frustration.
I just created an area of 20X30 Ft. I then put down woodchips , then a layer of well rotted cow manure(2yrs. Old).then woodchips over that. I’m anxious for spring planting. I’ll enjoy the winter planning! Nice video, thank you!
volunteered as a gardener on Alcatraz recently. They are using cardboard as well. I have used cardboard as much as I can in my own gardens. Very effective.
Alcatraz? The island? What’s going on there?
I used woodchips from a hill area with lots of pine trees
In my microclimate it can go from sunny to cold, rainy/foggy and very windy but I haven’t had any issues with it blowing away. I did a 3 inch layer of wood chips (some dry but a lot already that are breaking down and wet) , pine needles, and some small branches and a few thick ones.
Every now and then I do wet it cuz 20+ mph wind can blow the twigs and stuff on top away.
I appreciate your video, thank you!! 🤙🏽
Cardboard seems like the way to go, over forty years ago we were using newsprint to do the same thing. However these days news print (w/o colored inks) is almost impossible to get. I really like the way that a paper product holds moisture in the soil but that it breaks down as well as it does. Thanks for a really good video and all the information that you shared.
i was on the fence about cardboard no dig, but the light compost, then planting-through method highlighted here is an extra plus for simplicity and saving/sparing a ton of compost :)
great video, thank you. very inspiring !
I like this. I think for my fall bed prep I'll strip off the mulch, add compost and shredded leaves, add 2-3 layers of cardboard over the beds, then put the mulch back on top. Probably would help with nutrients leaking out over fall/winter with the rains as well, and keep the soil more active and protect it from freezing. Every year gets better with this no til gardening :)
Home gardening here really enjoying your presentations! Your the first I heard about no-till. Got my first tray of onions started for the first time by seeds. Feels great! Thanks Jesse!
I use cardboard on our farm in the raised beds. I put it on the ground and the Bermuda grass grew all through it and it was a nightmare. The tape peeling off and cutting the cardboard into squares to put in the beds is time consuming but I still do it. I have a business that saves boxes for me monthly and I have another friend that saves boxes for me. I get the same boxes each month. I hate Bermuda grass. I cannot grow on the ground because of that invasive weed. I like the idea of making soil and using resources that would otherwise go into the dump. I wished we didn’t have Bermuda grass. I hope you have a great week! Wendy🙏🏻🇺🇸
I’ve done a row with light compost, the cardboard than a thick layer of compost and planted a month later after being covered and it was my best bed yet for yield...I think it’s cause the compost under stayed moist and the roots lived in that layer more imo, and the worms mixed that under compost in better also IMO, lol. Thanks for the video!
My back always hurt so I had great trouble weeding my garden, now I have learned a solution from you. thank you ever so, so so much. can't thank you enough.
Put it on in the fall and wet it for use the following Spring, also put wood chips on in the Fall, it keeps the cardboard moist. I've been using it for years and find it's a good solution for moisture control and weeds in both garden, fields and paths.
tannenbaum Another benefit is that the chips do decompose, creating soil in the paths. That way the paths may be eventual fertile beds.
@@jimwilleford6140 In my case I have raised beds (22" high) so the beds will not be moved, but I do put chips down and as it builds up I remove the composted soil and use it in containers or pouches.
@@jimwilleford6140 it's okay to use chips as a mulch for weed protection, but the plants should be planted into the composted soil underneath the chips, nog mixed w/soil. Pull back the mulch in the areas areas where plants will be placed. Most of the time my wood chips have been sitting for several years and are already composted and broken down by about 50%+. By that time it's perfect for the garden. I bring them in about 20 cu.yds at a time and I add Nitrogen in the form of dry blood or feathermeal which starts the composting process quite nicely. After about 2+ years it's "gold" for the garden, all I add at that point is some minerals (green sand and lime), peat moss (Lowes) organic bonemeal and Alfalfa meal (Espoma) and organic Vermacompost I purchase and stockup each year from Costco. Each raised bed is started by generating composted bales of organic straw (large square bales). I put them directly into the raised bed, add Nitrogen as described above, some composted wood bark soil as described above and water it in, repeat 3x in 1 week, then every other day water thoughly for 2 weeks and then just let it take its course...it will compost quickly, and after about 1-2 months its ready to add the soil layer about 12 inches (the composting process will shrink the bales). My raised beds are constructed out of 2x8x10 and 2x6x10 cedar lumber frames (2 ea. 8" and 1 ea. 6" layer in the middle) with 4x4" posts on each end anx braces in the middle, each bed is 4 ft. wide. For the next two years add add some more composted soil as the straw will compost down completely. I'm always working with one older pile and another one waiting once the current pile is used up (I add a fresh pile approx. every 2 to 3 years). I use the fresh chips only for the paths to refresh them to keep clean longer. This raised bed soil recipy will give you the nicest, fluffiest, and healthy soil you can imagine, with no weeds. Hope this explains how to use chips effectively in an organic garden.
tannenbaum Yes.
tannenbaum, are you located near the harz mountains? im looking out for other gardners in the region
Thanks for sharing the results of all your experiments! This information is so helpful to be able to visualize what's going on. I just subscribed to your patreon. Really appreciate what you are sharing.
Thank you for making this video! ❤️ I have a small suburban property where I don't till my veg garden and use cardboard. Thank you for this interesting look at your use of it.
I have been using cardboard, creating my own mulch from grass clippings, oak & pecan leaves as well as organic leftovers for over 3 decades in my raised beds in Louisiana. I also use coffee grounds as starter fertilizer & powdered egg shells on tomato's & peppers. My yields are incredible especially with a variety of peppers. The reason I began using cardboard was in moisture retention during the hottest months with the combination of mulch.
I love cardboard in the garden, but something I have found that if I don't completely cover with woodchips and/or soil and only use a bit of compost and straw it is a great place for ground nesting hornets to live. just a heads up for anyone so they don't learn the painful lesson I did :)
I have a little suburban yard. Years ago we basically covered our empty backyard in cardboard and compost. 10 years later we have a beautiful yard with next to no weeds. It worked wonderfully.
Instead of sheet cardboard, I've been mulching once a year with a generous layer of cross-cut shredded cardboard. I've been doing it for several years now, with very good results. After the first good soaking, the shredded cardboard forms a nice mat that easily withstands strong winds and heavy rain. By the following Spring, most of it has broken down, and it's ready for another layer before the first planting. 3"- 4" seems to be the sweet-spot for retaining moisture and weed suppression, while still allowing potatoes, garlic, and onions to emerge, as well as being perfectly compatible with the burrowing pegs of peanuts.
FXM A new technique to me. Very interesting! I can see it would work!
Yes! Shredded cardboard is wonderful for this, and other things. My home shredders don't like it though and I had to stop, but I'm not using an industrial use intended shredder. Yet.
@@rainspringing I feel validated as I have been thinking of using cardboard as mulch.....I saw a video recently that used a wood chipper as a shredder for cardboard ( they were using it for packing0
I admire your open-minded but not starry-eyed approached. It's wise to be slightly cynical about anything that some people claim is a miracle cure. But I'm confident you'll come to the conclusion that re-used cardboard is indeed a very valuable resource for many farmers and gardeners.
Great info! I did ONE row of cardboard this Fall. It was fairly easy to install. Way better than tilling. And, we have an endless supply thanks to our local grocer.
Cardboard works great! From a backyard vegie grower in Nova Scotia. Great video!!
I have a constant supply from a local restaurant (delivered no less). I'm currently using it for greenhouse floor and garden pathways. It's great for leveling and dealing with low spots. I imagine it will make it into the proper rows before long. I remove tape but don't worry about the ink on food boxes (potatoes is a good example).
Delivery FTW!
I use cardboard as the first layer in all my beds and paths (wood chip on top for paths). Lots of benefits, including that worms LOVE it! I have set up relationships with furniture stores and bike shops - they set their collapsed boxes aside and I pick up regularly. This way I get big pieces that generally have staples rather than tape. Staples are fast and easy to get rid of by simply cutting off the cardboard under the staples with a sharp, lightly serrated knife.
works great in my zone 5 garden. in fall cardboard leaves compost straw any thing free on top.
I love cardboard I don't have a dump nearby I usually end up using my boxes from Amazon since I live in a rural location I do a lot of Amazon. I also like yard waste we just found a chipper shredder vac that I can tow with a garden tractor I like the pile yard waste on top of the cardboard when I'm prepping a new area then wood chips if I got it. But then again I prep my garden areas by tilling and then priming with a 10-10-10 fertilizer then mulching with cardboard yard waste in wood chips or in some cases whatever I got.
Amazon and similar junkie here too. ;) With the costs of fuel, it works out to be less expensive to have pretty much all our dry goods shipping in. The UPS man probably should leave his medical bills on our porch... I dread the day he retires. On his off days, it takes 3 struggling younger guys, with a dolly, to get the same stuff to our porch.
We use a heavy-duty shredder (it has a cd-rom grinder) to shred single layer cardboard. That way we can spread it like mulch between the tomatoes. Works well and doesn’t blow away much once wetted. This year I put down shredded paper around the blueberries, wetted, covered with cardboard shred, and wetted again. The paper sticks to the ground like glue, which seems to be stopping weed seeds so far. White paper looks sad in the garden, covered in brown shred looks fine.
Huge and beautiful garden. Thank you for the tips and ideas you shared. Informative channel.
Love cardboard. Only way to start new gardens IMO. Has to be in thick layers. I don't remove tape anymore. It is easier to pick it up after the cardboard breaks down. Wood chips will hold it in place and won't wash away unless really steep bed.
Joan Smith when you say thick layers, how thick do you mean? I'm converting lawn on top of clay to no till garden beds. I'm collecting my cardboard now and compost arrives soon. I'd love to know what works for you :)
love the way you point out the pros and cons!
I used cardboard in the walkways, tucked under the edges of ground cloth on the beds and topped with straw. It worked fantastic for holding moisture but especially well for WEEDS. I didnt have a problem with the straw growing either, like I have in the past.
That’s great! Like a dummy I neglected to mention their use in our pathways. Definitely something we’re pursuing for next year as, i imagine, they won’t wash out quite as easily as wood chips.
Thought the idea was cardboard in the planting bed itself so as it disintegrates, the "critters/worms" and roots could continously carry down the new top compost/nutrients and improve the soil down deeper. Initially a 6" layer to build the bed, then new 2" layers on top each year; and the critters and plants distribute/do all the work over time. If the compost/top layer is thick enough, there will be no weeds because the cardboard lasts long enough to smother them. With ground cloth, the soils are permanently separated/not allowed to merge/improve. Permanent raised bed, separate microbiomes. Not No Dig at all. Probably very thin growing layer. This is more about "mulching" than progressively improving the soil.
Svenulf Skjaldbjörn wheat straw grows wheat. Not all the grain gets removed during harvest. Some combines and some operators are better than others .
I started a no till bed a couple weeks ago. I set down cardboard and layered compost,grass clippings, and hay. The hay had seeds in it which started sprouting after a couple days rain. I’m thinking I should just let it grow out a bit since I’m pretty sure it’s wheat. I’m planning on taking it down and covering It with straw. This is my second year gardening and my first with this no till lasagna bed
I just started to lay down cardboard in my small suburban garden. I had access to chicken, goat, duck and guinea fowl droppings. In my city I have access to them delivering free wood chips. Now I'm ready for spring. 😎
Three year old post, but nice to see someone doing weed prevention and recycling like I’ve been doing for years. 🎉it works!
Great timing to find your video 😃 I'm about to build a couple of long syntropic agroforestry rows. This is perfect to plant what I need and keep weeds down for a while
Years ago when I was young and had a garden, cardboard was my go to mulch. Weight it down, plant thru it and just leave it there to be tilled in the next season. Worked great.
We are in the process of developing a permaculture fruit and vegetable market farm. I am 2 years into it now and have started to use cardboard as a weed suppression in the orchard. I am laying the cardboard right over the grass and then planting the trees and perennials directly through it . Finally covering it with wood chips. The sections that i have started this in seem to be doing much better that the areas that are having to battle the weeds for space, so we will definitely continue to expand our use of the cardboard in the future .
Glad you kept up with that place, looks neat now.
Just found this page a few days ago and it's absolutely amazing
I work at a print shop and can get a lot of 23"x35" cardboard. I cut wooden nails that have a head w/ my band saw that hold down the cardboard fairly well.
We've laid cardboard sheets between rows and between plants as a weed blocker and to retain moisture. We staked the corners with cedar stakes I cut from shakes and then removed them when the season was ended. A lesser wood could also be used and just allowed to decompose. It worked really great. Would have liked to utilize this throughout the whole garden.
Going to try on backyard garden beds!! Thanks. New to no-till
good to see this video. i've been using cardboard in the garden for over a decade. was a little worried about the chemicals building up in the soil year after year. so far so good! have had quite a few people laugh at cardboard in the garden until they see the results. helps keep the weeds down and moisture in the soil when uncovered is dry.
I did my first raise bed using cardboard on top of grass plus compost and mulch in layers, lasagna style. Worked pretty good.
I've just finished my garlic beds and I used plain cardboard base, glad to see you trialing it
The brandlings love the stuff I always find them underneath it😊
This is the Charles Dowding no-dig method, he uses for his market garden in the south of England.
This is the quick way to make a new bed, you lay cardboard down, and top it with approx 6 inches of compost, and it's ready to plant in too and nature does the rest for you,
Cardboard is an amazing mulch as it blocks out light, retains moisture and allows the worms and soil life to come to the surface and feast on the now decaying pants that are buried underneath, improving the soil quality,
The issue with this method is the amount of compost it requires to create a new bed and for some, if they can not be self-sufficient and make enough compost of their own, the cost of bringing outside compost can be prohibitively expensive,
Once a new bed is established it will only require approx 3-4 inches of a fresh top dress of compost to amend the bed.
I've been using it for 7-8 yrs & like it very well.
what do you do with the cardboard after a growing season? It degrades and then you just repeat the cycle with a new layer of cardboard?
Good video, thank you for showing us this!
Great discussion topic - I've just shared it on my Facebook page so it will be interesting to hear of any disadvantages.
I hadn't thought about the dump for wood chips. Thanks!
This is the exact way we do our market beds too, GlassRoots Organic Farm, Florida.
We're year 4 with our no till garden. The first 3 years did not plant parsnips thinking they could not muster up the strength to root down over a foot deep. During that time ALL veggies did awesome. This past year, we put in parsnip seeds and am pleasantly surprised to see 14-15" long robust roots. That was my final test to see if no till was my final decision. Im all in now. I use cardboard each year, much as you show in your video.
Side note: with seedlings, I cut hole in cardboard, use hand scoop, on could under it, and the number of worms and night crawlers per square foot is extraordinary. Last spring, I recall scooping out 6 one-scoop for some pepper plants, and I got an average of 2/3 per scoop. That is a bit deal! NW Pa location
I haven't used cardboard in a couple years.. but is is an excellent tool. I found it's best wetted after its down.. and definitely covered with another mulch source to hold it down and keep it moist. The worms come right into it in a month or so and continue for about 6 months to a year. Refrigerator and washing machine boxes make it pretty easy and you can cover a lot of square footage quickly. It is definitely an EXCELLENT moisture retainer. I am trying using cover crops and no-till techniques now. Excellent tips my friend! I did a short video on this a year or 2 ago.
Great information I've been using cardboard as a weed suppression in the walk ways of my garden for a few years now the earth worms love ❤️ it and so do I works great
Thankyou for mentioning the wind lifting the cardboard I’ll need to rethink as I am I,n a high wind area
Dibble. Occultation. Great looking plants 🌱
I’m pretty sure he’s a witch. 😉😊😁
Lol
Thank you . I love using cardboard especially after it breaks down and yes worms love it
I've used cardboard for years. One suggestion is to keep it covered, or tends to wick moisture away from plants.
Thanks for your view on using cardboard. I have been watching a lot of videos by Charles Dowding about No Dig and the way he uses cardboard when setting up new beds. If you have not seen these, definitely worth a look. I am just about to set up a large area (not by your standards) using cardboard and compost.
thanks for sharing great ideas have a great summer great and lovely garden
It is really great how you explain sourcing cardboard what to consider also how to remove tape by wetting it and leave stand and remove tape. No glossy or colouring. Then spread cardboard on the bed Wetting it and placing some compost over it to help hold it and the tarp cover to help keep in place. Great information to know. When I'm making new beds I always use cardboard in the base of the beds as it helps to feed nutrition to the soil. I see another guy using cardboard on top of bed and cutting holes to planet garlic and onions etc in the holes it helps during frost also. Great video thank you
Been using it for years. I use wood chips and ground cover for paths and compost and cardboard in the beds.