The Truth About Using Cardboard in your Landscape

Ever wondered if cardboard can be a helpful tool in your garden? This video explores both the pros and cons of using cardboard for weed suppression, mulching, and more!
We'll break down:
Suppressing weeds and prepping garden beds
Potential drawbacks like oxygen and water flow
♻️ Using cardboard responsibly in your landscape
Learn the best practices for using cardboard in your garden and decide if it's the right choice for you!
#gardening #cardboardmulch #landscaping #howto #gardeningtips
Peer Review from Washington State extension: acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid...

[@karchvs]

I made a garden bed using cardboard directly on the grass & weeds, the 6 inches of compost manure blend on top. I am in central SC and weeds and grass are issues with the amount of rain we get. I planted right in it and had no issues. Every year or two, it's best to add and inch or so of much, but i was a bit lazy. I pull out the few random weeds that come up but other than that, it worked perfect. The cardboard broke down in about 6 to 9 months. The flower bed is still goinf strong and beautiful and packed with flowers years later!

[@Dr.Warren]

Thanks for sharing your experience. That's great information. Six inches of compost definitely kept it from drying out. Being in the hot and humid south cardboard decomposes pretty quickly.

[@joanfrellburg4901]

Thanks for sharing, I think I'm going to give it a try, I'm getting a bit tired of stripping the sod away with a hand pick. This would require far less work.

[@jillmoser5077]

Can you plant right away through it? Do you just kind of cut a hole through the cardboard?

[@jcgoedkoop]

Great! Thank you.

[@paulaw3264]

Thank you for this viedo. I was wondering about this very thing. Wish i would have known that sooner.

[@Dr.Warren]

Cardboard has its pros and cons just like anything else. In the right applications it's pretty good.

[@joanfrellburg4901]

Great video thanks ! ❤

[@Dr.Warren]

Thanks for watching Joan.

[@joanfrellburg4901]

@@Dr.Warren All your videos are very helpful, and well done.Have an interesting and safe summer :-)

[@davidcovington901]

Great riff on one "ingredient"! Goes well with the "all peroxide" epidode. A good niche and hope to see more, if possible.

[@Dr.Warren]

I have two weeks off between the end of the spring semester and before I have to return to teach summer semester. My goal is to make a video a day and try to stick to single topic videos like this. I probably won't post a video everyday but I will save them for release periodically throughout the summer.

[@rhondabarlow860]

Really like the science and practical mix. Great balanced video. It's too late for me and the termites. Oh well, they were well fed😂 I put it in the bottom of my raised beds. I like how you addressed the ink question.

[@Dr.Warren]

Thank you for watching and leaving a comment! One thing earning my PhD taught me is to try to take my personal opinion out of situations and look at the data. Also, to be willing to change my mind based on new data. It's easier said than done. Confirmation bias of personal experience and opinions is hard to break. I try to apply a balance of science and practicality when I film.

[@jimblair7724]

I've been using cardboard for 3 years in my flower and conifers beds and i have and easy weeding job, It works great ! Thanks

[@Dr.Warren]

It works great when used correctly.

[@YarrowPressburg]

Cardboard is great but take off all the tape and labels to keep from putting microplastics out of your soil.

[@trumpetingangel]

I have been happy using cardboard for many years. I understand one of the more recent concerns is with the glue used in making it. Do you have any research about the glue?

[@SouthCarolinaTransPlant]

I used cardboard before I knew it was "a thing". My elderly neighbor hipped me to it. I place compost on top of the grass/weeds, cardboard, followed by a 4" - 6" layer of mulch. As for termites, I wouldn't sheet mulch if a bed is against my house. Termites got into a bed that was out by the road. They actually helped break down the cardboard faster! I thanked them! 😅😅😅

[@Dr.Warren]

Great information! Thank you.

[@marythomson3229]

Looks like you’ve had some issue with your leg. Hope all heals quickly. 🙏🏼 Mary, Decatur, AL

[@Dr.Warren]

Two more weeks from today and that thing comes off. Not that I am counting down or anything. Haha!!

[@meggygurova7273]

Here comes my funny story 😁 I´m new to gardening and try my best to learn. So I live in pour soil conditions on top of a bare hill. Great view, wind and weeds 😀 I wanted to improve my soil and put some small mulch to desolve faster. Under it I put cardboard to supress the weeds. The wind blew away my mulch and the ugly cardboard appeared under. 😂 Now I´m taking it of and will put some heavy big piece mulch on top. Just a newbie problems...

[@Dr.Warren]

It happens to everyone. I've been in the green industry my entire career and I am still learning new things. Enjoy the process of learning and getting better.

[@meggygurova7273]

@@Dr.Warren Thank you 😀 My goal is to keep mulching with a lot of groundcovers, plants and flowers in the future.

[@an-alechianeathery770]

I don't compost grass if its seedings. I did that once, had grass coming up in my compost and wherever I use my compost. Thing with some cardboard I found out that some won't completely compost down into soil. The cardboard that didn't compost completely became hard and nonbendable. I had to remove its from my compost container. None of the bug,worm, and organisms didn't want to touch it. Like pizza boxes that I compost ones. Composted completely down into soil in no time. Toilets paper rolls take longer to compost down,

[@Dr.Warren]

This is great information. Thank you for taking time to watch and leaving a comment.

[@brianmorrissey9071]

I use cardboard in multiple usage places. I have 3 types of compost piles that I turn about once a month. One with cardboard, mulched leaves and pinestraw placed on top of a hard layer of plastic. No watering except for nature. This has become my worm compost and makes great soil replenishment. The other 2 piles are of just leaves and grass clippings with soil that has no composition (came from holes I dug for burn pits 6 feet deep) the third is my "wet" compost from the yardwaste and kitchen scraps along with the coffee grounds. This is my amendment soil at the beginning of each year (I pick out the worms). Another use for cardboard is between the rows of my corn bed for weed suppression, this works great as long as I leave an 18 inch diameter of soil clear for the roots. I cover with just raked leaf mulch and water every 2 days. At the end of season I pick up cardboard and leave mulch. Cover with a tarp for the winter. I then take the rather worn down cardboard and place it in "Pile 1". I find many worms underneath and suspect that is where my worms come to "PIle 1". The last place I use cardboard is the walkways between my raised beds which i then also cover with weed cloth barrier and pin it down. About every 2 years I have to replace the cardboard but the weeds in my beds are absolutely only windborne and easy to maintain. Beds are 24 inches high.

[@Dr.Warren]

Brian thanks!!!!!! That took a minute to type out but really valuable information.

[@believer2734]

I just used cardboard today. We dug up sod/grass and then laid down cardboard. Added river rock on top of cardboard to hold it in place. We have 3 new bushes planted (2 years old) in the midst of this and left about one foot perimeter around each. It was hard to get around to mow so we are trying this. I hope it keeps the grass/weeds out of this area. Normally I use large black lawn bags but thought this was a cheaper method.

[@Dr.Warren]

It is definitely better than plastic because it lets water through and will not get near as hot

[@Anonymously4051]

I’ve used cardboard in the garden for decades. Works very well, better on sandy soil than on heavy clay but worked well in both southern Ontario and Nova Scotia where it rains every few days. Breaks down in about a year in Nova Scotia because of the amount of rain. Hasn’t seemed to affect plant/shrub/tree health in any garden location. Place stones over cardboard as mulch because the constant strong winds here in Nova Scotia blow mulch away. Effective at reducing weeds which are plentiful here because of the winds and people don’t maintain their properties well at all.

[@Dr.Warren]

This is great information and seems consistent with the peer review data I have looked at. In moist environments with sandy soils it seems to be beneficial. Thank you for taking time to share your experience.

[@stefangreenlee]

The termite thing scares me. Would it hurt my scrubs and bushes if I sprayed Borax in the cardboard to deter the termites?

[@Dr.Warren]

No it would not. I would be hesitant if close to a house or an area with formosan termites

[@stefangreenlee]

@@Dr.Warren thank you sir !

[@Paul-viking]

I heard that cardboard or plywood is also good for removing grubs from your garden/lawn.

[@Dr.Warren]

Perhaps? My thoughts are if you are lowering oxygen exchange with the soil maybe to the point it suffocates the grubs? I need to read up on this for sure.

[@rcp2212]

Well, dang. This year’s vegetable garden, first time ever with limited use of cardboard. I did create lots of fine perforations with a pitchfork and then covered with grass clippings. We’ll see how it goes but even this month’s issue of Mother Earth News has some warning about forever chemicals in some cardboard. Like I already said….DANG.

[@Dr.Warren]

I wouldn't stress too much over it. Nothing is perfect and probably never will be. Keep doing what you think is right and learn from it regardless if the outcome is positive or negative. Just apply new knowledge and keep moving forward.

[@karchvs]

Oh, mam o man, I hope you don't get redbugs!

[@Dr.Warren]

I rarely run into them here. It's odd. When I lived in Birmingham I would have never sat in pine straw. They were everywhere.