Cardboard

You can't get much more of a bargain than this.

I utilise cardboard a lot on the plot as a mulch. My local Aldi has a large  'craft' box by the door of flattened cardboard boxes with a notice 'Take what you need'
I am doing them a favour by getting rid of it for them and they are doing me a favour by letting me have it.

Each time I do a shop I pile a load of cardboard on top of my food trolley on the way out.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. During the recent drought conditions my soil under the cardboard was lovely and damp and stuff grew better there than on the uncovered part of the plot.

There has been a lot of cardboard arriving at our house over the last few months, mainly as the other two members of the household endeavour not to venture past it’s threshold. I’ve never used it as mulch though, do you weight it to stop it blowing away.

Initially I put rocks/lumps of wood or anything available to stop it blowing away. I then add organic matter in the form of home made compost, grass cuttings or even weeds as they become available and take the rocks off.

It goes through a stage of not being pretty but when its all covered and plants are growing through it it looks just fine. 

I have an aversion to black weed suppressant as it doesn't add anything to the soil apart from slugs.. Cardboard adds organic matter to soil and is a free weed suppressant. Whats not to like about it.

I've just taken up some cardboard. It was covering a rough area near some peas I have planted and I was going to grow pumpkins on top of it. But some of the peas have had their stems severed and the cardboard looked like a possible area that rats (my No.1 best friend) might take cover under. I've cleared as much as I can round the peas hoping they will go and find some extra thick grass elsewhere to chew through. The peas are just starting to get pods on them. They once chewed through a whole row of climbing french beans that was just coming in to production - and I have a row of just such not that far from the peas.