Horticultural specialists have highlighted a clever application for an everyday household item that usually finds its way into the recycling: cardboard. By giving it a second life, you're not just being thrifty and eco-conscious, but also protecting your garden from unwanted weeds in the future.
Whether it's from a large online order, a fashion splurge, breakfast cereal containers or various food wrapping, cardboard holds the secret to a weed-free outdoor space, without harming your flourishing flora.
How Cardboard Works
The experts at GardeningExpress.co.uk reveal how cardboard can obstruct sunlight to prevent weed development and works to slowly decompose into organic material, enriching your garden. The cardboard functions to naturally inhibit unwanted vegetation while simultaneously enhancing your soil quality - a double benefit.
The simplest approach to start is when you identify a troublesome patch of weeds, to cut a section of cardboard large enough to cover the area and strip away any plastic that might be attached to the material. This step is essential, as any labels or adhesive tape aren't biodegradable and will contaminate the earth.
Applying the Cardboard
The following stage requires you to place the cardboard flat across the ground, ensuring complete coverage of the troublesome patch with no spaces left exposed. The experts suggest that should you have any smaller cardboard fragments to hand, use these to create an overlap of roughly 15 cm, preventing any weeds from sneaking through at the boundaries.
This additional barrier provides further defence by anchoring the cardboard in position while helping the soil retain its moisture, allowing the cardboard to decompose organically as time passes. Once positioned, it does the heavy lifting for you, suppressing unwanted growth before breaking down entirely.
Expert Insight and Additional Uses
Chris Bonnett, horticulturist and founder of GardeningExpress, explained: "Weeds can be really frustrating throughout summer, as plenty of sunlight helps them photosynthesise and grow rapidly."
"They are often an eyesore and, even worse, can take away nutrients from the plants you actually want to grow in the garden. There are many tricks and tips out there to get rid of or prevent weeds, but some can actually cause problems for the rest of your garden, especially when chemicals are involved."
What's more, repurposing spare cardboard represents an environmentally conscious approach that enables you to upcycle discarded packaging while nurturing your garden's health. Material destined for the rubbish heap gains fresh utility, simultaneously freeing up valuable space in your wheelie bin ahead of refuse collection day.
Further uses for cardboard in your garden include laying it at the base of a newly constructed raised bed, acting as a barrier to prevent unwanted grass and weeds from forcing their way up through the bottom.
Another handy outdoor tip is to use cardboard for sheet mulching, a technique also referred to as 'lasagna gardening'. This method involves overlapping sheets of cardboard directly onto grass or weeds to establish a new bed, before topping it with a generous covering of compost, soil and wood chips.
