My Version of Weed Control

I'd like to share with you my current method of weed control in my garden. It's fairly simple and straight forward, and a whole lot faster and longer lasting than any other method I've used in the past. These pictures are all in the walkways, but I use this method inside the beds before I fill them up, too. It's the same principle, you're putting a thick layer on top of the weeds, to stop the growth. Sort of like the old way of putting down black plastic, but with cardboard instead. And as a bonus, it will decompose and won't be a mess in 5 years like plastic. This will stay pretty much the same for the whole gardening season. I will need to pick a few stragglers, mostly along the edges, but other than that, I'm set!

My before picture. I almost didn't show you this! It looks pretty bad.


The first thing to do is get out the weedwacker and go to town with it! When I've had a big area, I use the lawn mower, but with these pictures, I used my trusty little weedwacker. The next step is to get yourself a boatload of cardboard and lay that on top of the weedbed. It's easiest if you sprinkle it with the hose at this point, just to sort of let the cardboard relax a little. You could also use newspapers, probably 5 layers or so, but cardboard is just so much easier. And I figure, if I can do anything to shorten my work load, I'm all for that. Then toss some chips on, and you're good to go!


This next picture is what it looks like, all finished. Nice, huh?


Where do I get all these chips you ask??? We have a bunch of eucalyptus trees, and they drop leaves and junk all year. This makes great stuff to put in the garden. These two gents have so kindly offered to help me out! They chip everything up so that when I go barefoot, the sticks won't hurt my tootsies. Isn't that sweet???