Every day used cardboard reaches recycling operations by the tons. Here's a way to give cardboard boxes a second life and get rid of old vegetation as well. This plain brown material can smother weeds and open an area for fresh lawn seeding or new groundcovers.
The components in brown corrugated cardboard* are relatively benign and are even acceptable in organic food production. For more on the safety of this and other paper-based materials, see Can I use cardboard and newspaper as mulch on my organic farm?
on the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture website.
If you're wondering how this method compares to rototilling, remember that while tilling seems to makes quick work of old vegetation, it also brings weed seeds to the surface in droves. Rototilling disturbs soil structure and the beneficial creatures that live in soil.
Professional planters such as Nancy DuBrule-Clemente, owner of Natureworks Horticultural Services in Northford, CT, says, “Only if the soil is compacted due to construction, for instance, do we rototill. And we never till in the old vegetation.”
* Unprinted cardboard, such as that used for dividers in liquor and wine boxes, also works.
