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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Weed preventative idea

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  • From: Lee Reich <lreich@hvc.rr.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Weed preventative idea
  • Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:18:06 -0500

I also recommend this method in my book Weedless Gardening as part of a way to start a new garden without turning over the soil. The advantages, as compared with tilling, are that weed seeds stay buried and dormant and humus and soil structure are preserved. It also makes possible immediate planting. 

Generally, 4 sheets of newspaper, wetted and overlapped, will snuff out most weeds. The paper treatment is only needed to start the garden, not for annual maintenance. I cover the paper with various organic, weed-free mulches, the type of mulch depending on the site: compost in vegetable planting beds, wood chips in paths, etc., etc., etc.....

On another note: New book from Lee Reich: Landscaping with Fruit. Learn how to make create your own luscious landscape with plants that are both beautiful and bear tasty fruits. Available from bookstores and, signed, from Lee's website.


Lee Reich, PhD

Books by Lee Reich:
A Northeast Gardener's Year
The Pruning Book
Weedless Gardening
Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden
Landscaping with Fruit

On Feb 17, 2009, at 4:07 PM, Matt Demmon wrote:

This is a very good idea, but I think it it by no means new. Around
here, it's called sheet mulching, and it's most often done with
newspapers, on lawn grass, to create new beds. a section of news
paper, overlapped by a few inches, and 2-3 inches of woodchips is
enough to smother pretty much everything in the lawn in  6 weeks.
Plantains and Dandelions can pop through. The heavier the
paper/cardboard, the less perennial weeds get through. Nasty weeds
like quack grass, smooth brome, canada thistle generally are able to
grow through the cracks. I usually get cardboard from businesses on
their recycling days when the put it out by the curb. I've also seen
recently a new product in some gardening catalogs, black paper rolls.

On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 10:50 AM, Jim Fruth <jfruth@tds.net> wrote:
  I sometimes wish NAFEX had a light-bulb symbol for bright, new ideas.  I
think Diane Porter just gave us one.  She mentioned putting cardboard atop
the soil, under the mulch.  A 6" layer of mulch will prevent annual weeds
from growing but will do nothing to prevent perennial weeds from coming up;
her cardboard should accomplish that task.  Is it possible that the
perennial weeds come up, can't penetrate the cardboard and eventually
(within a season?) die and rot?
  I have always fallowed my soil for a season, spraying with Round Up, let
it grow, till, spray again, repeat, etc.  Next time I need to open new
ground, I'll use Diane's method..................now where can I get enough
cardboard?

Diane said, "We thought we'd get a truckload of composted cow manure to
spread thickly on the ground, then cover with cardboard, mulch heavily with
straw, and plant the raspberries in holes cut though the cardboard."


Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN  56472
For jams, jellies, syrups and more:
www.jellygal.com
1-877-265-6856 (Toll Free)
1-218-831-7018 (My Cell)




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--
-matt demmon
photos: www.flickr.com/photos/farmerdemmon
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