From: "William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Weed preventative idea
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:49:46 -0600
She mentioned putting cardboard atop the soil, under the mulch.
Yes, I've done that, too. One problem I might mention, at least in this
dry climate, is that squirrels would expose the edges of the cardboard
as they dug in the mulch (which they frequently do). And once part of it
was exposed, it would wick up the moisture from the rest of it. If you
get a lot of rain, that might not matter. Here, it does, so I had to
keep re-covering the exposed parts (perhaps I didn't have enough mulch
on top to begin with).
I've also /heard /that termites love cardboard, and so that will attract
them. I don't know what to think about that. I guess I wonder why that
would be any different than wood chips, or just bits of bark or twigs.
But I really don't know. That's just what I've read.
Here, the cardboard only lasted a year (less than that, probably). I
don't know about termites, but the earthworms loved it! And it did a
good job of killing grass which was hard to completely smother with
mulch alone.
Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)
--
I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people
believe. - Leo Rosten