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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ม.ค. 2021
- Cardboard in the garden? What's the truth? In this video we discuss the pros and cons of cardboard in the garden. Is cardboard good for the garden?
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Hopefully this lil video gives you some insight!
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PS.
I have some exciting options on my new Patreon account! You can go over there and check it out at the link below. It's a way to help me continue creating quality daily gardening and edible landscaping content. Thanks and blessings!
Patreon link: / thegardenguy
- Benj aka Gardenguy
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Benj, I am with you on the huge value of cardboard as the first layer when initiating a new garden. I hosed down the cardboard a couple hours before I removed the tape and began laying it. The tape just falls off when wet. When wet the cardboard also does not blow away as quickly. I do not worry about staples because they rust into fragile ghosts of what they were in the first year. They then become beneficial mineral content in my soil.
About the detractors who say the worms surface because they cannot breathe. I think that is myth. Have you seen how quickly the cardboard breaks down. Go ahead and dig up a spot in your new garden and you will see that most of your cardboard is no longer discernable as cardboard because it has broken down that quickly.
The food storage boxes sometimes have chemicals to repel pests I have heard. I'd do a little research about it.
@@StoneKathryn The story that pesticide is added to food cardboard is tough to die. There never has been pesticides added to food cardboard and it is nearly impossible to do, except as a coating, without adding it to many types of cardboard. However, in the old days there were traces of horrid pesticides like DDT. Because of the half life there is still a likelihood, not just a theoretical possibility, that trace amounts of the worst pesticides are in all paper products. Remember that trees are between 40 to 200 years when made into pulp.
The safe side is that most wood pulp for cardboard is harvested in areas with no traceable amounts of DDT. However, Charles Dowding proved that a few parts per million, (which is untraceable), of weed preemergent adversely effects plant growth when found in mulch.
I was just telling a coworker about this. I put cardboard down late in the fall, leaf mould compost on top of that and a layer of moldy, organic hay. I stuck my hand in the "bed" yesterday and it kept going. That was fast!
We worry about organic this and organic that...what about the tattooes and bones through the nose that people pretend is normal. And we are wrrying about a little plastic in the food?
@@bertshriveledsack6915 😂😂😂 Exactly!!
I actually grew sweet potatoes in cardboard box and some in plastic contained. Cardboard sweet potatoes weed huge. Plastic contained ones long and spindly. The cardboard held up during whole growing season. Some started growing thru bottom and were the largest. Thank God for Amazon!
Cardboard can be a great resource!
I used flattened cardboard boxes to lay as a base underneath my landscapes mulch and its working like a charm! I live in a rural town in Indiana where we get all kinds of weather thruout the year. My method has worked for 3 yrs already.
I am also from Indiana (southern part) and I am using the cardboard on a new spot I then cover with grass clippings during the summer hopefully come spring it will be a good planting spot
Do you just cut a hole in the cardboard and plant directly into the dirt below?
Great video. Corrugated cardboard makes a great weed block when starting a new garden. I use it instead of landscape fabric. And unlike landscape fabric, cardboard is super-easy to plant through: just punch through to the soil with a trowel. As for making the soil anaerobic, I think that's bunk. but even if it isn't, it breaks down in nine months. So if you start a new garden in October, by July, it'll be rotted down and the soil will be just as aerobic as it was before.
I also use cardboard and shredded bills as a brown in compost piles. We build between 3 and 6 pules per year using the rapid Berkely method, which produces compost in about a month. Thing is, from August on, we run out of fall leaves for browns, but have plenty of fresh greens dues to weeding, yard work, thinning and pruning, etc. That's when we'll use shredded paper mail, and hand-shredded cardboard: egg cartoons and Amazon boxes.
All told, cardboard's a great, free resource. Better to put it to use than send it to the landfill.
PS. The big problem composting with cardboard and shredded paper is getting sufficient greens to build the pile. Paper products are many times more carbon-dense than leaves are. In order to get a pile to heat up to 170 degrees F, you need a LOT of green material.
-Using leaves, the basic recipe is 1 part leaves, 2 part greens (food scraps, and landscaping/ gardening debris).
-With paper, it's 1 part paper to 10 parts green material.
-Cardboard's on the extreme end: 1 part cardboard requires 100 parts green material... yes, that's one hundred parts. So a little goes a long way.
Needless to say, we don't produce that much green material on our small lot. So we'll often visit a nearby unoccupied field with a sickle to harvest weeds for more green material if the pile's not heating up. The funny thing is, we're probably trespassing while collecting a few 40-gallon contractor garbage bags of whacked weeds. I always laugh that I could end up in jail for the first time because I'm stealing weeds. :-)
Great info. Thanks 👍
Oh, I wish people started their videos on gardening with their ZONE!! I live in 6b and when watching a video of gardening it would be helpful to know, because of the differences in temperatures and the timing of starting projects, like starting seeds! It would help if it was thrown in. GOD bless
Hey Rita! Yes I'm zone 7a. I do plan on doing a video soon on how to grow your seeds! Thank you for the input.
Zones dont mean much about what you can grow and when... hur rather just how cold it gets.... my 5b is not the same climates as other 5b gardens... you really should be asking youtubers to have channels around their "locations"
Well I sure can tell he’s not in MN one WI
That is soooo true💚💚💚
Google seed starting chart for your zone. Kinda dangerous to take any information on here as gospel so it’s best to research by zone for your particular garden
I think the worms hang out under the cardboard because they like to eat the paper pulp and the starchy glue, but also because the cardboard protects them from light and the dessicating effects of ambient air. I don't think it's because they are looking for air.
mulching makes for a much more hospitable habitat for worms... wet!
They go up looking for food till they see the sun they love cardboard and fabrics
Great video. Tossing a few layers of cardboard on my lawn and converting it into a garden was the best decision ever.
Absolutely!
Po
Me too, then I doubled the size 3 times! Very happy with it! 👍
Thk you! I have used cardboard from liquor store store boxes, or Dollar Tree stores to wet down and lay over weedy flower beds in my yard. AND like u said....I put the wood chips mulch on top of the cardboard. That has been a fabulous help towards quickly(over 2 months or less)...ridding of weeds in flower beds. I love the....’no dig situation’. As a female gardener.....I could not ‘dig’ or pay someone else to dig for me.
And I so enjoy knowing.....that the worms love the non-toxic cardboard too!! This cardboard technique is truly....a game changer for me!!! 😊 Ahna
I have been struggling as a woman with back problems - my yard needs projects done - labor is way to high priced in my high priced area ( sudden influx during covid lockdown to our mountain town) my consultant at the garden center suggested doing this method before I plant my cottage garden next spring . I am doing everything in stages - - I did have one man : from church come and dig a few post holes but now with winter coming the fence may not get done so-…. Am planning to just buy a wood snow fence and unroll that and start staking it around my perimeter ! Any good you tubers for women like me? / you? I just bought this house a year ago and it had been our rental for 11 years ! Now I finally get to work on projects.
I’m just getting started Nd want to do this for flowers garden .. so I put down the cardboard Nd mulch then plant ???
Good video!
I have been using corrugated cardboard for a number of years for establishing new beds and also for some weed suppression between rows.
I can say that the cardboard "might" block out water and oxygen but only for a very short time. The cardboard breaks down very quickly and the worms actually eat the stuff as it breaks down. I do not worry about it at all (but that is just me) and the benefits far out weigh the down side. Just stick with the cardboard that does not have glossy coatings and strip off tape and staples.
I put in a new 4 x 8 raised bed (only raised about 4" not real high) in the fall of 2020, 2 layers of corrugated cardboard and 4" of well composted horse manure right on grass. This spring when I dug in to plant virtually no sign of cardboard. Oh and loads of worms throughout the soil...not many cons to me!
Have a great day all and keep on gardening!
Mike 🇨🇦🍁
I need to do this because my garden is so overrun with all kinds of grass and weeds.
I may even spread my bales of straw over top of the cardboard as a starter for compost.
"I like to be under shelter." I agree man 👍
Thanks for the video and sharing the pros and cons. Makes sense
For years I put down cardboard and laid afull wet newspaper on top to suppress weeds in my garden path before I added mulch. I only had to do that every other year because it was so effective. I also used it in my first layer in lasagne gardening. very happy plants
what about the ink? isn't that harmful?
@@stefanobonaiuti8243Soy based inks are used these days. Make sure no colored or glossy inserts though.
@@stefanobonaiuti8243yes the world will blow apart! Threat of WW3 is nothing compared to what would happen if u lay cardboard tiny amount of ink on your garden. Should let the pentagon know if u do. And call North Korea. There is nothing more productive to concern yourself about.
Best video on pros and cons for using cardboard.
I really appreciate this. Advise my grandsons, before an online purchase, read the bad reviews. Find out what those problems were and decide based on that.
Great!
Getting the cardboard damp helps with peeling the tape off and tearing the cardboard into shreds.
I have found cardboard dries really quick and tends to dry out the soil around it.
I have been attempting to use cardboard as a replacement for dry leaves. I have a shortage of dry leaves.
I do not know how safe the ink on some cardboard boxes.
Thank you for sharing great videos!
I've been growing in raised beds for many years - mostly 4' x 4' lumber-enclosed beds using 2 x 10's. I've learned that you can easily remove tap and labels more easily by thoroughly soaking the cardboard and then peeling the tape off. But best of all, I discovered that I didn't really need the cardboard at all. I built two new raised beds on top of my lawn. In one bed, I laid down a thick layer of cardboard and in the other, nothing. I simply filled both beds with compost to a depth of about 10 inches. I was surprised to see that the bed without cardboard, performed equally - no grass or weeds appeared.
Cheers.
That wouldn't work with Bermuda grass. It can come up through cardboard very easily. It can grow up through several feet of compost as well.
So it's been a year now, still no weed growth in the beds?
@@sharonpropp4778 Almost none. The small number of weeds I find are from seeds that land on the surface. Absolutely none that have grown up from the original lawn.
@@joniboulware1436 Possibly. I do have some Bermuda grass in my lawn. Maybe I'll do a test when I make another bed. Cheers.
So if both methods equal then still use the cardboard? Adds organic matter to your garden AND prevents it going to landfill
Looks good. I like to use cardboard myself.
Great Stuff Brother! Many Thanks!
Hey! I’m working on my no till gardening now too!
You got this!
It's not all perfect humpty dory with cardboard...but I use the hell out of it too!
Gonna try. NM is weed city lol 💚
Hi, Benj! Stay warm!!!
Will do!
Great video, I use a lot of cardboard on my allotment and plan to use more, so these tips will help
So glad it was a blessing to you!
Love the variety of cardboard!
Thanks Graham! You're a great support.
Great video! Worms are little escape artists when they're not in a favorable environment. So if you see healthy worms, they're not in distress from lack of oxygen or anything else.
I see a lot of people mention soaking the cardboard to get the tape off. If you have access to a heat gun and you don't want to bother with wetting cardboard, heat the tape and it will easily come right off. For shipping labels or stickers heat the sticker and it should easily peel right off without damaging the cardboard. When the glue of the sticker becomes warm it temporarily loses its stickiness making it easy to peel off.
That’s a lot of extra work.
@@priceandpride takes less than 10 sec for large stickers
Thank for the pros and cons. I have used cardboard for smothering weeds and adding mulch on top for landscape purposes. All tape and staples are removed first. It is just a first layer and I don’t normally use it again. I sometimes rip up cardboard and put it in the bottom of raised beds.
LOVE THIS
You have a new subscriber Good job Brother 👍🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Worms, slugs and bugs are natures help in the composting proces. You need all the help you can get. Let them help.. by the way: worms always go to the top layer of the soil. You could make the cardboard wet and put another layer over it. That is always the best idea.. like you mentioned..
Great video! I am going to subscribe!!!😊🌱
Hey morning I have been watching you guys all the time I am from Dominica
Something else to consider any boxes with oils on them (like takeout pizza) can not be recycled and will at some point be sorted out and sent to a landfill. I would rather use it to benefit my garden than go to landfill.
It is suggested to not have oils go into your compost. I'm not exactly sure why.
@@StoneKathryn fat in oil or water is very hard to break down, it is not water soluble and the microogranisms cannot deal with it because that is not a material that is found in nature (except when a whale or seal dies, there are microbes in the ocean that eventually break down the blubber).
@@StoneKathryn That said: a ripped apart oily pizza carton will be O.K. It is only a little, and there is enough airy, structured soil or corrugated cardboard around it so it cannot clog up the system and seal off the pores.
In general: Fat / oil cloggs the pores of soil. It creates a HUGE film on water - that is why you have to recycle deep frying fat. Restaurants but also households.
Where I live they give you cleaned small buckets with a good lid in the recycling centers, and you can pour in all cooled down fat- not hot of course, it is plastic. But only household fats (not from machines and vehicles, motor oil for instance !).
It turns rancid of course (if you have it longer in your panty or under your sink) but that does not matter, the bucket has a tight lid so no smells.
When you bring it ito the recycling center they accept your bucket, it is free for households (bucket is not large, usually not even filled half, unless you deep fry a lot at home ) and they give you a clean new bucket in return.
The fats / oils going rancid over the weeks or even months does not matter, they can use that as raw material for industrial processes. And by making the correct handling easy they want to discourage people from adding it to normal garbage (although that is burned where I live, and the heat is used to create electricity and warm water for households - likely oil is not ideal for the burning process and the filters).
It is even worse when people pour oil into the toilet or sink, that can create very serious plumbing issues and costly maintainance - and if the household does not get clogged up, it creates problems later in the muncipal sewage system. Especially if many people have that bad habit.
@@StoneKathryn I have a beauty recipe to fill a bathtub with hot water spraying the hot water into a container with a cup of milk and ONE table spoon of vegetable oil. If you bathe in it it is very good for your skin (one could add a little honey, too).
But one spoon on a big volume of water creates the sooting film for your skin. And this is warm water and you try to create an emulsion by spraying the water on it. so very little oil in water has quite an effect.
If I do that, I make a point to discard hot (not boiling) cooking or pasta cooking water into those drains in order to keep the pipes clean. The starch from the noodles in the water and the warm / hot water prevent buildup.
@@xyzsame4081 Thanks for all the information. I have a much better idea why oil on cardboard shouldn't be recycled. We have a small fire pit and burn our pizza boxes there. We do deep fry and we know not to put it in our septic. We pour the oil on cardboard and then burn it in our fire pit.
I strongly agree with most of what you are saying. There are two points of difference of opinion. In the US the slick finish on cardboard and newspaper ads is a clay finish which is not harmful, but does slow down the decomposition rate. The other thing is I use the stuff a lot and never experienced anaerobic conditions, however I do live in a humid climate where things break down faster. I am building up poor soil with few resources so use everything I can.
When did that xhange? My whole life its been chemicals and bad stuff...
Yes! Different areas and countries will have varying ingredients in the cardboard.
I called one of the big cereal companies a year or so ago and tried to get them to confirm there was no plastic in the cereal box coating. The customer service woman on the phone would not do it. It would be great if this is true.
@@watermelonlalala That's not quite how it works, the cereal company would have zero idea as they produce cereal. A packaging company produces the cereal box for the cereal company to put their product in. An ink company produces the coating that the packaging company uses when producing the cereal box for the cereal company. The ink company is not going to reveal publicly what their proprietary ingredients are.
@@waynespringer501 I think the cereal box would be made to the cereal companies specifications, or they would find a box that met their specs - biodegradable, no harmful chemicals. But I think the cereal companies would brag about it on the box, if this were true.
The December card board is best!
The # of views on this one! 👏🏻
Thanks
I found a good source of a lot of BIG boxes is burial vault plants and funeral homes. They're just like the amazon box in the video.
weeds were controlling my garden for years I covered with layers of carboard this year and it seems working. I paid $50 for staples but I learned I did not need it. To minimize work just lay down the carboard without opening it. If you need lots of carboard go to places like Big Lots they keep their carboard in the back of store and will be happy to give you. You need carboard on a regular bases to cover any weeds that comes out of cracks. Also one urine and 10 to 20 water works as good as miracle grow.
in the documentary _about_ Back to Eden the family in Pennsylvania (around minute 62) used newspapers. (no glossy magazines and packaging). They and Paul Gautchi say it CLINGS to the soil once it is wet, and thus smothers the biomass (lawn, weeds) under it even better. And for that family newspapers were easier to organize. But one could of course have newspapers and cardboard on top to have more brown "compost" raw material (that is broken down in the bed).
I gotta watch that documentary again, was so good
"Got some serious worms going on" 😭 cracked me up, good video👍
Haha yes! Goofy me. :)
In an alternate reality Logan Paul is a chilled gardener.
I thought the same thing!
Also, could lay down some plastic net fencing scrounged aroundtown over the cardboard and weight it at the edges to keep stuff from blowing around. When I see co struction I keep an eye out for very laege sheets of cardboard. Also the stuff they lay down to protect floors.
I just subscribed my bro.
Alfred from Kenya💪
Alfred!! Thank you for subscribing. I hope to be supplying some great info for ya.
TY
Happy Yom Teru'ah
I’ve always been taught that plants purify things by taking our waste products, consuming it, and giving us back things we need, such as quality air, food to eat, etc…. With that in mind, I think I worry less about chemicals in cardboard. That doesn’t mean I want to go around spraying Round-Up everywhere, but I’m not worried about chemicals in cardboard, or in cinderblocks to make a raised bed. But, as you said, everyone has to make these decisions because you are growing food to nourish your family’s bodies.
I used cardboard and free wood chips to turn backyard lawn into garden quickly. Hate woodchips. Things didn't grow as well, obviously as others have found when testing soil, They tie up nitrogen, even as a mulch. It is very difficult to move woox chips aside to div holes for planting and they are splintery. Can't walk on them barefoot like you can on grass clippings. Could also Try leaves? Cardboard is great for making a quick garden area, though. I like grass clippings, lots and lots best.
I do the same. My wife kinda looks at me weird because I put all of our paper waste into our yard. Garden is doing amazing though so it definitely works. Especially for breeding worms.
That is awesome!
How do you add paper waste to the garden? And what paper are you talking about? Ive wondered if the ink on paper is bad for the soil?
@@nikkibonbon1600 Hi Nikki. I actually did a video on paper in the garden. You should be able to find it on my channel. OI hope it helps ya! Thank you for the question.
Actually I shred all of paper (think junk mail, envelopes, bank statements, etc.,) and ad it to our compost for a carbon layer. Disappears very quickly and my compost is really nice. Been doing this for a few years now.
I shred all of our egg cartons as well to ad to the compost, paper towels go in there (as long as they do not have cleaners on them).
We have reduced our paper recycling down to one Red Recycling box every 2 weeks now.
I though that I heard a worm yell "OUCH" when you dropped the border log back down.😉
Haha I thought about that afterward. :)
😂😂😂
Whoa! Chicken heaven! Peruodically lift up some. Cardboard when your hens are out.
Thank you for this video! I have saved all of my Amazon boxes and Pizza Hut boxes! We don't get pizza often, it's too far away!
Anyway, I'm planning an herbal garden and was wondering about using all of the cardboard to kill off the grasses. Now I can get started with gusto!! Thanks again! GOD bless
Glad it helped! Just be sure to apply thickly.
@@gardenguychannel Thank you I will!
Hi great video but does cardboard contain toxic when used as mulch
I don't agree with the theory that earthworms surface under cardboard because they are being smothered. I've had 7 large worm bins for a few years, and can attest to their absolute obsession with cardboard. You can disprove the theory by laying a small (wallet-size) cut-out of cardboard in your grass, or by poking lots of holes in a larger sheet of cardboard. Soak in water, then lay it in your yard before bed, then check under it in the morning.
They have similar behavior under larger leaves, but I have yet to find a type of leaf that they enjoy as much as cardboard.
As far as using cardboard in the garden, I think you nailed it. It's very useful as long as you know what not to do.
A fantastic basic primer on using cardboard in the garden. 🌿 One concern you alluded to is the anaerobic conditions created beneath layers of cardboard, which may encourage methanogens and thus the releasing of methane from the soil, but as a pioneering process to rid the area of perennial plants when compared to tillage, the tradeoff may well be worth it. The manufacturing process for cardboard is less harsh chemical intensive than the manufacture of other paper products, but isn't environmentally ideal, but that may be changing with the use of enzymes in the process reducing the need for caustic chemicals. All in all a much easier way than tilling and quack digging! 🌄 Thanks again for the TH-cam video.
That is actually corrugated paperboard. Cardboard is what a shoebox is made from, or the small box you had. And do stay away from slick cardboard, and glossy paper. Some of those chemicals never break down.
Worms love cardboard.I use it all the time in my worm bins
Will this work for a flower bed as well? I'm looking to redo my front flower garden next year but I'd like to do the cardboard method for over winter, would that work?
I tried this technique this season (prepped winter 2021 and planted spring 2022) and I have been having so much trouble with grass over taking my garden despite killing the grass over the winter! Any suggestions? I watched a lot of videos first and am not sure if maybe i did something wrong? I was also really difficult to plant in the spring, the ground was almost too hard after using this method.
My 1st question is how long does it take for a lay one layer of cardboard to break down like a year 2 years what? My contractor left some Brown paper here and I wantna know if I could use that in the garden because some people say paper has more chemicals in it than cardboard?
I believe there is formaldehyde in cardboard. I get a small rash from cardboard so I looked up why I itch from cardboard and it said a form of formaldehyde is used in cardboard along with other stuff. What confirmed that for me was the other stuff I also have a reaction to.
What about all sort of ink`s colors? do you know which ones are made of natural pigments? thanks
Would mold on the cardboard cause any issues? I'm trying to reuse cardboard that's been left outside for quite some time and I'm not sure if the mold would contaminate the soil or not.
Can i lay cardboard on top of sprinklers? Please suggest what works better in the flower bed with sprinklers. Ty
Hi, i have just known that we cant used cardboard that has ink printed other than black colour (my cardboard has blue ink on it but its not glossy type), i already put inked cardboard under my beds around 7 days, if i take that cardboard can i still use the soil? Or should i trow all my soil? Pleasee helpp. Thank youu sorry for my bad english
I established new beds with cardboard last fall and it worked spendidly! But how about for subsequent years? Do any of you repeat the cardboard and mulch layers every fall? I have plenty of both, which is why I ask.
Your right about the colored boxes. shiny paper has clay on it.
Thanks for pros and cons about using cardboard for weed control.
Are pine shavings or straw just as effective? Any drawbacks?
Saw earthworms and slugs under the cardboard. What about snakes?
I am serious ... someone has done a marvelous job of scaring me about them.
Hi Raji! You’re very welcome. Pine shavings and straw work but they also
Lower the ph and can have allelopathic results. So they may prevent seeds from germinating. Snakes can enjoy it but if you put mulch or wood chips underneath the cardboard will be decomposed in a month or so. I hope this was helpful!
Love the idea of cardboard use under mulch. How would this apply to an established garden? Would i need to remove the existing mulch, put down the cardboard, and then reapply the mulch? Do you reapply the cardboard every year with new mulch on top again?
Hello! I would not add new cardboard. That is really just to get your garden going and to suppress the weeds. You can definitely compost it thought! If you have weed pressure in an area then I would lay the cardboard down on top of your existing mulch, then layer more mulch on top of that. I hope this helps you! God bless
The stuff they lay down to protect floors like rambord
I have an area where I grow wild flowers. I have been trying to find an effective way to stop morning glory. How about using cardboard as first layer, then landscape fabric as second layer, then a mixture of mulch and wood chips on top where I'll spread some wildflower seeds? Since my area can be very windy a few days a year. I'll add a layer of dime size gravel to hold down the wood chips and mulch. Any advice, please?
Well, the problem may be that the seeds will not germinate well and grow well in the mulch. Morning glory is tough I will say that much! I just pulled out a lot out of a friends raspberry patch. You could do what you are talking about and then plant next year so that the mulch and such has time do decompose. That would likely work
I'm confused as to how to plant in/on the cardboard. Do you put a layer of dirt on top of it? Dig a hole and plant in the ground underneath the cardboard? Or do you plant on top of it in the mulch?
Same!!
Checkout Charles Dowding method: a thick layer of weed seed free compost enables him to transplant very small seedlings into the compost, no matter if there is cardboard or not. If you are cash strapped like me, I recommend to punch a transplanting hole in the cardboard. Just grow beans the first year, not deep rooting carrots, they need loose soil. Beans are amazing, they take care of their nitrogen and I've seen roots at least 2 feet long.
Plant first, then cardboard around the plants, then add mulch/rocks or etc.
Regarding ink on cardboard: Is black (such as on Amazon boxes) all right to use in a vegetable garden? Is it true that colored ink is toxic and should not be used at all? Thank you for this informative video. You've gained a new subscriber.
No color is irrelevant, you either have food grade direct contact ink not harmful if ingested, or indirect non food grade ink which is what all cardboard printing is.
@@waynespringer501 Thank you.
I just put some dirt on top of the cardboard so it doesn't blow away. I only use the brown cardboard (other egg containers) been doing it for 20+ years. I also used newspaper but don't get any anymore.
Hi there, please tell me why most Americans term the earth/compost as dirt, when what I see as dirt needs washing away where as the earth/compost is not to be
washed away, but cared for which we do not do with dirt?
Maureen
We have a lot of pine trees in our area on raw land. Would I need to rake up all the pine needles before laying down the cardboard?? Or could I just spread some lime down first??
Pine needles are not acidic, that's an old myth. Just put the cardboard on top of the needles, It's just another carbon source. In general, forests are more fungal and acidic, grasslands are opposite. If you want to make sure, have your soil analyzed. A simple and cheap way to test your soil for acidity seems to be: the PH test for fishtank lovers. Hope this helps
@@earlshine453 thank you!
Pine needles are awesome! I wish I had more access to them...they make a great mulch and do not add acidity to soil....old wives tale...but when they break down they add very nice tilth to the soil!
I've used a lot of cardboard in building raised beds in lawn areas. I've recently heard that recycled cardboard is ground up, tape and labels included. This then formed into new cardboard. Problem is the micro plastics. Any thoughts?
I think that the mycelium and microbes take care of gnarly stuff and the plants will not take up micro plastics? (just guessing)
One BIG advantage of tilling is that you kill off insects and their eggs.
Grub worms, hornworm chrysalis, etc.
I put down weed block then 2 layers of cardboard then soil on top. On top of that I put straw bales.
The problem with paper products is that if they are shiny they contain metal in the ink, usually aluminum.
who cares about aluminum?
I have had such a problem with slugs eating my garden. I think my black ground cover actually grew slugs. I have a bunch of cardboard ready for the garden but I walk out to the garden and see slugs just hanging out in the walkways. Do you think pine needles would repel them?
Spray them with vinegar
Slugs. Yep they can be no-fun. Pine could help but try to eliminate habitat...shaded areas. If you use cardboard just use wood chips on top to cover thickly. You could also plant decoy plants that they like but you don't care much about. Like a lettuce the slugs love but a little distance away from your desired plants.
I heard someone say that slugs are a sign of a “duck deficiency.” Maybe get some ducks. 😆😆
Sluggo is an organic, iron phosphate, slug control product that won't harm birds or other animals.
I work in folding carton business, that slick shiny coating is usually aqueous coating so the petroleum based or soy based inks set into the paper. Not what I'd want in my vegetables.
I worked for one of the major ink company's who supply the folding carton business and know the ingredients used to make them, and you are correct and I feel the same way no way I'm going to be ingesting printed products, I've been through too many safety training sessions on their ingredients
I heard one gardener say in a video - don't worry, all the inks today are soy based! Are you saying soy based ink is bad, too?
Comes down to what you don't mind dissolving into your soil. My thought is the more natural the better.
@@watermelonlalala That gardener doesn't know what he's talking about, and should be held criminally liable for that statement. Here are currently just to name a few in today's packaging which solely depends on the type of printing press doing the printing.
1. Water Based Flexo/Gravure (Most all Cardboard, Sandwich Wrappers, Hallmark Cards.)
2. Highly flammable Solvent Based Flexo/Gravure (Potato Chip bags, most anything printed on film/foil/plastic)
3. Soy Based Sheetfed/Offset (Many various paperboard items in the grocery store)
4. UV Flexo/ UV Sheetfed (which turns the printed ink to a literal thin film of plastic once cured by UV light, it also will never dry from a liquid unless it sees a UV light (Colgate toothpaste/Boost Energy drink/ Enfamil/ Johnson and Johnson pharma products, many more just naming a few) This is what gives paperboard printed packages a super high glossy finish.
This is just a small list of of printing inks/printing presses I've personally dealt with and ALL print items that contain food products for "INDIRECT FOOD CONTACT ONLY"
@@waynespringer501 Thank you, Wayne Springer. I made a resolution to get all the actual plastic out of my garden, but I have saved a lot of cardboard and paper I was going to use, not for food growing areas, but for a lawn or at least plants on an eroded hillside where the top soil is gone. Scrap that. I will have access to plenty of leaves, though, in a couple of months.
Worried about skunks coming for the grubs and also snakes or termites? Am I over thinking it?
Hello Sue. No you should be good. Nothing to worry about!
What about removing the plastic tape and labels
Will ground termites eat the cardboard? In the South West, we have little nasty creatures that eat wood; but they are not your traditional mound-building termites. These things create multiple small nests, 50 or more, around your home. They make local establishments, using the weeds and other coverings as protection, as they grown their empire.
I’m worried about the worms. They were laying on top of the soil when you pulled up the card board. I would expect them to be in the soil. Were they laying on top of the soil because they were desperate for air?
They don't breathe in that manner, and probably just like eating the cardboard. It's a frequent way to farm worms.
What about punching holes in the cardboard before you plant on it? Thanks
Yes you could do that! Be sure to get it wet first as that makes it easier. It’ll be decomposed quickly as well.
Do you just plant everything on the box?? And the plant grow on top??? Lol just trying to learn!
Hi! Keep learning you got this. no you'll want to cut a small hole in the cardboard or let it decompose for a while. Does that help?
Yeah, this week I'm taking apart cardboard boxes and taking off the tape. How do we get them to use paper tape instead....
Thanks!
Amazon is now using it!😍❤️💜❤️
Making the cartons wet (or soak them even) seems to help, if you let them lay a little one commenter said they can remove the tape easily, and they do not bother with the metal they rust down.
See the comment down of Captain Ron, Ihave read that before, soaking makes tape removal easier.
@@xyzsame4081 Thank you .I love this idea.💚
The glue in cardboard is safe or not?
My backyard doesn't drain well. Will cardboard improve the water drainage?
Nope.
Can cardboard be used to help germinate radish?
Do termites love cardboard?
Can rubber mulch be used on top of cardboard?
You could but the cardboard will decompose but the rubber won't. I wouldnt recommend for any gardening purposes.
In my opinion food grade boxes are perfectly fine and no pesticides that I know of. Non food product I don't know. Food even beer boxes are supposed to be food grade and typically use a ceramic/clay and organic colors to make the boxes and coloring/logos. Either way the amount of possible chemicals that would enter your body after degradation and digestion fron microbes, invertebrates, and exoskelatal organisms I believe is tiny...... in like parts per billion.
No beer boxes and almost no food products use "food grade" ink The only products that use "food grade" ink is something that is in constant direct contact with the actual food. For example your McDonald's burger wrapper where the printing is on the outside opposite of the food, that ink is "indirect food contact" ink. Not safe to ingest, but safe for "brief" contact if ink is cured or coated over printing. Your Arby's foil wrappers have printing on the outside on the foil (indirect food contact ink) but the paper inside that is laminated to the foil, that lamination glue and the ink coloring added to the glue is food grade safe ink. Food grade ink is astronomically priced and rarely used if it can be avoided.
Can we use colored cardbox ?
You can but it's likely it has a a glossy covering. So it's up to you if you want to use that. Hope this helps!
You cannot smother bermuda grass with cardboard. I’ve tried, with several layers. Bermuda grass finds its way thru anything. Cardboard works with other type grasses but not bermuda. Only way to get rid of bermuda grass is spaying it with roundup.
Roundup is poison and causes cancer, when you spray you might inhale it, that defeats the purpose of having a garden. Good borders ! Newspaper and cardboard and thicker leayers. Newspaper CLINGS to the soil / underground when wet, so it smothers better than cardboard. And of course watching that the borders and paths are always covered - wood chip mulch. Or putting cardboards over them, again and again (paths and borders where weeds pop up) until you exhausted this root.
Plus weeding in the first year(s).
@@xyzsame4081 black plastic will solarize anything under it. Even Bermuda dies at 150 f.
try mixing vinegar, water, salt, dawn dishwasing soap
I use newspaper instead and it works fine
what about the ink in it tho?
I have bindweed in my flower bed where my rose bushes are. Bindweed is a smaller version of morning glory...very viney and super annoying! I hate that weed with a passion! I am going to use cardboard because the landscape fabric did not work at all!
First remove all white roots you can grab, then battle them whenever they appear, wether or not you put cardboard on top. It will take years of dedicated weeding. RoundUp will not help, the seeds in the ground will germinate. My neighbours grow them along our fence and their chickens don't eat them. I'm about to beat them with a barrier of Bocking14, the seedless comfrey. Don't know if that will help
@@earlshine453 I’m hoping the cardboard slows it down some. It kills my back trying to pull the weeds all summer. When it’s really hot, I get very annoyed! Luckily the bindweed is only on one side of my house. I couldn’t take it if it were anywhere else, I’d lose my mind!
Here’s what I know for a fact. If I intentionally planted it and wanted it to bloom and spread, it would’ve turned brown and died immediately!😂
P.S. what is your neighbor thinking? 🤦🏼♀️ Good luck to you!
Charles Dowding says he got rid of all weeds (7 years ago, beds from scratch, lots of weeds) in year one. Except for Bindweed - that took another year ;) His method (cardboard, mature compost on it - maybe some top cover as mulch, but not always)
and he recommend to stay on top with removal in the first year(s), then it will get better. It should not be too much, but weeds that still pop up - whether from the soil or being planted by birds and wind - must be removed. He also recommends to have good borders between beds and paths respl bed and rest of garden (creating with carton, wood chips, etc).
So the weeds cannot grow into the beds.
Clipping them off, you cannot get out the deep roots of the weeds but you can exhaust the roots.
It is important to be mindful to use only weed seed free compost and mulch (think hay, fresh compost - straw is less problematic). Old hay (at least one year), mature compost, or a well monitored hot composting process. Or woodchips.
I love using cardboard but it is never going to stop Bermuda grass. That grass has to be killed before puting cardboard down.
Yes plastic for a year is one of the best ways.
Have you actually eliminated Bermuda grass with multiple layers of cardboard?! I need to know as the only place I have that gets enough sun for a veggie garden is infested with BG!! Thanks! 🌿🌱🌾🥦🌽🥬🥕🥒🧄🧅🍓🍉
It will only help with Bermuda for a little while. I've been using cardboard for years. Bermuda grass is the bane of my existence! But using cardboard is still worth it!
Yes, but often times it requires several years. Try doing double to three layers of cardboard and make sure you have a solid border around your garden otherwise it will creep in. Blessings!
Try newspapers and cardboard on top and thick layers (one newspaper and then 1 or 2 cardboards). The paper clings very well to the underground, even better than the cardboard, as soon as it gets wet. So it smothers everything under it and you have a good start.
The thing that concerns me about cardboard is the glue that holds it together. And it's most likely made in China.
Lisa, You are correct that glue is used in cardboard. It is impossible to make corrugated cardboard without glue. However, where it comes from is not China. Most of cardboard containing "Made in America" products and packaged in America now comes from Canada. Canada has higher environmental standards than the USA, so the glues are low toxic and more are made with vegetable oils not petroleum products. China makes nearly all cardboard that contain items shipped from Asia and they have virtually no precautions in manufacture. Those include most appliances, much clothing etc. but China does not the amazon boxes Benj used in his illustration. The cool thing is that it is easy to differentiate between China made and Canadian cardboard because of the labels on the outside describing the contents. .
Great information here Dwight. Thank you for that! I didn't know about the labels saying where it comes from. Thanks again.
In standard brown corrugated boxes the glue used is often/usually organic because it's cheap and a by product of the preparation process. Worms seem to love eating the glue too! 🪱
@@gardenguychannel Benj, I am not saying that all cardboard that contains "Made in America" (or even Canada), goods is cardboard made in North America. This is just a greater likelihood that it is not made in China.
Yes, that concerns me too. I called a paper towel company around 3 years ago to find out if any chemicals were used in the making of their paper towels and the women told me that formaldahide is used to make their paper towels. I can't remember the whole conversation but my fuzzy memory on this has got me thinking that ALL paper towels and cardboard have formaldahide because I remember feeling defeated that my ideas for using paper towels and cardboard were not in line with the healthy pureness that I was aiming for.
How baked do you have to be to not know if it's December or February? 🤣🤣