April 2, 2008

make a bed (with cardboard)

Filed Under organics, tools & techniques

YES, OF COURSE I know about the more backbreaking ways to make a new bed, but lately I confess I’ve been relying more and more upon the magic of recyclables: newspaper and cardboard to be specific. Where I used to double-dig and work in lots of compost before I began planting, now (assuming the underlying soil is fairly decent, neither bog nor wasteland) I simply layer on newspaper thickly, or spread out flattened corrugated cardboard boxes as the weed-smothering underlayment to my bed. I was reminded of this recently on the ever-so-useful blog by English newspaper editor and allotment gardener Jane Perrone. Someone asked Jane, a dedicated organic gardener like I am, about whether using cardboard as mulch like this was OK. Jane checked with Garden Organic, the 50-year-old UK organic-garden charity, and got the thumb’s up. Good thing for me; good thing for all of us who want to smother some more lawn this spring in favor of more diverse plantings, but need a little shortcut.

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23 Responses to “make a bed (with cardboard)”

Littlesister on April 2nd, 2008 3:16 pm

I did this last year, after deciding to stop recycling my cardboard boxes for one whole winter. By May 1 of 2007 I had enough cardboard to cover my entire 45 x 45 foot deer-fence-enclosed garden. First I checked to remove all tape and staples and then flattened all the boxes and then covered everything with either soil or mulch and you know what? No weeds. I mean no weeds. It was a wonder. I’ll never look at cardboard the same way again.
gardenboy on April 2nd, 2008 3:47 pm

I love, love, love the cardboard thing. I admit I am a little lazier about it. I leave all the tape and staples on and just pick them up as they reveal themselves at the end of the season. For really tenacious weeds I just put a double or triple layer of cardboard down. In the veg I cover it with straw and in the flower borders I use a fine mulch or sometimes compost. Cardboard is so much easier to use than newspaper, which is the way I first learned this technique.
margaret on April 2nd, 2008 7:30 pm

So I consider this a unanimous vote: 3-0, in favor of CARDBOARD.
Motion passed.
It’s official.
Joy Burkhardt on June 20th, 2008 8:52 pm

Is it still true that you should use only black and white newsprint? Thought color print had some toxic elements in it. … Would love your input. … Joy
margaret on June 21st, 2008 5:41 am

Welcome, Joy. I have read SO many different things about this–about lead in inks and dioxins and so on. Most of the literature from university cooperative extensions concurs that we should not mulch w/the shiny colorful magazine-type sections and ad inserts of that nature, that have so much colored ink and varnishes over the ink to gloss up the pages, but that the typical newsprint with mostly black and white is ideal.
I have been doing this for many, many years and think I will keep on doing so.
Joy Burkhardt on June 21st, 2008 9:38 am

Thanks Margaret. I think I’ll follow your lead on this. It’s such a pain to remove all color print. I use NYT and I’m surprised at how much more color print there is now. Also is it best to saturate paper before mulching on top. … Thrilled to have found your site. … Joy
andy on June 24th, 2008 1:51 am

Hi Margaret, I have a 100 x 30′ area that I need to transform into a side path and garden. There are a lot of little rocks, good soil, however, there are tons of weeds where there used to be be grass. A 5 acre woods next to our home has been cut down for one year (a moonscape-like nightmare) and a border of poison ivy has grown along our fence as well! I suppose a house will be built there soon. Do you think I can sucessfully use this method? Any remedy for poison ivy rashes?
margaret on June 24th, 2008 6:18 am

Hi, Andy. The tricky part about PI is that it is a very vigorous woody vine, so it isn’t just going to succumb to a little paper anytime quickly, compared to a herbaceous weed of lesser stamina. I would first dig out the plants, before they have a chance to grow more mature and difficult to eradicate.
Digging out PI is a challenge requiring very careful planning and execution. Disposable surgical gloves are key, along w/long sleeves and pants, and then you must deposit the dug-up plants directly into a garbage bag that then goes inside another and into the trash.
Remember you can get a dose of the irritating oils from your shovel, shoes, clothing up to one year later…so everything has to go into a hot wash immediately or be cleaned with alcohol (you!) or discarded. This FDA fact sheet is pretty comprehensive, including rash treatment (with prevention being easier than treatment, frankly).
After digging, I’d paper the area as well (and if you fear the digging then paper the area VERY thickly and wider than the existing patch of PI, and do it again several times as the paper/mulch starts to decay). I have chosen along my roadside, outside my fence, to just lay down thick cardboard a few layers at a time and top it with deep, coarse mulch (composted wood chips) and top that up regularly, and it has definitely helped…but I wouldn’t be gardening in there with bare hands anytime soon as I doubt I killed all the PI.
Joy Burkhardt on June 28th, 2008 10:50 am

I highly recommend Mike McGrath’s website youbetyourgarden.org. He has a fabulous organic gardening radio show on NPR’s WHYY(Philadelphia area) on Saturday mornings. Also available on some other NPR stations. He is a former editor of Organic Gardening and a wealth of information, a little goofy but knows his stuff. Archives and past shows are accessible from the website. … Joy
Mary Lynn on July 2nd, 2008 12:00 pm

Dear Margaret,
Your site is fabulous and an inspiration! I’m eager to start a new bed. With the cardboard method, how long do I need to wait after layering the cardboard and mulch before I can start planting?
Thanks,
ML
margaret on July 2nd, 2008 12:11 pm

Welcome, Mary Lynn. I have planted the same day, as long as I moisten the cardboard/newsprint layers and also weight them down w/good fine-textured mulch so that the plants I insert in X’s I poke in the paper won’t be left to fend off undergrowth that wants to pop through without a secure layer of protection to help them. Or you can wait until more of what’s beneath suffocates. If it’s really tough stuff (not just lawn, e.g., but giant thistles or something) be sure to dig out the worst offenders and also maybe mow/clip everything short first so your surface isn’t like a mountain range!
Mary Lynn on July 2nd, 2008 2:55 pm

Margaret,
Thanks for your quick reply. I haven’t seen much mention of landscape cloth. What say you to using it?
ML
margaret on July 2nd, 2008 3:33 pm

This is a great question, Mary Lynn, and I am vehemently AGAINST it. Check out this earlier discussion about why: And chime in on any no-no’s you might have, too.
dennis r on July 7th, 2008 7:45 pm

margaret, i found out about you on wkze (my favorite station!)
referencing your ‘how it looked then” page; garden picture 20…..what is the name of that plant/shrub? the variegated one w/ green edges & ribs filled in w/ pink/mauve….very interesting specimen.
dennis r
lagrangeville,ny
zone 5
margaret on July 7th, 2008 8:32 pm

Welcome, Dennis, a fellow music-lover. That plant’s an annual (tropical) called Persian shield, or Strobilanthes. Loomis Creek in Claverack sells it, as do many good nurseries.
Mary on July 8th, 2008 5:40 am

Hi. I just found this website and am very interested in the cardboard garden. I have really, really heavy clay and it is hard work to remove the sod and turn the soil (before adding compost of course). Any reason why I shouldn’t use the cardboard method? How deep should I pile soil/compost on top to create a home for perenials? Thanks
margaret on July 8th, 2008 6:39 am

Welcome, Mary. I would first mow/cut down the underlying weeds, then pile on some organic material (rotted leaves, compost) for a couple of inches, then layer on the cardboard, and then start layering on more organic material up top. You can’t overdo it with compost, or rotted leaves, especially in a heavy clay soil. The idea is to try to get worms and soil microbes and such to jump in and do the work here of improving the soil as the organic material decays.
Jan on August 5th, 2008 11:59 am

Margaret,
Just discovered your blog (saw the NYT article) - so glad I did!!
I’ve a question about the cardboard method. Everything I’ve read about gardening says before you plant, you have to dig down at least 10″ to loosen up the soil so the roots can spread out. So, do you dig through the cardboard? or do you build the garden on top of the cardboard - basically making a raised garden?
margaret on August 5th, 2008 12:55 pm

Welcome, Jan. I used to dig and prep deeply for many, many years. I just don’t do it any longer; I use the smothering method, then top up with a few inches of high-quality composted mulch (like composted stable bedding or composted leaf mold) and keep the top replenished. That stuff breaks down into the underlying soil. Then I cut X’s in the cardboard and plant…or if it’s not too complex a design, I plant, then spread cardboard around the bed topped by mulch. With vegetables, for instance, that’s very easy, as you usually plant in rows or blocks. With come designs of ornamentals, it can be a little tricky.
Pat on August 29th, 2008 10:39 am

Just wondering if I can put newspaper and mulch on top of end-of-season perennials? I have grown a quick garden when I received plants from a company too early then planted but just have not had time to move them but the weeds are now starting to surface and some going to seed.
margaret on August 29th, 2008 10:47 am

Welcome, Pat. I often do this, sort of tucking the newspaper around the crowns of the perennial rather than totally smothering them. It is a little more work to position the paper (sometimes helps to moisten the thick layers so they stay put, as mentioned) but worth it.
The Beet Goes On « A Chicken In Every Granny Cart on October 9th, 2008 8:29 am

[...] I brought up a huge stack of Wall Street Journals and New York Times‘, the detritus of the crisis. We put these down on the lawn in a big rectangle, wet it and then made a huge pile of our leaves on top. We’re going to do it again this weekend, on an adjacent rectangle of land. Come spring, all I have to do is put a little compost over top, and dig right in. Or so I’m told! [...]
margaret on October 9th, 2008 9:01 am

Welcome to The Beet Goes On. I have buried many a New York Times here on my property, too. Thanks for visiting, and come again soon.

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Who's Gardening Here?

from martha to just margaret
I was so blessed to visit and document many of the nation’s finest homemade gardens for 15 years for ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ first as its garden editor and then as editorial director for the company. The list of places we were proud to publish included my own upstate New York home a few years back. Take a tour of how it looked then. Want to know more about me? Or read what Anne Raver said in June in The New York Times, calling A Way to Garden “the best (garden blog) I’d ever seen.”
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October Garden Chores

All based on my Zone 5B Berkshire/Hudson Valley location; adjust accordingly.

FALL IS HEATING UP, at least visually, even as temperatures begin to trend downward. Cleanup is (hopefully) under way in earnest, with time out to cook up the last bits from the vegetable garden into a batch of ‘Tomato Junk’ or soup, or local apples into applesauce. With such delicious reminders of summer and fall in the freezer, and the right plants in the garden, there’s no “end” to fear. Some of us even feel happy about the coming riches: berries, bark, new birds. Peak planting time for bulbs and for many woody things is through month’s end or so; make that work include some focus on the addition of fall and winter plants to the landscape.

TREES & SHRUBS

CLEAR TURF OR WEEDS from the area right around the trunks of fruit trees and ornamentals to reduce winter damage by rodents. Hardware cloth collars should be in place year-round as well.

BE EXTRA-VIGILANT cleaning up under fruit trees, as fallen fruit and foliage allowed to overwinter invites added troubles next season.

BE SURE TO WATER trees now through hard frost if conditions are dry, so that they enter dormancy in a well-hydrated state. Evergreens (needled ones and broadleaf types like rhododendron, too) are particularly vulnerable to desiccation and winterburn otherwise.

DON’T PANIC IF EVERGREENS continue to show some browning or yellowing of needles this month and next. The oldest, innermost needles typically shed after a few years on the tree.

ALWAYS BE on the lookout for dead, damaged, diseased wood in trees and shrubs and prune them out as discovered. This is especially important before winter arrives with its harsher weather, where weaknesses left in place invite tearing and unnecessary extra damage. Remove suckers and water sprouts, too.

VEGETABLE, FRUIT & HERBS

PREPARE A SEEDBED NOW for peas and spinach for next spring, to get a headstart on such early crops. Spinach can even be sown now through Thanksgiving, for super-early spring harvest; not the peas, of course.

AS VEGETABLE PLANTS (and annual flowers) fade, pull them to get a start on garden cleanup. Before composting the remains, cut them up a bit with a pruning shears or shred, to speed decomposition.

PARSLEY AND CHIVES can be potted up and brought indoors for offseason use. A few garlic cloves in a pot will yield a supply of chive-like (but spicier) garlic greens all winter for garnish. Determined types with really sunny windowsills can sow seeds of bush basil in a pot, too. I rely on frozen pesto cubes instead.

IF NEXT YEAR’S GARDEN plans include a patch of strawberries or asparagus, do the tilling and soil preparation now so the bare-root plants ordered over the winter can be planted extra early come spring.

AS AREAS COME EMPTY from harvest, build vegetable-garden soil by sowing cover crops: winter rye can be sown through mid-fall. These “green manures” will be turned under later to improve soil tilth and fertility.

REPLANT YOUR BIGGEST CLOVES from heads of harvested garlic for best yield, or hurry and order a supply and plant now (about a month before frost is in the ground). Prepare a sunny spot, and plant each clove 1-2 inches deep and 6 inches apart in the row, with about 12 inches between rows. Green growth will happen this fall, which is great; don’t panic. It’s a hardy thing.

FLOWER GARDEN

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION to areas around peonies, roses, irises and other flowers that are prone to fungal diseases. Cut down iris foliage and rake well under roses.

CANNAS, DAHLIAS AND OTHER tender bulb-like things including elephant ears need to be dug carefully for indoor storage. There are many methods, but the basics: Once frost blackens the foliage, cut back the tops to 6 inches and dig carefully, then brush or wash off soil and let dry for two weeks or so to cure. Stash in a dry spot like unheated basement or crawl space around 40-50 degrees, in boxes or pots filled with bark chips or peat moss. Details, here.

DON'T DEADHEAD FADED perennials, biennials and annuals if you want to collect seed (non-hybrids only) or will let them self-sow. Nicotiana, poppies, larkspur, clary sage and many others fall into this leave-alone group. So do plants with showy or bird-friendly seedheads, like coneflowers.

LAST CALL FOR BULB ORDERS (see Sources), and plant as they arrive (lilies most urgently). Remember our “early, middle, late” mantra when ordering. And think drifts, not onesies and threesies.

PREPARE NEW beds for future planting by smothering grass or weeds with layers of recycled corrugated cardboard or thick layers of newspaper, then put mulch on top.

HOUSEPLANTS

START A POT OF PAPERWHITES in potting soil or pebbles and water, and stagger forcing more every couple of weeks for a winterlong display.

REST AMARYLLIS BULBS by putting them in a dry, dark place where they will have no water at all for a couple of months. I put mine in a little-used closet.

IF HOUSEPLANTS NEED repotting, do it as they come inside (less messy than in the house!). Don’t step up more than an inch (on small pots) or a couple (on large ones). Most plants don’t like to swim in their containers.

LAWNS

KEEP MOWING TILL THE GRASS stops growing, and make the last cut a short one. Let clippings lie on the lawn to return Nitrogen to the soil.

COMPOST HEAP & MULCH

START A LEAVES-ONLY PILE alongside your other heap as a future source of soil-improving leaf mold, or when partly rotted for use as mulch.

ORDER A SUPPLY of bulk mulch, which is cheaper than the packaged kind and also eliminates the waste of all those heavyweight plastic bags. Many local nurseries deliver. Top up mulch in all garden beds as they get cleaned up gradually in fall.
Brief but Juicy

new-fashioned recipe swap
OUR SUMMER-LONG SERIES of Thursday Food Fests, a cross-blog joint venture with our friends at the Dinner Tonight blog, has been a big hit. For those of you currently awash in a sea of cuke or zukes, take heart: still time for a batch of refrigerator pickles or squash parmigiana. Up to your whatever in basil? Maybe you missed our pesto fest. We’ve talked tomatoes (red or green) and green beans (from dilly to dally), ways to savor or stash fresh corn, and ideas for the fruit harvest, too. You can find them all under the Category “Edibles” in the right sidebar on every page, or by scrolling down through the posts at will.

ultimate garden no-no’s
WHEN SOMEONE ASKED in a comment about my point of view on using landscape fabric, the fuse was quickly lit: NO! I said. NO! I’ve rounded up some no-no’s we’ve posted collectively so far, but I bet by now there are a few more things to bitch about. Grab a lawn chair and a cold drink, and we can fester together. Sure beats weeding (which ought to be a garden no-no).

lose anything lately?
THE SAYING GOES THAT a thing of beauty is a joy forever. I guess “forever” in this case is in the mind’s eye. My darling, oldest bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) went down for the count in July, or at least half of it did, and I had already seen the death knell for a couple of my 10 crabapples. Jeez.

true love, really
LOOK, I HAVE A THING for frogs. Call it my little fetish. An issue. Whatever. My general obsession notwithstanding, I’ve finally met THE ONE FOR ME.

hail the stewartia
I LIKE PLANTS THAT EARN THEIR KEEP. By that I mean they do more than a week or two of showing off; they look good in more than a single moment, or season. The small-ish to medium trees in the genus Stewartia are a good bet if that’s the kind of multi-season interest you are looking for. Sound good?

more, more, more clematis
WHEN I SEE ‘POLISH SPIRIT’ CLAMBERING up and through the golden Chamaecyparis in late spring-into-summer, I realize I have a serious Clematis shortage around here. Not in the Chamaecyparis, specifically, but in lots of other places where things look a little dull. I’ve got a penchant for growing vines up and over otherwise-dull shrubbery, you see.

can-do pruning
REPEAT AFTER ME: I can prune. I can prune. If you follow this simple method for starters, your woody plants will thank you.

the ‘other’ peonies
JUNE WAS PEONY TIME, the big raucous kind of peony time, but just before that another kind of peony you might want to consider adopting did its subtler, wonderful thing.

which lilac to plant?
SO MANY LILACS, so little space. Browse a glossary of some of my favorites before you shop—maybe you’ll like them, too.

non-blooming peonies?
Did your peonies not cooperate—was there not a good crop of flower buds, and you don’t know why? This came up on the Forums, and here’s the dish.

twist-off ticks
I AM COMING IN everyday with at least a tick or two on me; not embedded, thankfully, so far, but it's only a matter of time. But I am prepared. Are you?

anything but forsythia
I guess I have a thing against forsythia…even though I have several specimens of it along the fringes of my property. But there are better choices for spring color among shrubs.

surprise (avian) visitors
If you make a garden for birds, or even plant a crabapple or two (or ten), you never know who’ll show up.

magnolias to love
THEY’RE MEMORIES NOW but I couldn't garden without magnolias. Want to know more about the queen of the spring-blooming trees?

order in the garden
I AM LABELING my plants, I am. As memory fades, out comes the label machine, just in the nick. Saved by the Dymo. You can be, too.
Buried Treasure

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