Let’s not be swayed by the sight of the still-sleeping garden. Under the surface, already at the end of February, an army of weeds is preparing for the first spring attack. It’s only a matter of a few days or weeks before they go full blast – and then we’ll have a hard time defending ourselves. Let’s start the preparations before it’s too late.
The garden war with weeds costs gardeners a lot of time and energy every year. But while most people wait until the first warm days of March to start work, the smartest growers are getting out on their plots now to prevent unwanted weeds from flooding the plot with the help of an unexpected ally – ordinary paper cardboard. This method, known in English-speaking countries as sheet mulching, is an ingeniously simple way to use the forces of nature to your advantage. Instead of endless hoeing and pulling out thistles or thistles, in February we will simply “turn off” the beds and let the laws of nature take care of the unwanted plants for you. It won’t be a big problem for them.
A youtube video by the author of Srdce z jęrabin also advises on the establishment of a flower bed:
A simple but effective trick
What is the whole trick? For beds or areas that we need to protect it from weeds, we simply spread a layer of cardboard from old boxes. However, we must first get rid of the plastic adhesive tapes from this strong paper, and we should also choose one that does not have a colored or varnished print on it. It is enough to lay the clean brown boards over each other with a relatively generous overlap so that the weeds do not find even the smallest crack where they could reach the sun’s rays.
Perfect time to intervene
The second half of February is ideal for this step, thanks to higher soil moisture and frequent rainfall. The cardboard softens due to rain and melting snow residues, adheres perfectly to the terrain and creates a light-impermeable layer. The weeds below, deprived of light and to a large extent also , will naturally die within a few weeks and turn into valuable organic matter, which will be processed by earthworms by spring.
For example, use compost
In order for the cardboard in the garden not to be blown away by the fresh spring wind, we must weigh it down and at the same time help it decompose. Therefore, it will be ideal to layer several centimeters of mature compost, straw or wood chips on top of it. This creates a so-called sandwich bed, which looks neat to the eye, and an intensive life takes place inside. By spring, the cardboard will partially decompose, the soil under it will remain beautifully plump, full of humus and, above all, without a single tiny plant of germinating weeds. When it comes time to plant the seedlings later, we simply cut an X-shaped hole in the cardboard and insert the plant into the ground. This will save you endless hours on your knees with a hoe in your hand, which you can devote to a well-deserved rest with a coffee on the terrace. Even in this case, it is true that “he who is prepared is not surprised”.
A feast for earthworms
The mentioned procedure is not only convenient, but above all it is a huge gift for soil microorganisms. Classic digging and hoeing destroys the fine network of fungi and uproots soil organisms from their natural layers, while cardboard on the contrary, it protects the soil from erosion, drying out and frost. But that’s not all. Paper, as essentially pure cellulose, is literally a feast for earthworms and other soil animals. Under the cardboard, their activity increases up to several times, which can be recognized at first sight just by the fact that by May the soil will be light and airy like well-risen dough. So it’s ecological recycling in its purest form, when shopping waste turns into the basis for a record harvest of vegetables.
For a fluffy flower bed
If we wanted to ask why cardboard tastes so good to earthworms, then the reason is the often used glue based on corn or potato starch. That’s why cardboard is basically like an energy bar for us. Starch acts like a magnet, drawing earthworms from the deeper layers of the soil right to the surface of your bed. While we are planning the coming season in the warmth of February at home, a large army of workers is working for you under a layer of paper, digging aeration tunnels and fertilizing the soil exactly where we will need it most in the spring. And at the same time, a piece of ordinary cardboard stands behind everything.
