controling weeds using cardboard

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There's a lot of information online about using cardboard for weed control but have any of you folks tried this? I'm thinking about trying it but I want to be aware of any potential side effects before I go through the work. Any additional info or 2 cents is appreciated. Thanks in advance
 
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Cardboad is cellulose. the same thing trees and plants are made of. It rots and turns into compost thus making where the cardboard was a more fertile place for weeds to grow. When it starts to rot it is a mess. When it gets rained on it is a mess. It doesn't last all that long either. You must keep adding more and more cardboard or pretty soon your walkways will be a jungle. I tried it for a couple of years and it was more trouble than it was worth. I have found that using hardwood mulch works much better. Mulch lasts many many times longer and when weeds and grass does come through it the weeds and grass are much easier to get rid of.
 
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Before I became a fan of many types of "weeds", which I now let flourish in my yard, I tried cardboard and like many other things the benefits were very temporary and required a lot of upkeep. I read this book not too long ago and it addressed this issue of cardboard mulches, as well as much more and this is basically what it had to say:

https://puyallup.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/newspaper-mulch.pdf

This was the book written by the Author: Linda Chalker-Scott http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/search/books/CHAING.html

Also, she addresses more gardening myths on this site: https://puyallup.wsu.edu/lcs/
 
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We use a combination of weed membrane and mulch, and get hardly any weeds now :)
 
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I tried cardboard as a weed barrier; as others say, it doesn't last even one season, especially if you get a lot of rain.

Heavy wood mulch works best for me. I do have carpet scraps under mulch in my asparagus bed, I barely have to weed it now. (Asparagus doesn't tolerate competition well.)
 
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I have also tried cardboard and it does turn into a mess. But worse, in my garden it attracted a number of bugs (not beneficial to the garden) that laid eggs under the cardboard, it was a regular breeding area.
 

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