My neighbor told me to put down a tarp under my mulch and I should have listened

He said it last spring when I was redoing the flower beds. I figured it was extra work for no reason. Now the weeds are coming up thick, like a whole new garden I didn't plant. Spent 2 hours yesterday just pulling them. Anyone got a good way to fix this without starting over?

4 comments

4 Comments

taylor.brooke21d ago

Used to think tarps were overkill too until my mint patch took over the whole herb garden. Now I put down a few layers of cardboard from old boxes before the mulch, it breaks down over time but really smothers the weeds. Might help you get it under control without pulling everything up.

the_amy21d ago

Nice! I've even used old phone books under mulch for the same reason.

kai83921d ago

Yeah that cardboard trick @taylor.brooke mentioned is solid. I did the same with newspaper layers under wood chips when my lemon balm went wild. The key is to really overlap the sheets so no shoots find a gap, and wet it down before you mulch so it doesn't blow away.

jackson.max8d agoOG Member

So you're just gonna do the cardboard thing now? How thick of a mulch layer are you planning on top?