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| I've heard this term here and there -- does it mean using cardboard and mulch to kill whatever is underneath? If so, I've been saving pizza boxes for 7 years now and am ready to get started. I'd like some pointers on what kind of mulch and how deep. |
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| If you type "lasagna gardening" into the search function, you will find loads of information, too much to repeat here. I have done a little of this layering, using newspaper and cardboard, and I think it really works.I also have a gardening friend who used this technique around the entire perimeter of her one ac. yard, and she has lovely plants, in just a handfull of years. Oh, you will still have some weeds as seeds can blow onto your site as well as attempt to grow up through any spaces you have not quite covered. Good luck! |
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| The basic concept would be to trim the weeds down to the ground, lay the cardboard over the ground to prevent the weeds below from growing, and then layer organic stuff over the cardboard and let it rot. By the time the cardboard is too rotted to work as a barrier, the plants below are dead, and you have an area without established weeds and a layer of organic material on top. This will take a year or two. I have done similar things, without the cardboard, using fall leaves and grass clippings. It eventually works, but isn't quick. it seems best suited to shadier areas. |
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- Posted by mark__1958 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 21, 09 at 14:50
| Before you start this you should know that paper contains dioxin. This is a toxin that causes cancer. You should google dioxin before you fill your property with paper. |
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- Posted by mark__1958 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 21, 09 at 14:54
| Here is a link: http://www.ejnet.org/dioxin/ |
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- Posted by mark__1958 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 21, 09 at 15:00
| Read down to pulp and paper sludge used for gardening: http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/dioxin/01.htm the EPA is regulating its use as soil conditioners. Read Danger! |
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- Posted by lazygardens Phoenix: Sunset Zone (My Page) on Wed, Sep 23, 09 at 21:02
| Mark - Certain soil bacteria can break dioxins down into harmless substances: http://www.greenfacts.org/en/dioxins/l-3/dioxins-1.htm |
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- Posted by mark__1958 (My Page) on Sun, Sep 27, 09 at 12:21
| To quote the following link: http://www.greenfacts.org/en/dioxins/l-3/dioxins-1.htm "Certain types of soil bacteria and fungus can break CDDs down, but the process is very slow. In fact, CDDs can exist in soil for many years." and "CDDs may also attach to microscopic plants and animals (plankton) which are eaten by larger animals, that are in turn eaten by even larger animals. This is called a food chain. Concentrations of chemicals such as the most toxic, 2,3,7,8-chlorine substituted CDDs, which are difficult for the animals to break down, usually increase at each step in the food chain. This process, called biomagnification, is the reason why undetectable levels of CDDs in water can result in measurable concentrations in aquatic animals. The food chain is the main route by which CDD concentrations build up in larger fish, although some fish may accumulate CDDs by eating particles containing CDDs directly off the bottom." |
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| OMG! I put cardboard on my lawn! I'm gonna die! Rain2Fall |
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