Controlling weeds with cardboard and woodchips

I have been helping out to care for some thornless blackberry plants, the weeds all around have been encroaching on these plants so something had to be done about it. The weeds will leech the energy from the fruit plant, so its really important to keep the weeds away from the vine. As the blackberry plant needs as much energy as it can get to produce some tasty berries for all to eat. The cardboard will break down under the wood chips, its possible the mycelium inside of the woodchips will accelerate this as well.

The cardboard will block the native weeds and the woodchips will keep the cardboard from blowing away on a windy day. And covering helps heat up the cardboard and allow the wood loving mushrooms found in the ground up trees to start consuming the cardboard.

Before I started I took a picture of the area, with the recent spring weather everything is popping up including all those unwanted weeds.

Taking some old cardboard from shipping boxes, I break them down and lay them out to cover the weeds. Then I follow up with a load of woodchips. Raking them around I am able to cover a large area with boxes and the woodchips.

Covering the edges of the vining plants was a little more difficult, but carefully I laid down the cardboard and it all came together with a little patience.

Luckily I had a utility cart to drive around and made loading and hauling the mulch more easier.

Over the course of a few wood chip loads I was able to cover alot of the weeds. Those boxes went pretty far in covering a large area.

The hard rake helped out alot, and using a pitchfork I was able to easily move the wood chips. Recently I learned about how to use a pitchfork for moving woodchips and its completely changed my view on the tool, so much easier than using a shovel scooping up wood chips.

I had alot of fun driving around this John Deere Gator, one day I would like one of these machines when I have some acreage.

Backing up the machine to where I want the woodchips dumped made the job that much easier. Power tools make everything better haha...

Wrapping up I had to call the day early to get some other stuff done, but I will come back and finish the job. Glad I got the weeds right up next to the thornless blackberries covered. But theres still much to do in that area. And the weeds will surely not give me any breaks, so soon enough I will finish off the area and look forward to be rewarded with some tasty blackberries.

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