# What do you use between rows to prevent weeds



## perennial (Aug 23, 2004)

This is an on-going dilemma for us and especially since we doubled our garden this year. Some have told us to use a small tiller between rows,
but i don't have one and don't want one. There are so many worms, i'd
be worried also that we kill them! We live on top of a very windy
hill so keep that in mind. 

Thanks.


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## Guest (Mar 15, 2009)

I tried carpet one year. I went to a carpet store, talked to the installers, and the next day got about 2,000 square ft of used carpeting free. They were glad to have somebody haul it off for them, even helped me load it. I cut it to fit. It did a beautiful job, let water through, kept weeds down. And really looked sharp! You know you're high class when you carpet your garden. You can throw them away after the season, get new ones next year. I found out the hard way that leaving them out all winter for 2 years will let them rot and be nearly impossible to get up.
When I use to work in town(Danville, Va), at least once a week, I could get a truck full of bagged grass clippings. They were great if you let them sit for a while to begin to compact, put them down being sure not to leave them touching the vines though, the rotting grass can burn a vine badly.
I now use mulch. A fellow I know uses cardboard between rows with some dirt on top to hold it. after a few waterings or rains, it's pretty well part of the landscape.


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## PrincessFerf (Apr 25, 2008)

We also live on a hill and its pretty windy. The hill isn't very steep, though. 

Last year we tried to use composted straw/chicken manure from our coop, but much of it blew away (our garden is right on the hill). This year I've been thinking about using wood chips in the aisles where I walk. 

We have a roto-tiller, but the problem I have with it is that it merely chops up the weeds, allowing the seeds to re-sow. 

I'm hoping that a combination of wood chips and aggressive weeding will do the trick. No matter what I've tried over the years, it seems that pulling the weeds is the best remedy.


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

I found some clear plastic/plexi? mats in someones' trash  that are used under desk chairs & cut them into strips. Might not be enuf but gonna try that...also have a few bricks to make a pathway...we'll see!

Patty


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## Rockytopsis (Dec 29, 2007)

We use cardboard beer flats donated by the local VFW. We put goat poo straw cleaned out from the barn on top of that. Any weeds that do come up are easy to pull by hand and the cardboard is history by the time for fall clean up.


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## Woodroe (Oct 28, 2005)

I get all the old newspapers from the library and lay them down.


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

old hay/bedding from the animals, grass, cardboard. 

This year I am gardening at my grandfathers place (he's in his late 70's and cant garden anymore but LOVES gardening). GF and BIL are currently rebuilding the rototiller that GF bought new back in the 70's and I am sure that this years mulch layer will be a "dirt" mulch. lol 

Oh, and I am going to experiment with running rabbit tractors (think chicken tractors but they have rabbits in them) up and down a few rows.


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## terri46355 (May 16, 2003)

I agree with Rockytopsis. I get boxes from the grocery store or Wal-Mart. Worms love cardboard, so you're feeding them, too!


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## perennial (Aug 23, 2004)

card board is readily available because of my business, i get deliveries
often. Maybe i'll try that. Thanks for the ideas.


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## COSunflower (Dec 4, 2006)

I lay down card board and then put my grass clippings on top of that. I've been thinking about trying the carpet thing this year though. I just threw out 2 old carpet runners that the dogs chewed up and kick myself for that!!!!


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## Rita (May 13, 2002)

We put down several layers of newspaper, wet them and top off with manure/hay. The only problem is the darn crows learn there are tons of earthworms under the paper and pull the paper up and make a mess. This year I am going to try the corn gluten in the rows. It is supposed to stop weed seeds from emerging but won't kill established weeds. You have to put it on after your vegie seeds have sprouted.


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## pickapeppa (Jan 1, 2005)

Weed mat held down by bricks saved me a lot of headaches last year in at least one part of the garden. It allowed me to keep up with the rest. This year I'm trying straw and weed mat, and now maybe some carpet too. Grass clippings have worked well in the past, piled on very thick.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

A sharp hoe works great. Doesn't cost much. Doesn't blow away in the wind. Doesn't get in the way for tilling. Doesn't require any fuel. Doesn't need to be replaced for decades. 

Martin


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## PrincessFerf (Apr 25, 2008)

LOVE the cardboard idea. I get tons of it with my Avon orders, so this will solve two problems! Whoo hoo.


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## Rockytopsis (Dec 29, 2007)

Paquebot said:


> A sharp hoe works great. Doesn't cost much. Doesn't blow away in the wind. Doesn't get in the way for tilling. Doesn't require any fuel. Doesn't need to be replaced for decades.
> 
> Martin


Oh I agree with you, I would not take anything for my triangle hoe, but the cardboard/goat poo mulch I use has a dual purpose. It helps hold moisture in and it decomposes and adds back to the soil at the end of the season.


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## mosepijo (Oct 21, 2008)

Paquebot said:


> A sharp hoe works great. Doesn't cost much. Doesn't blow away in the wind. Doesn't get in the way for tilling. Doesn't require any fuel. Doesn't need to be replaced for decades.
> 
> Martin


I agree... My DH painted mine "Hot Pink" (so I could find it) hoe and handle was hot pink. Well darn it, after about 8 years, someone stole it a couple of weeks ago. I may be trying some of the above ideas this year.


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## bak2tn (Dec 19, 2007)

I use the Maxadyne wheel hoe. SO easy!! Just walk along as fast as you please and it slices the top inch of soil killing young weeds and leaving a dust mulch that holds new weeds down. I can cover way more ground than I could with a hoe in a much shorter time.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I use leaves between the rows. But my garden is at the bottom of the hill and fenced so the leaves can't blow out.


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## brody (Feb 19, 2009)

i use cardboard, newspapers weighted down with poles til they are SOAKED then put grass clippings and thatch (free) or straw (looks good) on top I loved the look of straw but have been cheaping out and finding it works as well 

we have wild wind here too


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I put landscape fabric between my beds. It was cheaper than mulch or gravel - both of which would have had to be replaced. This year, I am starting with all the cardboard boxes from our move. I hope they will keep the weeds back and give the garden head start. Where the boxes don't cover - I will till. 

Martin, can I borrow your hoe? I can't seem to find mine! I love triangle hoe too!


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Callieslamb said:


> Martin, can I borrow your hoe? I can't seem to find mine! I love triangle hoe too!


Which one? I have 7 or 8! Favorite is an old beet hoe which is older than I am and has been filled down to half its original dimensions. Second favorite is a Goserud Flow-Thru which also has seen a lot of filing. Those are for working close to plants. Real special is similar to a Warren hoe but almost a true triangle. That's the one for serious rooting out big stuff or deep cultivating. Then there are several others similar to that one. Whenever I'm at the gardens, always at least 3 hoes in the truck. I use the best one and the others are for other gardeners to borrow. Thus there is never an excuse that someone doesn't have the proper tool for the job.

Martin


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## VOR. (Feb 3, 2009)

Rita said:


> We put down several layers of newspaper, wet them and top off with manure/hay. The only problem is the darn crows learn there are tons of earthworms under the paper and pull the paper up and make a mess. This year I am going to try the corn gluten in the rows. It is supposed to stop weed seeds from emerging but won't kill established weeds. You have to put it on after your vegie seeds have sprouted.


Corn gluten is expensive and does not work very well as a pre-emergent. It does have a fair amount of nitrogen, but there are cheaper sources for nitrogen.


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## rileyjo (Feb 14, 2005)

I collect phonebooks since they are free. The Island phonebook only has about 12 pages and 10 last names, but they also hand out the fat big city phonebook.

The rows in the pea patch are as wide as a phonebook page. Once the sprouts are up, I lay pages down the rows, toss on a few stones and layer on the grass mulch collected from the hayfields. The rows stay moist underneath and the pages are easy for the worms to breakdown. 

When the peas are done, I pull and compost the mulch. I do a quick pass with the hoe and the rows are ready to set my corn transplants into.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

Last year I used what ever cardboard I had or could get & then thick layers of used goat's bedding(straw/hay) to hold it down. Where ever I didn't have enough cardboard just the straw bedding. I still would get weeds but it was later in the season when things are coming to an end mostly anyways. Then just plowed it in last fall & will till things up good this spring & start over.


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## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

I'm going to try the corn gluten. Here, it's $9.50/100 so I can't lose much.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

I use grass clippings between the rows in my garden -- it takes a few mowings to get enough, but I piles it in 3-4 inches deep, then till it in in the fall.


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

I save my empty feed bags all year and use those. I don't have enough, but it helps.

I've also used cardboard with good results.


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## FoghornLeghorn (Nov 13, 2008)

I plan on trying wood shavings in between the rows. Hubby and I make furniture and so we have a lot of shavings. Some of them we sell to people with horses but still have a lot left. Figure I haven't got much to lose.


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## mtnmenagerie (Jun 16, 2007)

for those that are planning on wood chips - keep in mind that rotting wood is really gonna sap your nitro levels. you'll need to compensate. 

lol, call me old-school. but when i was growing up i would have thought the hoe would have grown to my hand. that's what i use still.


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## lilachill (Apr 2, 2006)

BEtween the rows it will be cardboard with manure/hay. Reading Ruth Stout convinced me to return to this method--why did I ever leave it?

BTW- Years ago we mulched the rows with landscape fabric and I am still pulling it up and out of my Mantis tiller tines. After 17 years the configuration of my garden has changed so the fabric has not been in the correct place for a long time. Of course back then there were no animals in the barn and no supply of mulch for the garden.


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## Dwayne Barry (Jan 9, 2009)

Newspaper covered with pine needles works well for me.


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## mtnest (Mar 11, 2008)

I recycle my plastic bags from the grocery store by crocheting them into mats just the right size to fit between the rows. I hold them down here and thee with a couple of aluminum fence "ties" which have never been bent. The mats are reusable.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Boy, that would take a lot of grocery bags! Kudos to you.  

I use cardboard and newspaper, and mulch over the top, but I use some wire bent into a U shape to anchor the paper down. I run soaker hoses right down the growing rows and the paths often get very dry, which lets the paper blow if it's not pinned here and there.


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## FoghornLeghorn (Nov 13, 2008)

> for those that are planning on wood chips - keep in mind that rotting wood is really gonna sap your nitro levels. you'll need to compensate.


I read somewhere (don't remember where or I'd tell you  ) that was a problem if you work it in but not if you use it as a mulch.


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

Newspaper or cardboard with a heavy mulch of grass clippings, leaves, or manure works well.


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## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

A few months ago I seen on the cover of a magazine a big field of green onions growing in rows and between the rows was a cover crop that looked like some kind of a grass. I'm not sure what the name of the magazine was but I think it was called "Acres", but not real sure on this. 

Anyway I opened the magazine up and looked for a description of the front cover and found a article about growing a cover crop between your vegetable rows. What they had planted between the rows of onions was a cover crop called "Vetch". I believe it said the vetch smothers out other grasses and adds plenty of nitrogen to the ground for next years crop. 

I looked for some Vetch the other day and couldn't find any. But the man at the feed and seed store told me that spring Oats would do the same thing. So I ended up buying a couple of bushels and am planning on trying it out and see how it works.


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## mtnest (Mar 11, 2008)

manygoatsnmore said:


> Boy, that would take a lot of grocery bags! Kudos to you.
> 
> I use cardboard and newspaper, and mulch over the top, but I use some wire bent into a U shape to anchor the paper down. I run soaker hoses right down the growing rows and the paths often get very dry, which lets the paper blow if it's not pinned here and there.


Lol...yes, it is a lot but friends save them for me and I make them during the evenings for something to do while Dh is watching tv. They last for a few years before they get ratty and they aren't hot on barefeet.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

Last year hubby mucked the horse stalls and we used it...mulch AND fertilizer all in one. And this Spring he was able to just till it all under.


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## Left-Handed Dog (Jan 12, 2007)

Paquebot said:


> A sharp hoe works great. Doesn't cost much. Doesn't blow away in the wind. Doesn't get in the way for tilling. Doesn't require any fuel. Doesn't need to be replaced for decades.
> 
> Martin


I would agree with all but the lifespan of the hoe. If I could break the habit of flailing wildly at snakes with mine there wouldn't be so many broken hoe handles laying around...


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

Oldcountryboy said:


> A few months ago I seen on the cover of a magazine a big field of green onions growing in rows and between the rows was a cover crop that looked like some kind of a grass. I'm not sure what the name of the magazine was but I think it was called "Acres", but not real sure on this.
> 
> Anyway I opened the magazine up and looked for a description of the front cover and found a article about growing a cover crop between your vegetable rows. What they had planted between the rows of onions was a cover crop called "Vetch". I believe it said the vetch smothers out other grasses and adds plenty of nitrogen to the ground for next years crop.
> 
> I looked for some Vetch the other day and couldn't find any. But the man at the feed and seed store told me that spring Oats would do the same thing. So I ended up buying a couple of bushels and am planning on trying it out and see how it works.


Planted 'hairy vetch' for a manure crop b/4 I prepared my garden. I'm thinking I bought it b/c it was what grew best here in the fall/winter. So, guess it would depend on where you are b/c if I planted it now, it would die of the heat b/4 June. Nearly anthing else that would grow here in the late spring/summer would probably infringe on the vegies, I'd think.

Patty


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## SnakeRiver (Feb 7, 2009)

I have built 3 small Chicken tractors. The birds wee, eat the bugs, and fertilize all at the same time.


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## cowboy joe (Sep 14, 2003)

SnakeRiver said:


> I have built 3 small Chicken tractors. The birds wee, eat the bugs, and fertilize all at the same time.


Hoping to do the same thing this year. If nothing else, it might keep some of the chickens entertained...not to mention the neighbors. Otherwise, it's back to the hoe...better get to sharpening that soon.


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## Honeybee (Oct 16, 2002)

This year we're considering something new, interseeding and over seeding with short white clover. I have no idea if it will work, but the article below makes it sound great - LOL I guess if it doesn't work we'll try something else next year 

*Design the Cropping System to Minimize Niches for Weed Growth: Step 2*
http://www.extension.org/article/18697

Scroll down to the:
"Interseeding or Overseeding" section for more info and photos

I think it looks nicer than black plastic and like the idea of it fixing nitrogen into the soil.


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## Honeybee (Oct 16, 2002)

rose2005 said:


> I'll be using a hoe and getting some wonderful exercise free. No need to join a gym club or such, my garden provides it all.
> 
> Rose


LOL - beats a tanning beds too


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## Kim_NC (Sep 5, 2007)

COSunflower said:


> I lay down card board and then put my grass clippings on top of that. ....





Rita said:


> We put down several layers of newspaper, wet them and top off with manure/hay. .....





turtlehead said:


> I save my empty feed bags all year and use those. I don't have enough, but it helps.
> 
> I've also used cardboard with good results.


We use all 3 of these methods, all of them work and we're on a windy hill too. Use the grass clippings or hay to weight it down. I also like a single layer of newspaper around the plants in the beds with a mixture of compsted manure/hay as a mulch. A little weeding around the plants themselves for the first week or 2, then WaaLaaa, a seemingly spotless garden.

Here's a pic from last year. You can see a row of cardboard that wasn't covered yet:










Here's a bed of tomatoes using the newspaper/hay mulch. You can see a little newspaper peaking out beside one plant:


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

I don't really have "rows" since rows take up too much valuable growing space (I have a small yard) so I just throw down broken stepping stones here and there where needed and plant everything pretty close together. I jsut wade on in when I need to pick. Pretty much makes the weed thing a non issue.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

i use whatever is readily available and that's old hay. it's free and my friend delivers it for me. i thought about changing to landscaping fabric until i bought this place in the city and when i went to dig to plant . every inch of this ground was covered in it. it is the worst stuff to get out. after 2 years i pretty much got it all out except a little in the rock garden. 

i've never used carpet but there are 4 stored in the barn.i will never use them again so maybe i'll cut them up for the garden.~Georgia.


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

NickieL said:


> I don't really have "rows" since rows take up too much valuable growing space (I have a small yard) so I just throw down broken stepping stones here and there where needed and plant everything pretty close together. I jsut wade on in when I need to pick. Pretty much makes the weed thing a non issue.


I do this too in my small garden & found some bricks that work well to step on...even a piece of concrete.

Patty


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

Kim NC-what a pretty garden! Looks so serene...

Patty


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## Guest (Mar 20, 2009)

Cardboard or paper feed sacks covered with shredded paper or mulch raked up from the property. Wet it down well then walk on it a few times. Works great.

.....Alan.


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## hengal (Mar 7, 2005)

A.T. Hagan said:


> Cardboard or paper feed sacks covered with shredded paper or mulch raked up from the property. Wet it down well then walk on it a few times. Works great.
> 
> .....Alan.



Me too. I've got lots of paper dog food and chicken feed sacks in the barn now that I'm saving for this. On top of that a mix of chopped leaves and grass clippings.


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## terri46355 (May 16, 2003)

What ever you do, don't use carpet!


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## puddlejumper007 (Jan 12, 2008)

news paper, cardboard...and i have a large pile of pine needles will try it this year, i hope the pine needles do not change the ph in my soil?


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## Kim_NC (Sep 5, 2007)

Tricky Grama said:


> Kim NC-what a pretty garden! Looks so serene...
> 
> Patty


Thanks, Patty. Yep, it's our favorite place to hangout. I hope this year will be even more pretty and serene!


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## Kim_NC (Sep 5, 2007)

puddlejumper007 said:


> news paper, cardboard...and i have a large pile of pine needles will try it this year, i hope the pine needles do not change the ph in my soil?


Good point. Pine needles are acidic. Too many as a mulch can shift the PH, at least from the water runoff in the 1st season. If there were enough of them applied as mulch, then they would decompose over a couple years to make a much more acidic soil. Depending on the level, that could be good for some plants - and very bad for others.


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2009)

Pine needles have a negligible affect on soil pH as they decompose.

.....Alan.


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## ademero (Apr 27, 2008)

I use the grass bagged from the lawn, just dump it right out of the bag into the rows. As well as spoiled hay and "donations" that the rabbits give.


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## Kyah (Oct 29, 2007)

We use recycled black plastic for vining plants, and lawn clippings/newspaper for the raised beds. For the rest of the garden, I hand weed in close to the plants, but let the weeds grow in between the rows and hack them off with the weed eater when they're a few inches high. 

DH would rather use the tiller in between the rows, but gosh, it's so messy to walk around after a rain.


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## 4h farmer (Jan 21, 2009)

i use newspaper and black trash bags cut them and place rocks on them


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## mamagoose (Nov 28, 2003)

Mostly black plastic, but we've used cover crops clover, buckwheat and rye, somewhat successfully. Some pigweed and lambsquarter find their way up through. 

Silly me, I sowed white clover between several rows last year, but I obviously was not thinking and put a 20' row of potatoes there. I just couldn't chop up that beautiful clover to hill the potatoes. 

Tried cardboard + flakes of old hay (on top to hold down the cardboard) in the flower garden. Weeds love to growing in decaying hay and many weeds care less about the cardboard being there if they start growing on top of it! Those weeds are easy to pull, though.


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