COLUMNISTs: KATRINA & CLAYTON
One such material that can easily be repurposed is cardboard. Readily available, biodegradable, and cost effective, this can be a gardener’s best friend. Here are some creative ways to use cardboard for winter protection, ensuring your garden thrives come springtime.
Sheet mulching is a powerful gardening technique that involves covering the soil with layers of organic material to suppress weeds, improve soil quality, and prepare new planting areas.
Using cardboard in this manner is an easy, low-maintenance way to prepare new garden beds while reducing weed pressure and improving soil fertility naturally. Another benefit is that it requires minimal effort in the spring, allowing you to jump straight into planting.
Choose Your Area: Select the area you plan to plant in the spring. This can be a section of your garden where you want to expand your vegetable or flower beds or a new spot that needs transformation.
Prepare the Ground: Mow down any existing vegetation to ground level. If the ground is especially dry, water it thoroughly to soften the soil and encourage earthworm activity.
Lay the Cardboard: Place large, overlapping pieces of cardboard directly onto the ground. Ensure no gaps exist between the pieces, in order to prevent weeds sneaking through. Water the cardboard well to help it break down and settle into place.
Add Organic Matter: Pile on organic matter such as compost, leaves, or grass clippings. Aim for a layer that is 15-20cm (6-8 inches) thick. This will insulate the soil, promote microbial activity, and feed your plants come spring.
Wait for Spring: Over winter, the cardboard will decompose, suppressing weeds and enriching the soil beneath. When spring arrives, simply plant directly into your newly mulched area without disturbing the soil structure.
Filling raised beds can be expensive and labour-intensive if you use only high-quality topsoil or compost. Using a layered method however, often referred to as ‘lasagne gardening’, allows you to fill your raised beds with a mix of organic materials that decompose over time, creating rich soil for little cost.
Shredded cardboard serves as a valuable component in this layering process, providing insulation, moisture retention, and contributing to organic matter breakdown.
Shred the Cardboard: Tear or shred the cardboard into smaller pieces. This step speeds up decomposition and ensures the cardboard integrates well with the other materials.
Layer the Materials: Start by placing a layer of coarser materials like sticks or straw at the bottom of your raised bed to promote drainage. Next, add a layer of shredded cardboard, which helps retain moisture and serves as a carbon source for the soil.
Continue Layering: Alternate layers of green (nitrogen-rich) materials like kitchen scraps, grass clippings, or manure, with brown (carbon-rich) materials like shredded cardboard, leaves, or straw. Keep layering until the bed is filled, ensuring the topmost layer is composed of rich compost or topsoil to facilitate planting.
Let it Settle: Over the winter, the layers will break down, gradually converting into nutrient rich soil that will be perfect for planting in the spring. As the layers decompose, they will also provide warmth to the soil, helping to protect the bed from extreme cold.
Winter can be particularly harsh on delicate plants, especially perennials, young shrubs, and newly planted trees.
Cardboard can be used as an insulating blanket for your plants, protecting their roots from temperature swings and reducing the chance of frost damage. As the cardboard breaks down over time, it will also add organic matter to the soil, feeding your plants in the process.
Materials Needed:
Prepare the Area: Before the first frost hits, clear away any debris, weeds, or dead plant material from around the base of your plants. This will prevent pests from hiding out under the protective covering.
Cut and Place the Cardboard: Cut the cardboard into large pieces or strips, depending on the size of your plants. Lay the cardboard around the base of each plant, ensuring it overlaps and covers the entire root zone. Be careful to avoid covering the stem or trunk directly, as this can lead to moisture buildup and rot.
Secure the Cardboard: To prevent the cardboard from blowing away, anchor it down with rocks, or even a light layer of mulch. This will also add extra insulation and protection for the roots.
Monitor Throughout Winter: Periodically check the cardboard covering to ensure it remains in place and has not been dislodged by wind or animals. If the cardboard becomes too soggy, consider adding a new layer.
By repurposing cardboard in these creative and practical ways, you will not only save money, but also enhance your garden’s sustainability and resilience. Then when spring arrives, your garden will be primed and ready for new growth, with enriched soil and plants protected from the harshness of winter.
So next time you have some leftover cardboard, give it a second life in your garden!
Katrina and Clayton live with their family in East Ayrshire and share their daily life in the garden on Instagram, practicing permaculture principles in the garden, reducing and repurposing waste whenever they can.
Clayton is 16, autistic, non-verbal, and has been home-educated for the last 5 years. Home-educating in nature has helped Clayton thrive: he has completed the 'Grow and Learn' course with the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society and is working on Level 2 'Nurture'.
You can hear directly from Katrina on home educating in nature and on permaculture principles on the Scotland Grows Show.
Katrina and Clayton featured on BBC 'Beechgrove' (Ep23 2022, and Ep17 2023), and are authors of the children’s series 'Clayton's Gardening Adventures: Stories of Autism and Gardening' available on Amazon.
You can keep up with Katrina and Clayton on Instagram, Facebook, and on their website.