Viewing post #2934374 by Arico

purpleinopp said: Same here, Gina.

Lee-Roy, I'm not surprised the grass is growing through the mulch. If it was that easy, everybody would just do that. If you had put cardboard under the wood chips. the grass would not be able to get through. Lack of rain is not an issue here for most of the year, except summer sometimes but I wouldn't be working on a smother in the heat anyway. If you're looking for something you can use right away, smothering is not the path. I usually leave it alone over winter. Time is a requirement of smothering. After the cardboard decomposes, it is no longer a barrier. Trying to use a smothered area before the cardboard decomposes defeats the purpose, IMVHO/E.

I tried to go without the carboard for reason mentioned earlier, but alas, it failed. I already had a tree, shrubs and perennials establishing in there so it propably would have had SOME effect. Otherwise, you're right. Smothering with carboard is good if you don't plan on planting it any time soon. Any dead soil life will return eventually anyway.