When I use the cardboard and weed cloth, it does cut down considerably on the grass/weeds that now come up. But I have never been able to get a weed-free path .... ever. But what I do get only takes a few moments to pull any weeds that may have emerged through the cardboard cracks and the weed barrier. I do that weed pulling about once a week. My hope is that eventually those weeds will die after being pulled so many times!