Used free carpet off Craigslist is my latest experiment for controlling weeds, it’s working good so far around my blueberries and dwarf apple trees. Water seems to penetrate thru it fine and provides some light reflection. Downside is that looks unnatural/ugly but better than an orchard full of weeds.
I’m guessing the life span is around 4-5 years before deterioration from sunlight makes it fall apart.
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What are your thought about chemicals leaching from the carpet into the soil?
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Actually have not considered that Tony, what are you thoughts?
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" The Chemicals on Our Carpets and Textiles
The array of water-, dirt-, and mold-repellent chemicals added to carpeting and fabrics is dizzying. Which are causes for concern, and how can we minimize exposure?
To protect it from soils and stains generated by heavy foot traffic in the Raleigh Convention Center, tvsdesign specified Beaulieu carpeting, which is protected with topical perfluorochemicals and stain repellents.
Photo: Brian Gassel, tvsdesign
Commercial carpeting and textiles are subjected to dirt, spilled drinks, pathogens, cleaning chemicals, and a variety of other abuses. Fibers can absorb liquids or allow them to pass through into cushioning beneath, making cleaning difficult, particularly for furniture. Manufacturers add treatments that repel water and oils; antimicrobials to keep mold, mildew, and pathogens at bay; and flame retardants for safety. For architects and designers, specifying these products and understanding their complex chemistry and manufacturer claims is daunting.
Treatments may help prolong a product’s life, but the long-term health and environmental impacts of those chemicals are unknown, and in some cases may be cause for concern."
" * Soil Contamination: Synthetic carpet is made of petroleum products that have been treated with chemicals and cleaners – do you really want this leaching out into your soil?"
I just found some of these on the net. You may want to do more research.
Tony
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I feel better now
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Oh yes, much better!
:-)M
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Yikes! I’ll stick with cardboard boxes.ty!
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@tonyOmahaz5,
You beat me to it. I was about to ask @Chris_in_GA about possible chemicals from those carpets contaminating soil.
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Weeds were three feet high I took a weedwacker to top two feet to find the vines, somehow four oranglo were there. Don’t know how the bees found the flowers in that mess
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Tony has a good point about chemicals, but the first thing I thought of was all the little pieces of fuzz/plastic/etc that will go down into the soil when the thing eventually disintegrates.
I do like the light reflection aspect. I bet that Tony’s cement board or white rock would do that too…
That is pretty impressive and you’ve got me thinking hard about it. Did you overlap the sheets, or have them meet edge-to-edge? What about places where the ground isn’t perfectly level? Did the board bend or break? Or did you fill in and grade things so that wasn’t an issue?
One other thing to think about is the same question there was about the carpet- anything bad in the cement board?
From wikipedia, it sounds like some kinds have treated wood in them, which may not be ideal. From reading the SDS on HD, it sounds like some others have plastics (polymers, including ploy-propylene fabric). But I think some of them may have just cement and fiber-glass (not great to get in your hand, but I don’t think there is anything chemically polluting about it…).
Cement bonded particle boards have treated wood flakes as reinforcement, whereas in cement fibre boards have cellulose fibre, which is a plant extract as reinforcement. Cement acts as binder in both the cases. The fire resistance properties of cement bonded blue particle boards and cement fibre boards are the same. In terms of load-bearing capacity, cement-bonded particle boards have higher capacity than cement fibre boards. Cement particle boards are manufactured from 1⁄4 to 1 9⁄16 inches (6 to 40 mm) thickness making it suitable for high load bearing applications.
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I tried to fill in the uneven ground but not perfectly level. I then overlap the edge about 3 inches and used the galvanized deck screw to every 8 inches to secure them from moving. The raised overlap 3 inches also helped with good footing during wet condition after the rain. The 1/2 ’ Cement boards that I got were solid but somewhat flexible if I stepped on the uneven surface underneath. It was a good investment with minimal health concern because of no break down.
Tony
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Kind of makes me feel better that I’m not the only one overrun with weeds this time of year. Half my backyard becomes unusable with the weeds that grow up between the squash and all those places I can’t get to with a weed wacker or mower. It is such a jungle the squash bugs have taken over and I have not gotten a crop of squash or pumpkins in two years.
I’ve been putting my chicken tractor on the weeds to start and try to remove some of them and fertilize the ground. I plan to cover the entire area, what I think is 600 sq feet with cardboard, then a thick layer of compost. Next spring I am going to cover the space with weed fabric. It is a big job, but I’m tired to getting next to no production from such a large area.
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As suggested in many of the posts, a good quality mechanical barrier is most effective. Once the weeds take over it’s heavy work to get it under control. Wood mulch and removing weeds before they seed helps. Almost every time I’m in the garden I pull a few weeds. Once the weeds are established the easiest way of dealing with them is Roundup but many people don’t like using it and over spray must be avoided. The next best way of dealing with them is the Loop Hoe. If used every few weeks or sooner it’s easy for my to keep the area almost weed free. 
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Thanks Tony! I like this idea it is on my list of things to try. One nice thing about cement board over cardboard (aside from the permanance) is that the cement board shouldn’t blow away. Are you able to just mow over the edges? Do you put woodchips in the 12" wide area around the trees?
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Yeah, you’re not alone. My main garden area is a disaster. And yes, lower production because of it. Squash vine borers have destroyed all the squash, corn tassels were eaten by JBs, only some tomatoes were trellised, baby trees are hard to find as things have grown up on them. This fall I intend to lay down weed fabric in all my pathways. Next year will be better!
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I just remarked yesterday to my hub that june to july everything on our land looks so pretty. Here in the dog days everything looks ragged, including the gardener.
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Hi! What kind of Fig trees are you growing ?? I am a Fig tree lover…
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I feel sorry for you!!! When the weeds grow through your carpet you will have a really hard time to take it away. Try not to miss the right moment to say ''Good bye ‘’ to the carpet…
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It’s very important to kill the weeds before they set seeds. I noticed when I cut down trees in a wooded area, the first year there where very few weeds. When the sun wasn’t there and the ground was covered in leaves weeds didn’t grow and as a result there where very few weed seeds. When weeds started to appear the next year using my loop hoe for 15 minutes every week or two has worked for me. It is a small garden area.
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