Sheet mulching with cardboard, too much water?

[ben138]

My friend ask a valid question I thought, which was that if there was alot of rain over a period time would there be a problem with drainage from the cardboard layer?


Cheers Perma-People

[mischief]

Cant see why, its porous although it does soak alittle bit of moisture up and after that it should just go right thru it.
Welcome, by the way.
If there is alot of rain over a period of time there can be a problem called flooding,lol, which isnt particularly pleasant and cardboard isnt going to make it any worse than it already is.(sorry, I just couldnt help myself).

[Pakanohida]

My friend ask a valid question I thought, which was that if there was alot of rain over a period time would there be a problem with drainage from the cardboard layer?


Cheers Perma-People

I live in the pacific North west in a rainforest area. I do not ever have a problem with any sheet mulching w/ cardboard.

[gardenlen]

g'day ben,

never had any such issue, the more rain in the end the quicker it rots.

len

[ben138]

Cool nice one thanks for the info

[sweetpea]

I've found that unless there's a LOT of rainfall, cardboard is a real pain. So water is a savior when it comes to cardboard. When any biodegradeable material is saturated it will break down even faster. It is usually covered with dirt or straw that has micro-critters in it that also help it break down, especially if what's on top of it is heavy.

I don't have rainfall in the summer, and even though I put it under drippers and thick mulch, it still dries out on the edges, lifts up, dries out everything underneath it, and then the wind picks it up. It just doesn't work for me using it in rows.

If I have a cardboard box I build a compost pile in it and keep heaping it on until it falls apart, then I build the pile over the flattened pieces.