2021 Fall Home

Page 8 2021 Fall Home Improvement LINCOLN DAILY NEWS Sept. 23, 2021 CONTINUED u A re you tired of weeding but want a tidy look for your landscape? You can spend money on cheap weed mat films that weeds come up through the first season. Then you have to fight weeds and roots hanging on to the mat; what a mess and a lot more work. You can buy thicker expensive weed mats that last years and do a good job, but eventually they too disintegrate, and when they get weeds roots growing into them you may be facing a full garden replacement moving plants, plant losses, and heavy labor. You can also use herbicides to kill weeds. They are not without risks to you, the environment and to your favorite plants. So what’s the solution? There’s a cheap and easy way to prevent weeds around small trees and shrubs, and even large spaces or pathways through gardens; and you can recycle to boot. This past couple of seasons most people have had an excess of cardboard boxes from deliveries, if you don’t, it’s almost a sure thing your neighbor can happily help you out. Pull your boxes apart. Scissors or a blade will help cut nylon enforced tape, then pull the one glued seam and you have a flat cardboard sheet with some slits. Take your box and place next to your tree (as an example,) cut to reduce weeding around trees and shrubs As easy as 1-2-3 Cardboard can be topped by wood chips in a formal garden or by mulch in a vegetable garden. Ground below low branched trees and shrubs can look shabby without weed control. You may not want to use chemical weed control for many reasons This Buff Orpington, called what else but “Buffy,” likes to examine every turn of the dirt, even where a little weed gets pulled. And, she’s excellent at insect control eating anything that moves including ticks.