Three years ago I moved into a place with a small garden, about 20m², that’s full of weeds. I kind of ignored it for a whole year and only cleaned it up once when things got out of control. After the second round of pulling weeds and wrecking my back fighting those stubborn カニクサ, I realized I need to deal with this properly, and while I’m at it, might as well make it look nice too.
After doing some reading, it seems there are two main options:
-
Use weed control fabric (防草シート) and cover it with pebbles or gravel. Seems easy and looks tidy, but people say it becomes a nightmare after a few years when the fabric breaks and weeds start growing through the gravel.
-
Grow ground cover plants like clover, alfalfa, or cress (I think this is called cover cropping?). It sounds like a more natural, organic option.
What are the pros and cons of each?
//Also, I’m still cleaning up the garden by tilling the soil to remove roots (those kanikusa roots are no joke), but I read somewhere that you should only cut weeds above the soil and not till, since it can make them grow faster. Is that true? I already turned the soil over, so I guess I fu*ked up, just want to know for next time.
by Jealous-Drop1489