I have a little garden and I’ve lost my battle against the weeds. There is a small patch of grass just barely hanging on against some extremely fast growing ivy amongst the usual seasonal suspects. I’m not much of a green thumb to begin with and frankly, nature is mad powerful here. So much sun and water has everything growing happily. I don’t necessarily want to fight nature but I also don’t want to cede my garden to a horrible mess of weeds. I don’t need a patch of grass, I’m open to starting over and planting something more resilient, but I don’t know where to start. Will the seasoned gardeners of r/japanlife give me some tips and starters?
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The Japanese approach includes two options: 1. Allow it to be an overgrown mess until winter rolls around to kill everything; 2. Kill it all and put down neat and tidy non inconvenient concrete or asphalt.
Cover it entirely with cardboard – you can usually get them free from your nearby supermarket. It will act as a weed barrier, by cutting off sunlight to the weeds. Make sure you overlap them to cover any gaps between the flaps.
Remove all labels/tape from the cardboard before using it; and preferably use cardboard with less print/ink. You will usually need something to hold it down and not get blown away. A couple of bricks from a home center would do if you don’t have anything suitable.
The cardboard will breakdown over time, and you may need to replace it; you can punch holes into it and plant directly onto too.
Do a quick search for “cardboard weed control” for more details on how it works.