Sheet-mulching the Nature Strip

We have now decided that we need to that we need to get rid of the rest of the grass at the front of the house, which is actually a large nature strip which we had already partly covered and planted out.

It is about 70 square metres of Kikuyu grass and the best way to do this is to use the sheet mulching technique which involves covering the grass with cardboard, papers and mulch to a depth that ensures light cannot get in.

So I went to the recycling bins of the local Furniture/Electrical shop and filled the car with boxes and then laid them about three layers thick. The cardboard from here is particularly good as it is usually thick and quite big which means that I need less of it. A whole carload has allowed me to do the next strip, we think we have another five strips to go. So once we have more mulch I will be back at the recycling bins! Luckily for us the mulch is available for free at out local tip.

This is the strip completed, once we get closer to the kerb we will need to dig it out so that it is the same level as the kerb. This will need to be done at the driveway as well and the sleeper that you see here will be placed as a dividing strip between our edge and the one next door. It will also need to be dug into the ground. So there is still a lot of work to do, but we will just do it as we can and one day we will be lawn free!

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