Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Roundup use in common areas

[Joyce Cheney (jcheneyjc]

STUART, , how, specifically, has cardboard/mulch ‘been impractical” for large 
areas? How large? I have used cardboard and free wood chips on 3000 sq ft 
(prior private yard) and found that the only “problem” is that larger areas 
take more labor and materials, but as was pointed out, free cardboard (big 
boxes from appliance/furniture/bicycle shops) and free wood chips are easy to 
get(tree trimmers are glad to dump their whole big truck of chips at the end of 
day/week because they otherwise may have to pay to take it to the dump). Just 
ask the truck drivers. How has your experience differed? 
And MARINA, how big are the “very large” areas that you’ve cleared using 
cardboard? Can you shed any light on how your community has succeeded at 
“cardboard/mulch clearing” of large areas when others have not? 
Thank you,  Joyce Cheney, 
Casa Verde, Colorado Springs

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 2, 2026, at 3:52 PM, Stuart Pettygrove via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l 
> [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> Cardboard is great. But it's impractical for more than a few hundred square
> feet. If you have half an acre or more, herbicide will very likely be part
> of the solution. Be sure to access the Cooperative Extension agents and
> specialists who may be able to provide methods for control of specific weed
> species.
> 
> On Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 2:28 PM Marina King via Cohousing-L <
> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
>> Hi there Ceil:
>> I am very sorry your community is considering Round-up. Skagit Commons has
>> successfully used cardboard - very often a free resource - over very large
>> areas. You can purchase landscape pins to hold it down. You cover it with
>> as thick a layer of mulch as you can. The chips can be from the local
>> arborist. It doesn't have to be fancy stuff from the Garden Store.
>> Arborists will often deliver chips for free or almost free if you allow
>> them to do a drop of a full truck load (as much as 35 yards!)
>> We have used this strategy very successfully for several landscaping
>> projects now. If you want to plant very soon after your application of
>> cardboard & mulch, you simply need to brush the mulch aside enough to punch
>> a hole in the cardboard, punch the hole, plant the plant, and replace the
>> mulch around the base of the plant. If you wait through a season to do the
>> planting, the cardboard will have deteriorated enough that it no longer is
>> an issue as far as digging holes go.
>> It is important to remove as much tape as possible from the cardboard,
>> otherwise you have lengths of tape showing up in your new landscape.
>> Good luck with your project!
>> Regards,
>> Marina King
>> Landscape Circle lead
>> Skagit Commons
>> 
>> On Fri, Oct 2, 2026 at 7:45 AM Ceil Malek via Cohousing-L <
>> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>> 
>>> Our community, Casa Verde Commons in Colorado Springs, is proposing to
>> use
>>> Roundup extensively to kill old grass in preparation for planting native
>>> grass.  The intention is to cut down on water bills and prepare for
>> coming
>>> climate change, which is admirable..
>>> Our landscape committee, which is proposing the project, advocates this
>> use
>>> of Roundup t because it's time limited, but the chemical will be
>>> administered over a three-year period. Final decision will come from the
>>> board, not the community.
>>> I'm wondering what other communities have done.  Are there viable
>>> alternatives to using Roundup?  Do other communities have a model for
>>> changing to native grass that doesn't challenge the health of community
>>> members, especially the vulnerable ones. We have young children, older
>>> people with various health challenges, dogs, and cats whose exposure to
>> the
>>> chemical Roundup may be especially problematic.
>>> Thanks for your help.
>>> Ceil Malek
>>> Casa Verde Commons
>>> Colorado Springs, CO
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