-
We did the same, no bindweed but mares tail galore. Even through the double layer of weed membrane and 15cm of gravel I built the shed on...
chiroshi-
I think the bindweed and horsetail was also much more established in the other beds that had cardboard as it turns out the area had not previously been cultivated at all...
I removed weed membrane on the walkway between the beds in the pic above as Im not a fan of weed membrane. As you say stuff still gets through and tears up the membrane and it becomes a matted mess, getting plastic everywhere.
I've probably spent 40hrs at the allotment since getting it a few months ago and not much to show for it!!
-
Yeah Mare's Tail just survives under the tarp and pokes up where it can. It might even make the roots push deeper (total speculation). It is easy to pick off the surface stuff when you remove the tarp though.
apc
Polygon
I think I was overly optimistic that covering weeds with a layer of cardboard then compost would kill them off and planted into that compost. Bindweed & Horsetail has gradually come through the cardboard as its broken down and now requires regular digging up as its between plants.
For second lot of beds, im going to just tarp it until next spring.