Is it better to use weed mat or cardboard to keeps weed out ?

You can use both as the cardboard eventually will rot away.

I used both but like the idea of cardboard or newspaper better. It does eventually disintegrate but I didn't mind since I like to "re-do" my soil occasionally anyway and it made my garden more "organic".

BOTH will break down over time. The weed mat isn't biodegradable and pieces will start to come out and fly around. With the cardboard ( make sure it is NOT glossy or waxy finish as it will prevent decomposing and is not Eco-friendly) you will get several benefits over the weed mat.....

*It's Eco-friendly and decomposes

* Many times can get free or next to free

* Worms love cardboard thus it promotes worms to the area

* You are RECYCLING

* The cardboard holds moisture where the weed mat doesn't.

Hopefully this helps! You can also put newspaper in between the cardboard boxes. Let me know what you think :)

Thank you

Re-USE, Re-CYCLE, Reduce, and Repurpose :)

• The weed mat eventually breaks down, and comes apart, getting all over your lawn.
• Use cardboard or newspapers.
• I've found that if you place the cardboard or newspapers down in your garden, and soak them thoroughly with water, it helps even more to keep the weeds out.
• Cardboard and newspapers will decompose and become good compost for worms, who will help your garden.
• Avoid using coated cardboards, and glossy/coloured newspaper pages, because they don't decompose as well, and some of the chemicals used may not be environmentally friendly.

As Anna mentioned, the weed barrier degrades and the pieces come out of the ground (not bio-friendly). Another issue with weed barrier is that it only prevents broad leaf plants. Grasses and other narrow leaf weeds will grow through it.

Also, soil does accumulate on top of the weed barrier and so it get all kinds of weeds growing on top. This is the main issue we experienced when we used it under a gravel pathway.

And . . . it's a pain to try to "dig" through barriers to add seeds or new plants to your bed. This may also be an issue with cardboard, although I think cardboard would be easier to cut through and it is bio-friendly.

I've used cardboard for several years, it is cheap (free) and always does an incredible job for saving me tons of weed-pulling-work! I save all of my Amazon boxes, remove all the tape, and mulch over everything. Voila!: a weed free flower bed.