On Thu, 19 Dec 2002 17:15:46 -0000, "Sue & Bob Hobden"
wrote:

Couldn't use that or carpet etc., if you intend to garden organically.
Papers and cardboard can contain bleach and printing ink which has some
nasty chemicals. Goodness knows what's on old carpet, flea killing
chemicals etc ?, if it's very very old could even be DDT! :-(

Judging by the wildlife that thrives beneath the carpets that lay on
my plot, I'd say that any noxious chemicals have long since dispersed.
I also now have a rather large colony of slow-worms which take up
residence beneath the carpets in the summer, not to mention some
sizeable beetles.
As regards inks etc... well, the cardboard tends to be a one-off mulch
- but your garden compost will often be continually topped up with
kitchen vegetable waste... much of which will have been treated with
pesticides and herbicides if bought from non-organic sources.
On balance it's hardly likely to be an issue.

I have a neighbour on the allotments that loves carpet, a strong wind and I
have to retrieve bits from our plots, off our plants. The local wildlife
seems to love grubbing it up, tearing bits off and chucking it about,
presumably looking for what's underneath .....slugs,snails, frogs,
mice....and it then gets caught in the mower when I'm mowing the grass on
the entrance/carpark, mumble,mumble.....

That's never been my experience - quite the contrary in
fact....lifting a carpet at the end of the season if often a two-man
job. Such is the condition of the carpet that it is turned over and
used again the following season.
Mind you, I do tend to go for Wilton type heavy weaves.
Even after a strong wind the most I've ever had to do is turn down a
corner or two.
Perhaps your neighbour is using small sections of carpet?


Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk