I am an amatuer who really doesn't get into all of this too much except that this year i put an old bath rug down on a bunch of weeds and poured gardening soil on top. My russian sage has been much happier without the weeds. Morgan put cardboard around my big sweetpea and then more soil. They used to be almost smothered with weeds. This year I think we've pulled two, otherwise weed-free; same as in another part of the yard, using the cardboard flats the garden center uses.

Megan, LMAO...I remember an early SNL which showed a segment of the trees.