Storing Cardboard

For those who do lasagna gardening, how do you store your cardboard? I've been saving boxes (that I've broken down), but they take up a lot of space. I'd rather not store them outside, in the elements.

I was thinking I could build some sort of frame, or something, that they could stand up in. But, I don't know...

What do you all do?

When I am using them for mulch in the garden, I tend not to get them until I can put them down. Otherwise usually just a pile in the corner in the garage.

I store lots of cardboard.  I use several different methods.

Mine are flattened as you described yours.

I have stored them on the floor in front of my washing machines.

I also have stored them on the floor of the laundry room with heavy boxes holding them down to keep me from tripping on them.

Where we used to live I had a wonderful attic with a pull-down ladder where it would have been perfect for storing boxes.

I have stored them flat against the wall behind a big piece of furniture like a dresser.

Maybe it would help if I took up lasagne gardening...

I have a bit of a phobia about storing cardboard in my house as it just takes one roach... I made a temporary loft area in an outbuilding last year when I had relatives move here from out of state.  The large boxes are up and out of the way until I'm ready for them (which will be very soon).  When I'm about to embark on a project and forsee needing an abundance of cardboard, I start collecting from stores.  If you feel confident  about storing it in the house, under the bed would be a great place.

Here's how we do it...

Matt McSpadden wrote:When I am using them for mulch in the garden, I tend not to get them until I can put them down. Otherwise usually just a pile in the corner in the garage.

Last year my first time doing the lasagna garden method and I didn't have enough. I was scrambling to find enough, just for one garden plot. If it works out, then we will be doing this in all of our gardens and we are going to need a LOT of cardboard. LOL!

How do you get away with acquiring them when you need them?

Anne Miller wrote:Maybe it would help if I took up lasagne gardening...

What do you do with all your cardboard, if you don't mind me asking?

Michelle Heath wrote:I have a bit of a phobia about storing cardboard in my house as it just takes one roach... I made a temporary loft area in an outbuilding last year when I had relatives move here from out of state.  The large boxes are up and out of the way until I'm ready for them (which will be very soon).  When I'm about to embark on a project and forsee needing an abundance of cardboard, I start collecting from stores.  If you feel confident  about storing it in the house, under the bed would be a great place.

We don't have roaches here, but we do have spiders. I'm definitely phobic.

A loft and under the bed are two great ideas that I didn't think of. Thanks!

Christopher Weeks wrote:Here's how we do it...

My office is an outbuilding that we have on our property. I've thought about putting them out there - that would be so much better than being in the house - but I just don't know how to contain them. All the corners are taken up by other things...

Jeanne Helfrich wrote:My office is an outbuilding that we have on our property. I've thought about putting them out there - that would be so much better than being in the house - but I just don't know how to contain them. All the corners are taken up by other things...

Sounds like it's time for another outbuilding!

If you have enough land to justify this, you could make a skiddable cardboard shed (for cardboard, not of cardboard) and then drag the whole thing to where you're doing bed prep

Jeanne Helfrich wrote:

Matt McSpadden wrote:When I am using them for mulch in the garden, I tend not to get them until I can put them down. Otherwise usually just a pile in the corner in the garage.

Last year my first time doing the lasagna garden method and I didn't have enough. I was scrambling to find enough, just for one garden plot. If it works out, then we will be doing this in all of our gardens and we are going to need a LOT of cardboard. LOL!

How do you get away with acquiring them when you need them?

Lots of places give away (or recycle) lots of cardboard every day, like grocery stores and liquor stores. People also post their used moving boxes for free on craigslist or Facebook but that depends on good timing. The ideal place to score a lot of cardboard is a furniture store or similar place with huge boxes, but that's not exactly local for everyone.

I end up saving cardboard to use later in my garden mainly out of laziness. It's easier to stash it in the shed than to haul it to the transfer station for recycling. But I happen to have a shed in bad shape - door doesn't fully close, smells damp/mildewy. Not good for much else besides keeping cardboard (relatively) dry.

Jeanne Helfrich wrote:

Anne Miller wrote:Maybe it would help if I took up lasagne gardening...

What do you do with all your cardboard, if you don't mind me asking?

Our daughter piles the cardboard into the back of her Subaru Outback and takes it to the big city recycling center.

To find cardboard boxes, I used to ask Dollar General if I could have their cardboard boxes.  Since I shopped there a lot they usually let me have access to their dumpster to just help myself.  

I never asked at grocery stores as they probably put other stuff in the dumpster besides cardboard.

I think grocery stores typically receive cardboard on a scale that requires they have a baler and then they ship out trucks full of baled cardboard and get paid for it. I've had better luck at quick-shops and especially liquor stores, but reject any glossy or especially colorful e.g. wine boxes. These days we mostly just receive so much crap in the mail that I don't ever have to go looking.

I have a corner of my shop full of tons of cardboard, I set aside the top of a baker's rack to store it, but this time of year, right as I'm getting started in sheet mulching large areas, it gets a little out of hand.

I think a pallet to stack the cardboard on and another to hold a tarp down on top of the pile would be a decent minimal solution.
A 4 sided pallet enclosure with an open top and front would be as far as I would go for purpose built.

William Bronson wrote:I think a pallet to stack the cardboard on and another to hold a tarp down on top of the pile would be a decent minimal solution.

EXACTLY what I do. Surprisingly critter and moisture free, even after months and months outside.

Christopher Weeks wrote:If you have enough land to justify this, you could make a skiddable cardboard shed (for cardboard, not of cardboard) and then drag the whole thing to where you're doing bed prep

Hmm... That's a thought. It will depend on how well my "experimental" garden plot goes this year. If it's a success, then we'll want to do it with all of our other plots and that would be justifiable, I think... Hmm...

William Bronson wrote:I think a pallet to stack the cardboard on and another to hold a tarp down on top of the pile would be a decent minimal solution.
A 4 sided pallet enclosure with an open top and front would be as far as I would go for purpose built.

This is a good idea... I don't know if I can eke out the footprint of a full pallet, but I could always cut them...

We get an extraordinary amount of cardboard from shipments of ingredients and packaging for our products... I have two huge stacks in a tent, waiting to get used as sheet mulch under a layer of wood chips for pathways around our farm.
That said, and I aspire to this too, so I'm not just trying to be obtuse... I'm needing to clear out the tent this weekend, since it is also our CSA pickup area, and that begins next week! Not all the pathways  will get done, but some will.

The best place to "store" the cardboard, is in a pathway under some woodchips. Or in your case, a new lasagna garden bed.
Do. the. thing.

If possible, (and plenty of reasons maybe it isn't) work on the project incrementally.
Got too many boxes for the collection spot? Time to add on to the garden...
Got the other ingredients handy? time to use up some of the cardboard stash.
You don't need to plant it right away either, although you could almost always plant some radishes.

I store them on my porch. I save a very large box and lean the others on the side in the large box. Repeat as needed. My daughter also gets slips (flat cardboard that is in between layers on pallets) from her work, those just get leaned against a wall in her carport.

Kenneth Elwell wrote:We get an extraordinary amount of cardboard from shipments of ingredients and packaging for our products... I have two huge stacks in a tent, waiting to get used as sheet mulch under a layer of wood chips for pathways around our farm.
That said, and I aspire to this too, so I'm not just trying to be obtuse... I'm needing to clear out the tent this weekend, since it is also our CSA pickup area, and that begins next week! Not all the pathways  will get done, but some will.

The best place to "store" the cardboard, is in a pathway under some woodchips. Or in your case, a new lasagna garden bed.
Do. the. thing.

If possible, (and plenty of reasons maybe it isn't) work on the project incrementally.
Got too many boxes for the collection spot? Time to add on to the garden...
Got the other ingredients handy? time to use up some of the cardboard stash.
You don't need to plant it right away either, although you could almost always plant some radishes.

I was given one garden bed to experiment with, to show my husband that this is a worthwhile endeavor. The cardboard storage is to save it up for next fall, when I can do it again.  :)