Hard work to plant palms in Hawai’i

[www.dadluvsu.com]

So anything will grow here, but that’s the problem.  Weedy grasses (the good kind too) grow faster than anything desirable.  And I wanna put these little seedling straight into the honua cause I wanna get away from the shadehouse and propagation.  So my method is as follows. Mow the grasses down in 3-7 passes to dirt; hit it with some cardboard, mulch it heavy so I don’t have to feed the palms or water (smothers most the grasses, wainaku grass be damned) ; and then shade it so the midday and afternoon sun doesn’t melt it down.  Maybe a bit overboard, but I won’t have to do anything for these palms for months, not even water em’!  That’s a big deal here on the farm for a guy like me that has wayyyy to many chores.  So there we go, Metroxylon in the soil!  BOOM!

[Meangreen94z]

I tried cardboard as a weed deterrent under landscaping rock.. They fall apart pretty quick with constant rain, and local weeds would punch right through anyway. It ended up just being a mess to clean up. Hopefully you have better luck.

[WaianaeCrider]

I just dig a hole, mix in some black cinder and fertilizer.  When the weeds come up it's ROUND UP TIME.  Simple and easy.  And I've got like 50 years of haole koa seeds in the ground just waiting for a little water.,

[Allen]

Looks like a good idea to me.  I use cardboard to smother grass when planting too then put thick mulch as well.