I would not run over cardboard with my mowers. Wet it might be soft enough but I would not want to ruin the blade or knock it loose. I run cardboard through a regular paper shredder. Mainly it is for bedding in my worms bins. I have a cheapie paper shredder that is designed to shred CD's and credit cards, so cardboard is not a problem. I just use a box cutter to cut cardboard into 4 or 5 inch widths and then run it through. I get small pieces.

All I care about really is that it holds up long enough for me to harvest tomatoes from the container. Where I live, no one will see it but me, it's very isolated there so looks aren't important. Also, it will recycle back into the soil. I see all kinds of posts and other websites promoting cardboard as weed barriers, walkways in gardens, etc. so decomposing cardboard into the soil must not be too bad of an idea. I plan on reinforcing the sides with heavy twine or wire crimped together and was going ot line the inside with plastic trash bags, maybe two of them, but I really wished I could just use the plastic on the outside of the boxes, it seems with a 5-1-1 mix or heavy composition of pine bark fines, the soil would drain well and not be too compacted or wet inside the box and it's going to be placed on carpet backing. Still undecided here about how much to get into this. Even if it disintegrates, it seems the potting mix would still hold together enough to be able to contain it and keep growing once the box falls apart.

Hi Tammi, I had made myself a note to check back with you on the 20th.; but here you are. I am down on the other side of Wooster. I appreciate any help. The ideal size for the card boxes would be 9" long by 6" wide, by at least 2" deep. That means we would have to have a piece of card stock bigger than 8 1/2" X 11" to start with. Does the score-it board even accommodate that big of a sheet of paper? The one I looked at didn't appear to, but then I don't know anything about using one. Still have my heart set on those "glossy candy boxes" at that one site. I even called the other day and asked if I could buy less than 100. He flat out said, "No, 100 only". I pleaded a little. "No, orders of 100 only". Shoot. I don't even have 100 friends to send boxes of cards to!

Duplicate post.