I know people struggling to keep garden plants weed free for decades. I hadn’t gardened in 20 years due to where I lived, but as I moved to a place I could plant things, I read about mulching with just using last years leaves, so I went to back of property where they all got piled up and just took a few wheel barrows and as was ( no chopping up or anything) just put them around plants and in walk ways.
Hugely reduced weeds, less watering needed and plants seemed to do a lot better than other area I didnt do it to. So now every garden season I leaf everything. No more bare dirt to expose weed seeds to sun, I don’t mind less watering either.
people make things harden than has to be when they try to figure new solutions to things God’s design of nature already resolved.
We always used newspaper covered with hay
We have actually killed poison oak by piling leaves on it (side of road)...other places we have to spray crossbow.