I’ve just put down flattened cardboard boxes on top of a bed which I’ve cleared and I’m now trying to kill off anything planning on growing again. The earth underneath the boxes is nice and moist. At the moment the cardboard is bone dry. Should I leave it to get a good soaking? We’re due rain tomorrow afternoon.
Eventually I plan to cover it with weed suppressant fabric which I’ve got lying about, then cover with mulch and then put pots with plants in on top to weigh everything down.
I’d put a few pots/whatever to stop it blowing away temporarily… and tomorrow’s rain should cement it in…
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Maybe you need to put cardboard on top of the cardboard in order to protect it 
My late mother-in-law used to cover her Persian rugs with cheap scraps of old carpet ‘in order to protect them’. Meanwhile, family members were continually removing these bits of carpet so she wouldn’t trip over them.
I don’t have weeds, but I do have loads of cardboard. One day I’ll pluck up the courage to throw it away…and then suddenly discover gardening. 
As I’m fairly certain that you don’t live in a concrete tower block then you must have done a deal with a bloke you met at the crossroads one night…
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A question of semantics and interpretation of the term ‘weeds’.
My trusty Oxford tells me that a weed is a wild plant growing where it is not wanted. I have no such plants that fit that description. 
Apart from the hedges, the only things that I have planted are bluebells donated by a friend and which have leaped to another part of the garden by themselves, and a single white rose whose roots grew through the bottom of the pot in which they were presented to us many years ago by another friend,
Everything else is entirely natural, was already here or arrived unasked but welcomed. Nothing is here which I would wish to be away somewhere else, thus, I have no weeds. My only concession to regular control is to mow the gravel drive through which some grasses grow, from time to time.
Cardboard and weed suppressant fabric, is the fabric biodegradable and what do you want to plant in the future and what are you trying to kill.
Just read down further Pursian rugs will do the job, just cut holes to plant and 3’´ of compost
They’rd be great for the garden for suppressing weeds over Winter.
I’m not sure I will succeed - young cornus saplings. I’ve dug up, and hacked back so that the bed is clear but can’t do any more as it’s where the grapevine is planted that goes right along our terrace. So, I’m going to give it a go. Plant pots will go on top for the foreseeable future.
I put mulched prunings over my cardboard and have done this for years for my paths. Lasts for about 3 years and then I scrape it back and redo it. The scaoubgs provide a nice mix that is perfect for the plants. I have just put some cardoard down on a new bed, I will see how I go with the larger new area.
That should be scrapings!
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It’s raining so everything is getting a good soaking, then grass cuttings will go on top of the weed suppressant fabric and then bark mulch so it looks smart and only then pots on top.
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I had to look up cornus saplings, some sort of dogwood, if you can’t dig then I think you’re on the right track, I’d personally only use cardboard and mulch / compost / wood chips. Maybe @JaneJones has any other ideas, she seems very knowledgeable with flowers and shrubs.
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We tried this over our weed suppressant fabric and the neighbourhood cats (we have dozens of them, mainly feral) were incredibly appreciative of the lovely big litter tray we had given then
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Yes, I can see that would be a problem, Fortunately we have not had that happen.
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I’ve often seen flowerbeds in France with acres of weed-suppressant fabric and a few sad plants poking through, and always thought that you might just as well lay concrete and be done with it.
We now have a new flowerbed in the trottoir outside our house and I was just about to lay wood clippings between the new plants, but will this not work without the dreaded fabric?
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Yes, it should do but you need quite a thick layer, I think. Cardboard underneath, as has been suggested, would help too.
Have you tried putting down orange/mandarin peel?
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Yes indeed I have! The problem is that there’s quite a lot of garden and a huge number of cats - I don’t eat enough oranges
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I am here to confirm cardboard alone does not work, not even 2 thick layers 
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