I also use cedar wood chips in shaded pathways through the woods. You can cover short weeds - those less than six inches tall with newspaper several pages thick. Then layer on 3 to 4 inches of wood chips. When most weeds get no sunlight they die. The cedar wood is oily and repels water so weeds do not like to sprout in a cedar wood chip path. I reapply a fresh layer of cedar chips every 3 to 4 years to keep my paths weed free. I also line or make borders with peeler poles or fallen branches to keep the chips in the path and out of the beds. Do not use cedar wood chips around plants you want to keep. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti