I mix everything in my garden beds, edibles, perennials and wild native plants.
Outside the beds, it’s mostly wild native plants and a ground cover of veronicas and moss (so basically more wild plants). The grass is minimal. It looks a bit chaotic but I love it. My garden is not very large though (~9x5 m). I use a manual mower for the overgrowth maybe once or twice a year.
Disclaimer: I don’t have that much experience, this is only my second year.
Last year, when I started, I put cardboard and then a layer of branches and leaves. Then soil on top. The soil layer was still quite thick (12-15 cm). This is inside a wooden garden bed frame to hold the soil. The ones I tried without the frame couldn’t hold enough soil and I kept running into the cardboard when planting and the plants seemed also stunted. But the beds with the frame did pretty well. I planted a mix of perennials (strawberry, thyme, chives) and some annuals (carrots, lettuce, beets). I had another bed with tomatoes, basil, maybe cucumber along with thyme, lemon balm and oregano.
I didn’t remove anything from the bed over winter. The annuals had been harvested or cut down at soil level (not dug out).
This year I found the vertical height of the soil reduced, probably due to some compaction and decomposition of the bottom layer of compost. There were earthworms in the soil. The reduced soil level allowed me to put some new soil on top. The perennials were still there after surviving winter. I planted some new stuff in the new soil (different from last year but still mixed around) and it seems to be doing well so far.
I am a bit weird in that I don’t mind ‘weeds’ growing now and then, I mostly cut them at the soil level and use them as compost. I let some of them flower like buttercups, oxeye daisies, dandelions, yarrow and others. I’m only strict with invasives (I’m in Sweden so lupines are my nemesis for example).
If you don’t have a lot of grass or weeds poking through you can skip the cardboard. Actually, I’m not sure the cardboard is beneficial at all. I mostly did it because I was trying to follow instructions. :)
I have, with some raised beds. What went wrong with yours?
Gardener’s delight is amazing. I planted a few last year and was eating tomatoes as snacks and they seemed endless. So indescribably delicious compared to store tomatoes!
This year I started them late but I have some more gardener’s delight alongside some tiny tims. I might have to wait until September to eat them but I’m still looking forward to it. I’m in Sweden. Don’t know the zone designations for these parts.