The termites that you have in New Jersy eat dry cellulose, not wet, so any cardboard (it does not necessarily need to be wet when you lay it down) you put in contact with your soil will become wet and of no interest to any termites you may have around.

Thank you so much, that's a big relief to know!!!!!!
(Gardenweb is wonderful!)

- Arrowleaf

Hello,
I had the same question but I'm in Miami converting my lawn to a mulched space. I used vinegar to kill the grass and thought of putting down weed sheeting then mulch to top everything off. I do not intend to plant anything else there. Would I still need newspaper or cardboard. Don't want termites.

Thanks.

The reason for using either newspaper or cadboard is to deprive any plants growing under that material from getting the sunlight they need for growth. Deprive them of that sunlight and they will die. If there is no growth, or if the mulch material is dense enough to do that then there is no need to use newspaper or cardboard. So if you put down a 6 inch layer of mulch that should deprive anything attempting to grow under it of sunlight.
The primary reason for using newspaper or cardboard is to enable one to use less of the quite expensive mulch material then would other wise be necessary.

Thanks much.

So what about the termites? I was under the impression in TN that termites like wet wood (and cardboard technically is wood) so there would be no way to keep the cardboard dry. I have also read that they like cardboard because of the cellulose in it.