Using Newspaper As Weed Mat

Newspaper works fine for me.

Using newspaper as weed mat.

Layer on the newspaper. Newspaper will smother weeds. If you use newspaper we would recommend several layers like 4 6. Have plants in the ground already so you can lay newspaper around them consider.

But for small ish areas and areas that you intent to dig over and change every so often it is a very good choice i think. Pluck out all your crabgrass runners. Newspaper amends the soil leaving it soft and loose if it is currently hard and rocky. If you re really good you would just lay the paper bags when you put the plants in.

When you re first starting out you want to weed real good all around the plant in the row. This approach can also be used in an area to plant. However the weeds could leave. We don t get the newspaper delivered anymore however you can still get ahold of newspaper for gardening.

The key is to use very thick layers ten sheets or more to create a more dense barrier to smother the weeds. Here are 5 ways using newspaper totally trumps laying down landscaping fabric in your garden. User 10698 34417 posts. We have used newspaper a lot in the past for weed barrier and it works great but doesn t last as long as cardboard.

I have heard some great success stories regarding the use of newspaper instead of traditional weed mat and newspaper is much less expensive. It s a great way to recycle old papers. Using newspaper instead it takes about three layers of newspaper to provide the same weed blocking benefits as fabric but the paper is easier to tear into smaller strips so you can arrange it in. Simply lay a barrier of cardboard or thick newspapers and cover with compost and rich soil.

Using newspaper under mulch prepare your garden bed as you would prepare before you laid down mulch remove any weeds you see this isn t totally necessary. However the cardboard and newspaper will truly decompose and not leave lingering pieces of litter everywhere. Pull back any mulch you might have already put in place. If you have a large area to cover or expect it to last a long time than a proper weed mat is the way to go.