newspaper as weed barrier?

[jmb]

Have you ever used newspaper as a weed barrier in your garden? Mine is so small this year I can't really call it a garden, but there's still more grass and weeds growing between the plants than I'd like. If I put newspaper down, how many layers would I need?

[threekidspa]

I have, and it works great! We only used a single layer, but overlapped the sheets by 3+ inches, with a good layer of mulch on top. Had no weeds, but it only lasts a season.

[fuzzis]

Have you ever used newspaper as a weed barrier in your garden? Mine is so small this year I can't really call it a garden, but there's still more grass and weeds growing between the plants than I'd like. If I put newspaper down, how many layers would I need?

My grandSner always uses newspaper and/or cardboard. It does not make me happy when I'm cleaning the yard, but it does seem to keep the weeds down.

She always uses several layers of newspaper or a single layer of cardboard. :smt102

[jmb]

I've only got 8 tomato and 4 bell pepper plants out so it shouldn't take too long to lay out the newspaper. That will be my goal for the day. :)

Thanks! :)

[pEtAl mIsFiT]

never heard of this I will have to keep this in my hard drive (brain) ha

I put down that black stuff in all our beds the stuff we bought at lowes works well the stuff from wal mart not so well we have weeds here and there....

[Sister Golden Hair]

Newspaper works great- but leave out the comics- some experts say that the colored ink is not good for the environment!

[TheKing]

run by the newspaper and ask for a core roll and youll get the newspaper as its on the rolls and wont have to fight with separating and purchasing multiple newspapers

i brought a couple cores home with me a few years ago and still have plenty for all the uses that i come up with for it

plus all that ink probably isnt the best thing in teh world to be mixing with your tomatoes and bell peppers

[58ford]

Don't use the HA!
It's so full of sh!t, it actually promotes weed growth.

[mac]

Don't use the HA!
It's so full of sh!t, it actually promotes weed growth.
OOps--- In my rep line I was going to say "They should sell it as fertilizer instead of news." The cat jumped on the keyboard. Want a cat, Ford?? ;)

[mac]

I works great but you habe to put mulch on top to hold it down. And it's bio-degradable. I use a commercial product called "Typar" which lets water in but not weed producing light. It is also bio-degradable but last a good bit longer than newpaper.

Hawk, Does that Typar work for you? I'm using it, and I've got weeds busting their little green heads straight through it. There aren't that many of them, but enough that I have to get out there pretty regularly and pull them up.

Cardboard sounds like a good idea!

[bpitt]

When I was in high school and college, I worked with a landscaper/lawn dude. We were out cutting grass and I noticed this old guy didn't have any weeds in his flower bed, ever. I asked him what he used. He bent over, which took 10 minutes, and scraped away the bark mulch, underneath, now get this, he had taken old galvanized corrugated metal roofing and cut holes in it, that was his weed barried! He said he just had to water right at the holes to get water to the plants. What a freakin' concept!

[mac]

Mac, you still have to put about a 2 inch layer of mulch over the Typar. I use hardwood chips and shavings. The good thing about Typar is the water goes straight through. With cardboard and thick newspaper, you can get a mold and mildew problem if it raining too much.

Thanks for the tip. I do have about 2 inches of mulch-- the red stuff-- but I guess it's possible that it's not deep enough anymore. It was pretty deep when we first did it, but since then some of it has been washed off the bed. I've been meaning to add some more.

That makes sense about the cardboard and mildew.

[Guru]

Have you ever used newspaper as a weed barrier in your garden? Mine is so small this year I can't really call it a garden, but there's still more grass and weeds growing between the plants than I'd like. If I put newspaper down, how many layers would I need?

* Been doing it for years. The number of layers you put down will determine how long the grass/weed blocking ability will last. I normally shoot for 3-6 layers depending on how many old newspapers I can scare up.

[Guru]

Yeah, your mulch needs to be thick. When you look on the sack and it says 2-3" they mean it, sometimes that isn't enough. Keep in mind the mulch both blocks the hot hot rays from the Sun from leeching all the water from the soil but it also keeps that same Sun from helping the bs take root.
Mulch that is packed tighter than others (Cyprus vs. Pine Bark Nuggets) gives nut grass, wild onions, regular grass a better root bed to take off in (Cyprus). You have to take the good with the bad in this case, Pine Bark on the other hand allows the water to be leeched off (evaporate) at a faster rate but is better for not allowing a bed for roots of bs to take off from.
Be advised that grass clippings, if you use a bagger, if piled thick enough does a great job as a plant protector/mulch. If it's thick enough normal grass can't get enough sunlight and real grass needs soil contact to root versus wild onions which will grow on the planet Venus.
Myself I tend to use the grass blocker like Hawkeye said and then use the larger Pine Bark Nuggets as mulch. The blocker helps keep the moisture in.

[Ted]

OOps--- . . . . . Want a cat, Ford?? ;):laugh:

Cute.:-D heh heh heh