When you've taken the time to carefully plan your garden, outdoor path, or raised bed, the last thing you want creeping back in are uninvited weeds. And while there are certainly affordable and effective methods out there, we like this cheap (free, even) and creative reuse solution.
Here's how to utilize a stack of old newspaper in the garden.
1. Collect old newspapers from friends, neighbors, and maybe even libraries. We collected a few weeks' worth of free events chronicles for our project. Paper bags will work for this purpose, too.
2. Put in some serious elbow grease (this will cut work later, we promise) and weed the area you're working with.
3. After weeding your space and evening out the ground, lay a layer of newspaper between 2 and 4 sheets thick, slightly overlapping. If it's at all windy, be sure to spread out the dirt or mulch over your paper as you go, so you don't wind up littering the yard with old news.
4. Enjoy your weed-free zone! The newspaper will biodegrade in time, but in the meantime, it will provide a solid solar block for any weeds living below. Breakthrough will be minimal, and if any pesky weeds rear their head, you can zap them in a green way by following the tips here.
Have you used newspaper as a weed block before? What do you think?
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News paper has one of the highest BPA and heavy metal contents because of the ink. no way is it good for your garden.
hmm, well i guess i'm done for then. This is an established practice in gardening and farming, even 'organic' gardening:
i used this method on a completely overgrown flower bed against the side of my newly purchased house. i collected the newspaper from coworkers and family members for over a month.
I cut down the grass/weeds as low as possible and then layered newspaper heavily (5-8 sheets) over the area. I kept a watering can handy and soaked the paper as I went. This keeps it in place and helps it become that single, impenetrable layer you want. Cover with thick layer of mulch and you're done. I have had some break through a month later, but considering this was solid weedy grass underneath it's pretty damn impressive. Much cheaper alternative to weed blocking fabric.
@ P1ggle - does that include ink made with soy?
we did this last september/october and it worked fairly well for a few months. recently we experienced A LOT of breakthrough of grass where the overlapping was slight and where the newspaper did breakdown somewhat.
we were advised by a landscaper at our local Plant Shed at an Organic Workshop that this was a green way to kill the grass in a landscape bed without chemicals or tilling.
9 months later, there was significant breakthrough. This weekend, we pulled it all up, pulled the remaining grass by hand, and laid out the landscape cloth - we even found some made from recycled paper. a little pulling here and there - ok - but this was experience was disheartening. if you go this route, mulch mulch mulch.
@OurHouseOfG: ugh, that sucks.
I was told to do a newspaper, then cardboard layer, then mulch. Should help with the breakthrough.
I bought a house in March, and the people who owned it before we did used newspaper all over the place as weed deterrents. While I understand and appreciate the green-ness and attempt to avoid using weed killers and such ....
I HATE IT.
There are bits of newspaper all around my walkways, underneath stepping stones that would be otherwise attractive and my dog keeps pulling up big chunks out of the ground. It's incredibly, incredibly unattractive.
As I said, I get that it may be an alternative to chemicals or other weed deterrents (honestly, it isn't even working for us, but we don't know how it was "installed"). However it looks like absolute crap.
/rant
=)
The heavy issue isnt just the ink either if it is of recycled content then the BPA can be from the papers they use. Another reason TP is at the top of the list. I just wouldn't use it on an area im growing food (id use organic straw). Flowers though knock yourself out!
I love this method. I have used newspapers, corrugated cardboard boxes, phone books, even school notes (after I graduated!) to do it.
Make sure you layer it on thick - you're looking to smother anything underneath, so make sure you cover the overlaps - and wet it down afterwards. Think of it like a giant paper-mache project.
Then cover with either dirt + wood chips, or just wood chips, and voila - weed free. I do have to add a little bit of wood chips or maybe another layer of paper every couple of years where the dirt gets exposed, but overall it makes for an awesome weed-free experience (and is so much easier than tilling or digging up sod/weedy ground)
Also, I'll take my chance with the stray chemical here or there from the papers. It's not like the soil, air, or water is a closed system totally free from BPA or heavy metals. I'll take functional over paranoia anyday.