Anonymous wrote:Please do not put your paper products on the ground. It breeds all kinds of things you do not want in your yard or around your house. Just buy the proper weed paper at the garden store. Or you will be facing insect problems which will coat more than some garden weed paper.

Sorry this is not true.

No, don't shred the newspaper or cardboard. NOTHING can come up through it, and that is the point. So it doesn't work in a densely planted garden with lots of perennials or annuals - this is for the areas with shrubs and not much else, or the paths in your veggie garden, or between rows. If you have time and energy you can lay the paper down between plants after then have come up but before they get big - late April or early May. If you lay cardboard over your hostas they will not come up and they'll die.

Do you shred the newspaper or cardboard or just lay it down before mulch? And will plans like hosta be able to come through?

Yep, the rain has multiplied the amount of weeds I have to pull.

I often do cardboard or layered newspaper. The times I have used landscape fabric I have always regretted it - not the first year, but by years 2 and later, when there was inches of now decomposed mulch with weeds in it with roots that have infiltrated the fabric. Heavy, dirty, falling apart and an overall pain to remove and replace.

Cardboard works. Never had to redo it yearly.

Anonymous wrote:But really, save yourself work and buy the gardening/weed fabric. You put that down and it will last 2-4 seasons. Cardboard has to be done annually.

On the other hand, when cardboard breaks down, it breaks down. Whereas when weed barrier starts falling apart, you have to pull out every.stupid.last.piece by hand.

Newspaper is great to put down before much. I also use in the compost to balance out food scraps. It is close to a perfect biodegradable weed map. Even the ink is biodegradable these days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Newspaper and even cardboard underneath mulch works really well. If you put cardboard and newspaper down toward the end of the season you'll see less weeds the following year. Worked really well for me last year. Areas where I used to have weeds are not a major problem this year.

Huh, cardboard. That sounds like a good idea. I was just thinking one could use cereal boxes if one doesnt have the thicker stuff around.

Don't use cereal boxes. The lamination that goes on the outside isn't great for your soil and plants when decomposing. Use non-laminated cardboard i f you are going to do that.

But really, save yourself work and buy the gardening/weed fabric. You put that down and it will last 2-4 seasons. Cardboard has to be done annually.

Also, for patios, pour boiling water over the cracks. Kills the weeds in about an hour and they won't come back until they creep in from the source again. Perfect for cracks between sidewalks, patio, pavers, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Please do not put your paper products on the ground. It breeds all kinds of things you do not want in your yard or around your house. Just buy the proper weed paper at the garden store. Or you will be facing insect problems which will coat more than some garden weed paper.

What insect pests are you finding?

^ cost more

Please do not put your paper products on the ground. It breeds all kinds of things you do not want in your yard or around your house. Just buy the proper weed paper at the garden store. Or you will be facing insect problems which will coat more than some garden weed paper.