How I Smother Weeds with Newspaper
The bed in question is located between my Kitchen Garden and Woodland Garden. As you can see, it is planted with young peonies, Baptisia, and some mighty expensive daylilies.
What’s that you say?
That’s because the bed has been overrun with wild onion, garlic mustard, and other invasive growth.
Pulling these weeds would be a waste of time. For once the soil has been fiddled with (through the act of pulling weeds or digging up wild onion bulbs), more weedy things would be encouraged to sprout.
But weeds can’t grow and seeds can’t sprout if they are covered with a thick layer of The New York Times!
First, water the bed deeply. Then lay paper directly atop the weeds, and in-between the ornamental plants.
This young, aristocratic Baptisia heaved a sigh of relief when I approached him with newsprint in hand. Said he: “No longer shall I endure the common, weedy riff-raff who steal my food and water.”
The trio of ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ peonies were overjoyed, too. They can’t wait for you to sniff their fragrant pink blooms.
And by the way, water can permeate paper with ease. The soil below will receive plentiful moisture whenever Nature — or my garden sprinkler — deems to provide it.
Back to our project. Spray the newspaper with water. Otherwise, a strong wind will blow, and send your papers flying. Wet paper won’t budge.
And finally, top the paper with mulch. I mulched my bed with three inches of shredded leaves. Shredded wood chips make a fine mulch, too.
My ornamental plants are delighted with their new, weed-free environment. And I’m happy, too. For I won’t have to deal with weeds in this bed for at least one season. Another bed I mulched with newspaper remained weed-free for two years in a row.
And here’s another great benefit to newspaper mulching. As the paper decomposes, it (and also the shredded mulch) will provide abundant food for beneficial soil organisms. In fact, if you are cursed with crappy, inert soil, try the newspaper routine as described above. Within one year your earth will be teeming with worms and other soil-building friends. My previously-asphalt-paved Rose Garden will prove this to you.
I suspect some of you are wondering if you can use cardboard in place of newspaper. Yes, you can. I like newspaper because it can easily be manipulated to fit around plants.
You might also wonder if I’m afraid of the chemicals used in newspaper ink. No, I’m not. From most accounts I’ve read, today’s newspapers are printed with soy-based ink. Even the glossy pages are coated with a non-toxic material. I have no doubt that the air we breathe contains far worse chemicals than those found in newsprint and cardboard.
If you have a nasty weed-infestation in your own perennial bed, consider smothering the offenders with newspaper (or cardboard). I think you will find, as I have, that this arrangement will produce only positive results for you, your soil, and your plants.
