Ah, I meant amendments not adements.

Other peoples grass clippings? ...or manures. now when you say ammendments to the newspaper as mulch, are you talking about material that will break down the newspaper, or material that will add additional nutrients besides the newspaper? used coffee grounds will help break down the newspaper and also supply some nitrogen to the area. if you have a small area to contend with you could use a screwdriver/ awl/ icepick to poke small holes to ensure some water get to the soil and roots. A larger area you could try a pitchfor or some other tool. On another note, you may want to invest in a moisture meter, that should be able to tell if your plants are recieving adequate water in their respective root zones.

The paper is all cellulose, not much else so it needs lots of other "stuff" for it to compost. Because moist paper tends to stick together and make an impenetrable mass, it is called paper mache, you need something else to seperate the paper and you need some very high Nitrogen source to feed the bacteria that will, eventually, digest that paper.

So the question still is, "What is that high nitrogen source?"

High Nitrogen source could be animal manures or coffee grounds as has already been suggested, which are usually free. Or you can spend money to buy something like alfalfa meal or pellets, or blood meal (yuck). If you want to go chemical you can buy 21-0-0 or other high nitrogen fertilizers. Many of your table scraps may be considered nitrogen when used in a compost pile.

Just my own personal preference, I just don't think that you can beat shedded oak leaves for mulch, so if it were me, I would make more compost out of the paper, amend the soil with the compost and put shredded leaf mulch on top of that as needed.

I have used compost for mulch and it is good, the plants do benefit from it, but it is not as good as leaves in my opinion at supressing unwanted weeds and grasses and keeping the moisture content and temperature of the soil constant.
Just my .02.
Bill P.

Would adding compost on top of the newspaper create anaerobic conditions, I wonder?

Around fruit trees and perennials I use newspaper and wood chips. No need for an N source, I don't want the paper to decompose too quickly (it's there mostly to suppress weeds and grass). I am also wondering why you would shred the paper. Just place it on the soil and add whatever you have on top to keep it from blowing away (unless you enjoy shredding, of course, as I do).