I've had good results with corrugated cardboard. I've seen the suggestion here to get them from appliance stores where you find very large ones.

Karen

Same here, I don't know of any "roll" material but maybe someone else knows of one.

For me, Cardboard was a much better alternative than newspaper. I got tired of having to put down multiple layers of paper and it blows away so easily if you don't wet everything down in the process. Large pieces of cardboard cover more ground faster and usually a single overlapping layer of it suffices for me though some folks double it up. If it's a really windy day I just put a rock or something on top of some of the pieces to hold them down until I'm ready to mulch over them. Mine usually holds up for no more than 4 months to a year so if you're looking for a longer decomposition time frame this probably isn't for you. But by then most if not all of the weeds underneath have been deprived of sunlight for too long and are dead.

Danielle

cardboard cartons .. okay. i think our local dump accepts them, so maybe i'll try them first.

i just thought of maybe collecting paper bags of leaves/grass clippings too. right now they're everywhere here in northeastern ny state. of course, its a lot of work collecting them (i've actually done it before). once you get them to your location just split them down the middle with a blade and open. the downside is you really dont know whats inside.

Ive been collecting OPL like everyone else here and ended up with a surplus of yard waste bags. When they get to raggedy, I open them up and use it like the newspaper. and then empty the next bag of leaves on top of it.

I cast a wandering eye at a big roll of contractors paper at Lowes a few days ago. sold in the paint department to protect hardwood floors. It was 48" and 50 ft of thick brown paper, and I thought, ooooh, that would be so easy to put on the ground and kick with my foot. And also be good width for a daylily bed along my side fence. I don't recall the price, but it seemed inexpensive, especially since I don't subsribe to the newspaper, like 20-something dollars.

Hey, see you guys later--gotta go to Lowes.....

I had the same idea as petalpatsy on from the teacher's view point - Rolls of brown Craft/Kraft paper that kids have been making murals on & life-size silouhette outlines on for years. Would that be too thin & let the weeds through, though? You can also get these rolls in white too, but I think brown is still cheaper. Alternatively, there's also posterboard - usually about 10c to 25c (?) per sheet (apx 2' x 3').

FWIW I soak my newsprint in a tub of water b4 laying them down. I count them out in sets of 8 - 10 sheets each, fold them over to keep them separate and soak for an hour. They're easy to spread and don't slide or blow. Free is good.

There are some, more environmentally aware, stores that do sell a paper mulch in rolls, but compared to the cost of newspaper that stuff is very expensive. Compared with the amount of work involved in placing this mulch, and the cost, newspaper is an even better bargain, unless you are covering a very large area with not plants growing in that area.

I've heard some people say to use the wheel barrow to soak the newspaper mats. I've never really tried using much newsapaper. I've found I like collecting the slipsheets (cardboard sheets placed between layers of products on pallets at stores like costco) from warehouse stores and use them instead of paper.

There are some commercial products out there but I have never tried them. Below are web addresses for a few that I found from random searching.

http://www.rhimax.net/organicpaper/landscaping_solutions.html

http://www.roncastle.com/ecocover/downloads/ecocoverrf-reinforced-paper-mulch-mat-specification.pdf

http://glacierv.com/gv14.html

Call the nearest newspaper printing plant. Ask for the pressman. Ask if they have left over "end rolls". These are the remnants of large rolls of newsprint that are left over and usually thrown away. I worked for newspapers for 20 years. Most printers will be glad to give them to you if you'll pick them up.

alan8, that is one of the best and most creative suggestions I have heard in a while...who doesn't have a local newspaper...it's got to be printed somewhere...wow, I'm going to make some calls right away!!!