Sure. They haven't broken down yet. Decomposition is assisted with light and moisture, likely there was little of either getting to that paper.

I was just reading on some thread, that newspaper has a relatively high level of tannins that make them decompose more slowly (vs cardboard or copy paper).

I prefer to use cardboard and always put the brown side up, because the brown color blends better with the mulch and leaves.

Thanks. I guess newspapers would be better used in pathways.

I guess it's all about what you need. I'm happy to have the newspapers take "forever" to breakdown if it's weedcontrol that I want. The longer they are intact under the mulch, the better the weed control for me. I raid a recycling semi and put it on very thick.
A layer of brown cardboard breaks down much, much faster for me.
If I'm wanting to use the newspaper to create a garden bed and hope to plant in 6-8 weeks, the newspaper might make it difficult. In that case, consider planting when you put the paper down, so that you can put it around new plants, or use a thin layer...like just 2-3 sheets at the most. For a weed barrier over a large area, I put down 6-12 layers of paper, overlapping to try to keep all weeds out.

I'm giving some thought to shredding newspapers to shorten the time and making it a little easier to poke holes for planting. Has anyone tried this?

I put 6 layers of newspaper around the border only of a long strip last year. It worked quite well until I can get something more permanent to keep the grass at bay.

This year, all my newspapers have colored ink, so I got some old boards out of the basement and am using them instead for now and some cardboard. That has to be stapled down because I'm conserving my mulch and compost, ran out of leaves, and don't want to throw stuff on it where seeds will get back into areas I've cleared.

Wouldn't hurt to try shredding, but I'd wet it before I put it down and hope it stays wet early on. After awhile, it seems to get "laminated" to the ground where it won't blow away but it will break down faster. My layers broke down over the winter, some still visible but no longer a reliable barrier so I did lay a little more down but couldn't go on with it because of the colored ink my freebie paper seems to have started using more of on every page. Now I haven't gotten any of those lately.

Do you put a little dirt on top of the newspapers to keep them from blowing away?

I wet them in a wheelbarrow before I lay them down. Then I put dirt on top of them.

I like this idea!! I going to try it now I need to get my hads on mass amounts of newspapers.

proudgm, dirt would work great but would take a lot for me plus I have to buy topsoil because I shouldn't dig any out of my yard. Can plants self seed using newspapers and dirt? Or a compost dressing?

I have to keep my self seeding going but it does make pulling weeds more tedious.

I had a problem with the newspapers blowing last year and ended up covering with some dirt and mulch. I put them down dry and hosed them down so could of made the difference. Does anyone wet the papers down over the winter? I'll try wetting before putting down this year. Perhaps the shredded newspaper would be more trouble than I want. I think I would have to cover pretty deep to keep the weed from poking through. And it may be more like paper mache. Kathy

ladycraft, I don't know what you mean by soaking them down over the winter. I just partly filled a plastic storage bin from the outside faucet and soaked the folded papers until they were wet clear through, only took about 15 minutes or so. That was just before I intended to lay them down. A bucket or anything would do as well.

What I did was fold into 6 layers but just did the borders. It would take too much tearing and fitting to have covered the whole garden areas although it would have worked better than leaves which let some weeds through. The leaves over the wet papers held them down because they kind of bonded to the dirt.

I used grass b gone to get rid of the grass that kept popping up, works great and didn't hurt my plants, but they didn't have it on the market this year, EPA something. Fertilome has a similar product but I didn't try that, will if I have to. The papers would keep the grass from coming through. Just after a rain, it's easy to pull most of the weeds and get them by the roots, even larger clumps of crabgrass but not dandelions. Those little shoots of grass you can't get it pulled by the roots until it grows more.

I keep the newspapers outside in a bin and they do get nice a wet over the month. I usually store them dry if I do not think I will be using them in a month. The advantage of letting them get soaked over the month is they make a nice solid block. That is best used in pathways and mulched areas where you do not want plants to grow at all.

If you just want a sheet or two at a time, I use them dry and wet them down like some of the previous posters. I use these in areas where I want the barrier to be lighter so that I can plant through it in the future. If you just use a couple of sheets, it is so easy to just go through the newspaper.

I prefer the newspaper to the plastic landscaping barriers. The plastic has been a real pain in the neck. Although the plastic lasts a long time, it is terrible if you change your mind and want to dig something up. I have had some problem with the mulch shifting off it the plastic and exposing it over time.

In the mulched areas such as pathways and borders, I have a very thick layer of newspaper. The mulch is nice over this. In the planting areas, I used the very thin layers and did cover with purchased topsoil. In some of my gardens, I layer with the humus and manure mistures purchased at the store. I find layering some gardens like this makes for disease control and some pretty beautiful growth the next year. Layering this way feeds the plants, keeps diseases down, and makes for healthier plants in general. I also believe it gives additional shelter over the winter for the roots. This year, despite over a month of rain straight, I had very little trouble with rust disease on hollyhocks, for instance. The first time I did this prior to winter for my wisteria, it finally blossomed the following spring. The majority of my plants also returned despite the ice storms we had in the winter. I was in one of the catastrophy zones.

The trees still broke all over the place though!

Aliska, I put dry newspapers down over some grass and then tried to wet down with the hose. They must of not gotten soaked enough therefore I had them blowing. I just assumed even if you soaked them before you put them down they would dry out and need to be wet down again. SO I am guessing when the newspapers are wet enough they will lay down and form to the ground so they will not blow. Am I still confused?? Doesn't take much! The soaking before probably makes the difference. Kathy

Wet newspapers will not blow if you get them wet enough and put something on top of them after you lay them down. I used about 6 sheets and made sure that they overlapped because I wanted to cut down on the weeds. It worked well except for the nutgrass which apparently came in the mulch. That end of the garden has few weeds. The other end which just got covered with mulch has lots of weeds.

I put down garden fabric on one edge of my garden because I was expanding it and they put straw over it to hold it down. Weeds pushed off from under the fabric and are growing all along the edges. I tried to dig through it the other day and couldn't even get my shovel through. Fabrics and plastics just aren't worth the hassle in MHO.

Just to add my 2 cents. LOL I used newspaper in several different areas:
In veggie garden rows 4-5sheets thick thin covered with grass clippings- blocked weeds, made a matt and still somewhat intact.
In a new lasagna bed- removed sod around edges, covered with news paper and some areas with cardboad, covered with straw, then added 4-6 inches of landscape mix on top. A month later started planting ws hos and noticed worms in some areas. No paper left as of this early fall and all plants huge.
Started another bed- covered area with newspaper, then covered area with last years mulched leaves. Kept watered. Started planting in spring about 1-1/2 months later and bed full of worms. Looked like a worm bed. Plants have really thrived in this bed all year. Just starting to need mulch added on top.
Pattie

Kathy, I think proudgm answered your question. That was my experience, too. I wouldn't want to gamble on it, but as soaked as I had mine and the way they almost seemed to laminate to the ground, I don't know if they would have blown away or not.

I use whatever I have on hand to cover them with. I really like the newspapers better than cardboard, but since there's so much colored ink now, I'll have to go with the cb. I try to find some that don't have too much colored ink.

Thanks for explaining you can throw dirt down on top of it and plant as what little I laid down this year I was thinking I'd have to take up before I plant. It hasn't broken down too much yet.

I got a big roll of landscape cloth, but when I understood what your supposed to do with it, pin it down, then you're supposed to cut x's to plant thru, sounded like a pain. I did use some of that in my french drain and may find another use for it.

I've read horror stories that professionals hate it when they have to landscape areas that have that stuff under everything, guess it's hard to pull up and clean out.

The fabric is horrible - takes at least 20 years to break down fully, based on what I've read. The people who built our house put it UNDER the rootballs of the shrubs, if you can imagine! Not only is that a problem (we've pulled out all we can), but if you keep it mulched, you're going to eventually have mulch broken down into nice humus on top of the fabric, which will support alot of weed growth.

We used newspaper for weed control on new beds this year, and it works pretty well. You have to put it down thick (6 layers or more) to have a hope of killing bermuda grass, but other stuff isn't as difficult. We wet ours in a bucket and then put shredded bark mulch on top of it. I think if you don't put mulch or dirt on top, the paper will dry again and start blowing around.

oooooo - never thought of using the newspaper for my pathways! Yet another project to add to my list - a much appreciated one though!

:) Diana

I put in a little path in my corner garden by spreading sections of newpaper then putting a few bigger rocks from my Mom's veg. garden and some smooth gravel down. I had some edging plastic and kind of filled it with the gravel over the paper. It worked really well until the dirt got into my path. Now I've got some seedlings because in that bit there isn't any competition. If only I could have kept my dog from digging in my garden. Still the paper is working.

Folks, don't worry about the colored ink in newspapers! The inks used in newspapers now are soy-based so they can be recycled, de-inked easily and mixed together.

Black ink is produced using inorganic carbon blackss. The colors are made from organic pigments mixed with a solution of resins in mineral or vegetable oils.

The total concentration of toxic heavy-metal compounds (lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium) must be used in less than 100 ppm. Copper (for blues) are in a form that has no effect on the environment. Small quantities of molybdenum and tungsten compounds may be used, but due to the very small amounts used, they do not pose a threat to the environment.

They used to wrap fish and chips in England in newspaper, when it was more dangerous. Now, when it's safe, they don't do it anymore.

By 2004, 95% of the newspapers in America were printing with organic inks. If you have doubts about yours, just call your newspaper and ASK!

I have found that the amount of breakdown of newspaper and cardboard depends on how much good contact with the soil is involved. Paper/cardboard that just sits on the surface with a lot of exposure to drying air seems to last a longer time. Where I've had a good mulch or a brick holding down a corner, it disappears far more quickly.

Sue

I've had better luck with cardboard. If you need to kill grass/weeds in an area that won't be disturbed much, newspaper is the way to go. I've had some that's been in place for a year and I still dig it up when I'm planting something. I think all the layers tend to get "glued" and then it doesn't break down as well.

I work in a warehouse, so I have access to pallet sized cardboard and huge boxes. I will never go back to tilling and digging to make beds again.

Cardboard, soil, mulch. When I plant bulbs, it's cardboard, a little soil, bulbs, more soil on top and then mulch. They have been super happy and so have my earthworms!

The people we bought our house from used the garden mat stuff and put mulch on top of that. The mulch has broken down, and weeds are LOVING it. Can I weed, put paper down on top of the garden mat stuff, then mulch over that?

I have a suggestion for people looking for paper & boxes, too. I work in an office, and we have lots of newspaper and boxes that we can't find anything to do with. So you might try local offices for free supplies.

Also another question - we shred a lot of paper material in our office, and I can have bags and bags of the shredded material. I have heard that makes good mulch. Yes or no?