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Newspaper Mulching Tips - Urban Farmer's Guide

Home > Gardener's Guide > Newspaper Mulching Tips

One in expensive way to control weeds in your vegetable garden is to use your old newspaper lying around the house. Using newspaper as mulch in the garden is easy and quite effective at controlling those pesky weeds that love to pop up and steal the nutrients from your plants.

1. When laying the newspaper on your garden soil, be sure to use several layers; three to four sheets should work fine.

2. Make sure all the sheets are flat and at least 2" inches away from the root of your vegetable plants. This will prevent your plants from developing root rot which can occur when the stem is constantly wet.

3. Important – Be sure to cover all areas of your garden!

4. Soak the entire newspaper-lined area with water from your hose.

At this point you can add a top layer of mulch or straw to keep the paper flat and from flying away. You can also try grass clippings or store-bought mulch. Keep in mind, the one disadvantage of using newspaper is that it’s not providing any nutrients to the soil. Be sure to spread a good amount of fertilizer to the soil before placing the newspaper down.

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