Newspaper mulch

29 Sep '06 7:21 am

I notice in Mooseys journal ,that newspapers are put down ,then mulch spread on top .
How many layers of paper ,Moosey?
I have been struggling with Oxalis (should I dignify it with a capital letter ? ) and Twitch ,here ,I have tried removing it bulb by bulb ,and also spraying .
Is worm activity suppressed by paper layers ?
I guess you use the Canterbury papers - Would the 'Waikato Times' be just as effective ?
Dixie

30 Sep '06 5:30 am

I hope it isn't rude of me to answer your question, since it was addressed to Moosey? I have read that 10-12 layers of newspaper are best, but I never have enough to do that--more like 4-6! Far from suppressing earthworm activity--if I happen to peel back the paper, I generally find them happily chomping away. I have also had good luck using corrugated cardboard in place of the newspaper. I successfully smothered some rowdy Convallaria (lily of the valley) last year this way. So if that is your intention for the Oxalis, find some old boxes and flatten them out. Goodbye, invasive plants--

30 Sep '06 6:29 am

No Weeds of any sort! Less watering! Lighter, better draining soil!

I use newspaper too (a whole section of the Herald at a time, sport never looked so good Angel

) and then pile on the compost or bark.

Where-ever I have done this there have been NO weeds for the whole year! Dancing

Wonderful!

As sequoia says worms love it too.

It helps also if you water the soil well first and then the newspaper to dampen and hold it in place (stop blowing around) while you add the desired topping Very Happy

Cardboard sounds great for those really pesty weeds. Might try it on onion weed Wink

Hi Moosey

30 Sep '06 12:00 pm

Thank you so much Sequoia and Pumpkin - very encouraging .It was really the worms I was worried about ,as last year I put down weed matting, and when I took it up in Autumn ,the ground was baked hard ,and no worms. We have wonderful dark ,friable soil here ,and really happy little worms rushing hither and thither ,so I am pleased to know that newspaper is OK ...Funny how when you are about to throw out old paper ,you can spend hours reading stuff you hadn't noticed before. I'll try the cardboard on the worst patches of oxalis ,thanks Sequoia . Applause

Dixie

30 Sep '06 4:47 pm

Last week four of my walking friends gave me bags of their old newspapers to use. I must have been in one of my unintelligent moods - I was puzzled that they had all given me the same pages. Then I worked it out - of course, we have the one newspaper that everyone gets, and then the smaller local ones go into everyone's letter box. Hmm...

4 Oct '06 8:03 pm

You try to GET RID OF lily-of-the-valley Sequoia Question

Here on Sequoia Farm I hope that I have found mine Exclamation

PS: Why 'Sequoia'? Here it is because we are very proud of the stand of 80 year old trees - and the ones we propogated from cuttings - that make our place rather unique in South Africa!

Oh, yes and newspapers - and on the fertilisation principle: do the worst newspapers make the best covering Question

5 Oct '06 10:05 pm

OK, this may sound completely stupid, but what exactly do you do with the newspapers, and what do you do about plants you do want to come through? How does this affect those ones?

6 Oct '06 7:59 pm

I have tried putting down newspaper several times and find that no matter how much mulch I put on the blackbirds or maybe the Pukekos always shred the paper and spread it around my garden. Causing a whole lot more work for me to try keeping the place shredded paper free.
Whats your secret Moosey? Confused

You must have Blackbirds following you around looking for the worms as well. When I put newspaper down it seems to announce a giant worm feast.
I await your reply with interest.

8 Oct '06 3:02 am

I am giving this topic some serious thought suddenly. For months I have been planning to lay strips of old polytunnel plastic in the Anniversary Garden and then cover it with a gravel mulch. But Dixie's comment about weed matting set me thinking. First of all what is it - like a woven plastic sheet? Will my plastic do the same? By starving the ground of oxygen? How big an open space should I then leave beneath each rose? Drip line size? Or should I go the newspaper route? In which case - yes Moosey, how many sheets do you use together? Question

8 Oct '06 6:54 pm

Goose, I don't seem to have the bird problem you have - no pukekos here, though, and I've heard they can be a jolly nuisance. Wet cardboard? Hmm... remember i have a dog who chases birds away...

Jack - I don't know, but a few months ago I was all charged up to lay weedmat in a garden, then disguise (I think that's what I was doing) it by coverng it with an organic mulch. But that seemed to be so completely wrong that I pulled the plastic matting completely up. Now I only use weedmat if my covering is semi-artificial - like stones, pebbles, that sort of thing.

A friend down the road has used old woollen carpet really successfully. I've never had the nerve to! Newspapers are easy to get each week from friends, etc. and they are nicely modular - like today I laid a small area, just using what I had, not getting tired or cross or bored!

Newspaper mulch

Newspaper mulch

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