How to Use Newspaper to Prevent Weeds
If you’re up to your elbows in autumn planting time, then you’re probably looking for an inexpensive and environmentally friendly way to prevent weeds from taking over your garden. And you’re in luck. That newspaper that you read and then deposit in a recycling bin every day? The key to free weed prevention.
Photo by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/35110249@N05/3274093725/}Martien Uiterweerd{/link}.
Recently, Anne Rave of The New York Times reported on her somewhat unconventional use of newspaper in her garden.
Simply spread newspaper four sheets thick across the ground that you plan to plant. Wet it. Cut a hole large enough to accommodate the roots of the plant that you are planting and spread a layer of soil or compost over the paper once you are finished.
Of course, no anti-weed method is foolproof. But Rave has a solution: “When weeds do grow — as they inevitably will, blowing in on the wind, or sprouting from less-than-perfect compost — [Lee Reich, a soil scientist in upstate New York,] suggests spritzing them, while they are still sprouts, with a homemade solution: a gallon of vinegar mixed with 2 tablespoons canola oil (other oils will gum up) and 1 tablespoon liquid Ivory dish detergent.”
