Posted on October 12th, 2008 by admin

Has any one ever heard of putting newspaper in your flower garden to prevent weeds?

Category: Other - Home & Garden, Tags: , ,

flower gardens
Ray Ray asked:


Last year, my flower garden had so many weeds, I couldn’t stand it. I heard some where that if you put newspaper down first and then water it and then cover that with mulch, that the newspaper will prevent weeds from growing. Is that true? Is there a certain way you have to do it? Any input would be nice.

4 Responses to “Has any one ever heard of putting newspaper in your flower garden to prevent weeds?”

livn4themin on October 14th, 2008 12:54 pm:

yes, it helps mulch, keeping the ground moist between watering’s, and the weeds down too.
Just like you said. lay the newspaper down, cover with a little bit of dirt, then more mulch. I use old bird seed bags as well.

reynwater on October 16th, 2008 2:27 pm:

Love newspaper as a weed barrier. In all of my beds outside.

7-9 layers of paper (easier to work with wet) mulch on top. You’ll still get seedling weeds on top of the paper/mulch but easy to pull they’re only on the surface.

Jeanbug on October 18th, 2008 3:56 am:

Yes, I do it all the time.

How it’s done is by placing several layers of newspaper in the flower beds, then covering up the newspaper with grass clippings. The newspaper does break down after 4-6 weeks, which means that you will have to repeat this several times during the summer.

Martha Z on October 18th, 2008 12:45 pm:

yes. put down several layers. weeds need sun, and the newspaper will block it, and rot into the soil by fall and nourish your garden.