Reader and friend Laura shared a great tip with how she’s recycled her newspapers in her landscaping!
She writes:
Here is a picture of part of my yard where I used newspaper under the bark. This section was done in the fall. It turns darker than my old bark when wet. It is easy to see the “before” section on the right & the “after” section on the left. I am not planting anything the area, it is just a border, so I lay it down pretty thick. You can lay 1-ply layers on areas where you are expecting bulbs to pop up. The best thing about this technique? No weeding! Amen, sister!
Another option for using newspaper in your landscape? Use it as a non-toxic mulch for your garden! I am thinking I may personally try this with my garden this spring.
For those of you that get multiple subscriptions of the paper, can you share any other fun ideas for recycling?
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Great idea, love it! We personally had very rocky soil and every spring new rocks would pop up, despite the fact that I (and the kids) had removed them all the year before. So we were given a tip by a friend to lay down cardboard over the rocky soil, lay a think layer of good dirt, and plant lawn seed over that, and guess what…it worked! Its not a forever fix but we have been so pleased by having great grass in the area where all we had was rocks and moss.
I meant “thick” layer, not “think”. lol.
I used several layers of newspaper, followed by mulch, followed by topsoil in the raised bed my husband built for me last year. It was the only part that I never had to pull weeds out of the whole season! And, as the papers break down, they add to the soil!
I think there was actually a book out about using this technique for vegetable gardens instead of a raised bed.
I think it was called lasagna gardening, maybe?
I actually get the paper every day. I just think it’s a better way to get news, nerd that I am.
We use some to protect the table from art projects; some to protect the garage floor from oil leaks; comics for wrapping….nothing really creative.
Oh, and on the rare occasions I clean windows and mirrors, I always use newspaper-it doesn’t leave streaks like a paper towel or rag.
yes, also wrapping tissue paper is the best for windows! this tip transformed my cleaning life, lol!