It's soaked/matted down and had no air into it, so it's gone anaerobic. If you can, fluff it up, and mix some wood mulch, soil conditioner, etc., into it to keep it a bit fluffier. If you can't, take it off and mix it into your compost pile - it will be fine, once it gets some air into it. If neither of these are possible - then I dunno. Adding a layer of wood mulch would help a bit, but not a lot - the anaerobic paper will still be there. Anaerobic OM will still break down, it just is a lot slower than the aerobic process, which is why the compost pile would be a better spot for it than your flower beds.

Bummer, I've heard of people using it as a mulch and I was really hoping that it would work. We are beginning to think that this almost might be a problem of too much water. We have a gutter coming off the house right into this bed and with the layer of paper mulch I wonder if everything is just stagnant as all get out? Do you think it would help if I were to add a bunch of greens like coffee grounds and corn meal? I could rake them in a bit to mix in with the paper and then top that stuff off with mulch.
Let me know what ya'll think.
Christina

Considering the nature of paper - it really does go to mush, and then make sheets, albeit thick ones, when it gets really wet - I don't think paper is the best bet in that bed. Fine additives, like the coffee grounds and corn meal, will only get incorporated into the sheet, without loosening it up very much. And both of those, added in large amounts, themselves tend to become moldy and smelly. Mixing in larger chunks, like a hardwood mulch, might keep it open enough that it can breathe underneath, but I have my doubts about that. I think your best bet, considering how wet it's getting, and how, may be to use a pine straw or cedar bark mulch in that bed, since both of them are a bit more likely to stay in place than even a hardwood mulch. A pine bark mulch will just float away.

Unfortunately, anaerobic bacteria do tend to be smelly, so adding air to the paper mat would be the only way to keep it sweet(er), and keep it aerobic.

In a bed that stays a bit dryer, paper might work well. Just don't apply it too thickly, as it does tend to try to go back to sheets, and then the air can't circulate through it. If it were me, I thihnk I would use it for an additive to my compost pile, and forget using it for mulch - it sounds as though you get a fair bit of rain. (You couldn't send some my way, could you? I've had about 5 inches in the past 3 months, instead of the more normal 12-15.)

As much as I would like to share the rain with the ya, I don't mind keeping it around here for a little while longer. We missed our annual rainfall in 2006 by some 15 inches and we are still trying to make up for it. So while the paper is stinky or rather under the paper I guess I will have to deal with it. I'll mix in some coffee to the mix and then throw mulch over the top of it.
I find it really odd that this bed is so stinky as I have another bed on the shady side of the house that has the same soil and paper but doesn't stink. Just odd . . .
Christina

Christina, maybe the other bed is not as wet? Does a rainspout empty into that bed as well? I have decided that some things are just unpredictable, and there's no way to tell. Averages and probabilities work most of the time, but.... There are SOME certainties, death and taxes among them!, but surprises abound.

I'm sorry you won't share your rain, but can easily understand why. I moved here in the middle of a 7-year drought; when it ended, the area was down about 45 inches, maybe more. We are down about a foot now, I think. Not fun....

Wow, ya'll have made up quite a lot to only be down 12 inches now! That is great! Must play havoc on your foundations - we have that problem here with our caliche type soil.

As for the two beds - the one in the back does indeed have a downspout. However - the bed in the back of the house is a slightly bit different. When we moved in here four years ago I decided that area just outside the backdoor was gonna be a garden. So, instead of planting sod or see there we put down a c*^p load of shredded paper, coffee grounds and everything else I could get my hands on. Now we have quite a returning pumpkin patch (from the first pumpkin I through out there the first year) and my cannas, columbines and hosta seem to do extremely well. Perhaps this is why this area is not so boggy? I am wondering if maybe there is just better drainage due to the soil structure there?