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Thoughts on this for controlling weeds?

15 years ago

Have been looking for some kind of cover to control weeds this year in my garden. I've ruled out black plastic (for "cooking" the roots) and most landscaping fabrics (doesn't allow for tilling in the fall). I've been mulling over the use of newspaper but my plot is close to 20ft by 60ft. I came across this product and would appreciate any opinions or guidance....

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/suffixitem/593TCKRAFT/40X300.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping

40"W x 300'L 300' Long Brown Paper Roll Table Cover. Description: Made of standard brown kraft paper, this roll table cover will repeatedly provide you with a quick, clean, and disposable eating surface. This plain brown paper roll table cover is ideal for covering tables at preschools, daycares, or birthday parties; just give each child a crayon or two and let their imaginations run wild until the food arrives!

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Comments (4)

  • 15 years ago

    That is an expensive alternative to newspaper. Newspaper is usually a product of choiuce because for many of us it is readily available and virtually free since we purchased the paper to keep up with the news and now need some way to dispose of it and the recycling centers are not an option.

  • 15 years ago

    I agree with kimmsr that the brown paper is expensive and you'd need a lot of it. Plus you need to weigh it all down to keep it in place. It probably depends on what you want to do with the area while you're controlling the weeds.
    The 'lasagne garden' idea works well with newspaper underneath, or cardboard. Of course you have to have the material to cover it with. I scrounge around in the fall for leaves, and in the spring I pick up grass clippings.
    This spring I had an area full of garlic that got away from me. I used all the above plus compost, kitchen scraps, garden cleanup waste, etc; all piled up at least a foot, smothering the garlic. So far its working. I planted potatoes and cabbage in it so far.

  • 15 years ago

    Have been looking for some kind of cover to control weeds this year in my garden. Are there plants growing in the area that you want to keep? A lot of weeds already growing?

    I've ruled out black plastic (for "cooking" the roots) and most landscaping fabrics (doesn't allow for tilling in the fall). Good decision. Are you saying that whatever you use, you want to remove it soon for tilling? Just tilling it in?

    I've been mulling over the use of newspaper but my plot is close to 20ft by 60ft. I came across this product and would appreciate any opinions or guidance.... I think it would work well if that's what you want to use as the foundation for creating a lasagne bed, but not so much if you plan to till later. Not really able to picture how you'll get it to stay there without a lot of bricks or rocks, or by solidly covering it with mulch. Without a solid cover, I think tons of weeds would find their way through the cracks because a lot of sunlight would come through one thin layer of paper. Also don't think one layer would last well all summer exposed to rain and direct sunlight. I think the amount of mulch you would need to make this effective, if going the solid-cover-route, wouldn't be good to till to till down into the soil.

  • 15 years ago

    I have used newspaper many times in the various planting beds and have created new planting beds simply by covering the existing turf ("Weeds" and all) with newspaper and a mulch material with very good results. I have not found it necessary to till once the bed is created either and simply keep adding more mulch to that bed to aid in "weed" suppression. What I have not done is tried this on a 20 x 60 bed because all the planting beds I have made for over 30 years now have been 4 to 6 feet wide so I can work from the outside without having to step on the soil in the planting bed which compacts it and might require tilling.
    You can grow just as much, if not more, in several 4 x 4 planting beds (ala Square Foot Gardening) as you could in one large 20 x 60 garden plot with much less work and effort.