A lot of newspapers arrive in your mailbox and you don’t know what to do with them? You’d be surprised, but many people hoard this material and view it as a very valuable tool. The point is that you can use old newsprint in other ways than to light the fireplace. And you’ll save yourself a lot of time doing it! Your old newspaper is actually quite useful when gardening. Why? Let’s find out!
News is a weed killer!
As you are well aware, weed removal can sometimes be an unpleasant and arduous task. It grows over and over again until sometimes it can seem like a constant merry-go-round. Do not despair, because every problem has a solution. There is a trick that advises you to spread old newsprint over the weed-laden area. This will block the plants from getting sunlight and fresh air. Not only will this smother the weeds and they will die, but it will also prevent them from growing back. You won’t leave root residues in the soil as you do when you pull it out.
How to do it?
Collect enough newspaper to cover the area you want to protect from weeds. Then spread the newspaper in the exact places where you want to prevent weeds from growing. Remember that this method will prevent air supply to each type of plant, so avoid plants that you want to allow to continue growing. Preferably choose good quality newsprint with a high cellulose content. It is also better to choose only black and white pages without colour printing.
Hide and seek!
Next, dampen the newspaper-covered ground with water from a garden hose or sprinkle with water from a kettle. Some people advise letting papers soaked in this way sit for 24 hours, but it’s up to you, you can also proceed to the next step immediately. Cover the water-soaked papers with soil, preferably a good quality mulch. Make sure you have covered all the papers and none are peeking out. Suddenly, your flower bed is as good as new and you can enjoy the sight of a tidy garden. Trust that it will stay that way for a long time!
Final advice
If you have weeds in abundance in your garden and are having a hard time getting rid of them, you can use cardboard instead of newsprint. This will keep your garden weed-free for a really long time! Just make sure that your beautiful flowers and plants have plenty of room to breathe and absorb water.