James, there are 3 adults here and to tell you the truth, we have few
friends
(and no relatives) to help with the newspapers. Can we use less newspaper
and
make up the difference with weedblocker? If not, would just weedblocker
fabric
do just as well? We really won't be planting anything else in that strip.
Thanks for your information.

You *CAN* but I recommend against it for 2 reasons -- first, you may later
decide to put something there and that means getting it all up (a pain at
the very least); second, it's the use of an inorganic solution where an
organic solution is more than adequate. You may find that for this
particular case it would be easiest to just buy a couple of extra Sunday
papers. In my case, I used mostly a 1 month run of the Wall Street
Journal -- my family saved up maybe half as much additional newspaper for
me, if that -- and my project covered far more area than yours.

All in all, I have only used weedblocker fabric once in my landscape -- we
have a smal pad for the central air unit and I put down weed fabric around
it, covered by a few bags of landscape rocks (about 4 or 5 inches worth) to
extend about a foot or two outside it. Every year I *STILL* have to get in
there and pull a few weeds. Weed fabric also typically holds water and soil
from runoff and such, so it's seldom an ideal long term solution IMHO.

In cases like this, I'd suggest still planting something in the area simply
to enhance its interest. For example, a small strip such as the one you
describe (fairly shaded, right?) would look great if filled with a few
varieties of Hosta -- they're not expensive at all, require little to no
upkeep, and they add something of a flair with their foliage and unique
flower spike. There are also various grasses (miscanthus) that can add some
vertical interest in patches where there is more sun, and a number of
low-growing perennials that are suitable for bordering walkways and/or
adding fragrance to an area. The options are truly limitless and a small
strip like this just begs for a little bit of variety to add that additional
interest.

Just something to think about. Good luck!

James