Xref: kermit rec.gardens:284943

"nswong" wrote in
:

Newspapers will decompose and become soil amendment.
Landscape fabric will not.

Newspapers are primarly carbon. According to one source[1] 'paper' (not
necessarily newspaper) contains 150-200:1 C/N, compared to sawdust at
100-500:1. Adding carbon will quite possibly detract from the amount of
N available to a plant. Adding N to compensate will degrade the weed
blocking utility of the newspaper as decomposition accelerates.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume carbon is of limited value
as a nutrient amendment, as plants (primarily?) obtain carbon from
atmospheric carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. At any rate, plants
do *excrete* carbon from their roots after periods of elevated carbon
dioxide[2].

However, I'll concede that the newspaper and newspaper debris may have
indirect and significant benefits (functioning similarly to deciduous
leaf litter) in providing habitat and food for beneficial insects and
microbes and enhancing soil structure.

While not directly contributing materiel, it is possible that landscape
fabric made of polyester (and perhaps also polypropylene) can fixate
minor amounts of atmospheric nitrogen via wind action and electrostatic
effect[3].

Yes, newspapers need to be replaced often compared to landscape fabric.
To me, this is not an advantage in permanent or semi-permanent
installations.

[1] http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/horticulture/g810.htm "Table I.
Carbon/Nitrogen Ratios of Some Common Organic Materials"
[2] http://www.co2science.org/subject/r/summaries/roots.htm
[3] http://www.ce-mag.com/archive/02/Spring/chubb.html "Findings"

Newspapers will not block nightcrawler(earthworm) from pulling plant
debris to their tunnel as their food.
Landscape fabric will, I don't think you will find much earthworm
under the landscape fabric.

Unless nightcrawlers will chew a hole through newspaper to open their
covered burrow (quite possibly true), unbroken newspaper is as much a
barrier as landscape fabric. But assuming a population rate of 1-7 worms
per square meter[4] there should be sufficient openings in a typical
fabric installation such that the population is not impacted
significantly (assuming there is no reason why they would not choose to
use an available opening). Shallow burrowing earthworms do not share
nightcrawler feeding habit, but may exit their wandering burrows during
extensive rain[5].

[4] http://www.swcs.org/t_pubs_journal_2...acts_water.htm
[5] http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/AY/AY-279.html

Newspapers will not block air and water to the soil, since they
decompose quickly.
Landscape fabric may, after sometime the holes may blocked by roots.

Newspapers will block water to the soil or at the minimum cause pooling
until drainage hole(s) are formed, which will not necessarily be
uniformly distributed. Landscape fabric is semi-porous or porous to
both air and water, as are roots. The mulch is more likely to block
water than the fabric.

Newspapers: For adding soil amendment(carbon/organic matter), just
spread it on top of organic mulch(newspaper/manure/leaf...),
eventurely it will find it way to soil by critters.
Landscape fabric: Had to put it under the landscape fabric, or else
only nutrient will pass through the landscape fabric in liquid form,
but not much of organic matter.

Correct, although the fabric will not necessarily pass the suspended
nutrients, depending on the size of the pores in the fabric.

Newspapers: When weeds find the way through the old newspaper/mulch,
just put new newspaper/mulch on top of weeds. Done!
Landscape fabric: Do you ever think of putting new landscape fabric on
top of old landscape fabric? ;-)

Weeds other than certain monocotyledons will not find their way through
landscape fabric from below. If a plants attempts to colonize the top
of the fabric, it is easily picked off. Done! No need to dig or look
for a newspaper stand.

Landscape fabric is not overlayed because it is not necessary. However,
if you have made a hole in the fabric that you do not want, it can be
repaired by simply putting a new piece on top (or tucked below the
existing fabric).

Newspapers: Never need to replace, just adding new one.
Landscape fabric: It's a nightmare to replace a landscape fabric that
have plant root grow into it.

Landscape fabric: Never need to replace. Period. Okay, not in 5-15
years at least. Landscape fabric can become embeded with roots
attempting to penetrate from below, but the removal of such fabric is of
minor difficulty. Removing stripable wallpaper takes more effort.

Will I be able to cover a large area (such as 10-ft x 6-ft)

Using a sickle to cut what(weeds) above the mulch, leave it there, add
some new mulch. I can cover 50-ft x 5-ft within one hour, and it can
last for two months. Don't afraid of walking on the mulch, this will
not really compact the soil, walk on bare soil are another story.

Landscape fabric is a long term installation and will take more time for
planning and preparation. The actual installation is simple.