Newspaper as grass suppressant
 

I've recently bought a new house, it has a pine tree in the front which
provides the site with dappled light during the day. You wouldn't call it a
lawn but grass is growing and over the last 6 weeks I have planted out tube
stock. What I want to do now is lay newspaper (to kill the weeds and grass)
and overlay a mulch (Greenlife Mulch & Compost to improve soil structure).

1. Am I dreaming thinking that newspaper will kill the grass?
2. If newspaper will suppress the weeds and grass, now many sheets of
newspaper should I use.

Any responses will be appreciated.

Rob

6 months ago I had my yard backfilled with about 3/4 metre of sandy loam and
top soil. Knowing how fast weeds take over, I ordered mulch immediately, and
was advised to spread 7-9 sheets of newspaper under 3 inches of mulch. So, I
have 3/4 m soil, 7 layers of newspaper and 3-4 inches of mulch. It's mostly
OK, but, guess what? I have some grass coming up from down below!
Frightening, huh
Andr0

"Robo" wrote in message
u...
I've recently bought a new house, it has a pine tree in the front which
provides the site with dappled light during the day. You wouldn't call it
a
lawn but grass is growing and over the last 6 weeks I have planted out
tube
stock. What I want to do now is lay newspaper (to kill the weeds and
grass)
and overlay a mulch (Greenlife Mulch & Compost to improve soil structure).

1. Am I dreaming thinking that newspaper will kill the grass?
2. If newspaper will suppress the weeds and grass, now many sheets of
newspaper should I use.

Any responses will be appreciated.

Rob

g'day rob,

use the newspaper mate it's our stock in trade for supressing grass
depending on the type of grass usually around 20 to 30 pages thick but
with nut grass you could need 40 to be sure, it will all break down
eventually mostly in around 6 months and with the compost you are
going to use you will have a good medium for underplantings. you could
just use tree chippings from a tree lopper or even mulch hay etc.,.

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gardenlen1/

my e/mail addies have spam filters you should know what to delete before you send.

On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 02:35:40 +1000, len gardener
wrote:

g'day rob,

use the newspaper mate it's our stock in trade for supressing grass
depending on the type of grass usually around 20 to 30 pages thick but
with nut grass you could need 40 to be sure, it will all break down
eventually mostly in around 6 months and with the compost you are
going to use you will have a good medium for underplantings. you could
just use tree chippings from a tree lopper or even mulch hay etc.,.

Agreed. Unless, as andromeda has probably found out, you have kikuyu.
That stuff appears to be able to grow through almost any conditions.

Geodyne

On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 21:33:34 +1100, "Robo" wrote:


1. Am I dreaming thinking that newspaper will kill the grass?
2. If newspaper will suppress the weeds and grass, now many sheets of
newspaper should I use.


It will work for sure, another way now the summer is here is to lay a
sheet(s) of corrugated iron over the area (not on top of each other)
the lack of sunlight and the heat generated by the sun on the metal
during the day kills just about anything underneath, once the plants
are extinct move the on to the next area. Good idea to put a couple of
bricks on top if it is windy! The only problem with this method is
living with the iron on the ground - not a pretty sight.


Regards
Bruce

"Robo" wrote in message
u...
I've recently bought a new house, it has a pine tree in the front which
provides the site with dappled light during the day. You wouldn't call it
a
lawn but grass is growing and over the last 6 weeks I have planted out
tube
stock. What I want to do now is lay newspaper (to kill the weeds and
grass)
and overlay a mulch (Greenlife Mulch & Compost to improve soil structure).

1. Am I dreaming thinking that newspaper will kill the grass?

It may help, but just be wary that when watering these tubestock with paper
around them the water (or rain) will not get down as easily. On the same
note once the ground is soaked, it will not dry out quite as quick directly
below the newspaper. Probably spraying carefully around the tubestock and
adding mulch would be enough.

2. If newspaper will suppress the weeds and grass, now many sheets of
newspaper should I use.

Pretty thick as it breaks down and doesn't kill runners instantly. I would
imagine the sunday telegraph (e.g. only), cut down the "spine" (in half)
should do 2 tubestock.
I recently pulled up the white back plastic for sale signs that I spread on
a disused garden bed to place pots on temporarily. It was down for 2 months.
Runners from couch had moved in about 20cm from the edge (though couch was
discoloured), and part of a nearby nasturtium (sp?) was living under it.
At a guess I think the lack of the heat created by the sign and reflection
from the white underneath could have allowed the grass and nasturtium to
live.


Any responses will be appreciated.

Rob

Oooopps...."Keekooku" is the last thing a hard working business person
needs.....:(
Thanks for the warning though guys; I now know what I will be doing next
Saurday....LOL
Andr0

"Stuart Naylor" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 07:52:26 +1100, "Geodyne" wrote:

On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 02:35:40 +1000, len gardener
wrote:

use the newspaper mate it's our stock in trade for supressing grass
depending on the type of grass usually around 20 to 30 pages thick but
with nut grass you could need 40 to be sure, it will all break down
eventually mostly in around 6 months and with the compost you are
going to use you will have a good medium for underplantings. you could
just use tree chippings from a tree lopper or even mulch hay etc.,.

Agreed. Unless, as andromeda has probably found out, you have kikuyu.
That stuff appears to be able to grow through almost any conditions.

If andromeda has kikuyu? My lawns are all kikuyu which is quite a good
and hardy lawn albeit it is very invasive and virtually impossible to
get rid of.

To keep *my* kikuyu lawns out of the garden beds surrounding the lawn I
spray a 30cm border with weed killer around my lawns.

But then the kikuyu still pops up in my garden beds, coming in under the
fence from *my neighbours*. So I use an old spray detergent bottle
filled with weed killer to selectively spray the new grass shoots whilst
also having a bopeep at my previously mentioned 30cm lawn border.
--

Rusty

yes it works if you put them down wet & thick & cover with mulch so it
doesn't dry up & blow away but when I did it the termites moved into the
papers because they love damp cellulose.
"Robo" wrote in message
u...
I've recently bought a new house, it has a pine tree in the front which
provides the site with dappled light during the day. You wouldn't call it
a
lawn but grass is growing and over the last 6 weeks I have planted out
tube
stock. What I want to do now is lay newspaper (to kill the weeds and
grass)
and overlay a mulch (Greenlife Mulch & Compost to improve soil structure).

1. Am I dreaming thinking that newspaper will kill the grass?
2. If newspaper will suppress the weeds and grass, now many sheets of
newspaper should I use.

Any responses will be appreciated.

Rob

Thanks for all your responses.
I figure I'll be using about a Daily Telegraph per square metre and weed
around the plants before laying the paper so that the plants have easy
access to water

Cheers


"Robo" wrote in message
u...
I've recently bought a new house, it has a pine tree in the front which
provides the site with dappled light during the day. You wouldn't call it
a
lawn but grass is growing and over the last 6 weeks I have planted out
tube
stock. What I want to do now is lay newspaper (to kill the weeds and
grass)
and overlay a mulch (Greenlife Mulch & Compost to improve soil structure).

1. Am I dreaming thinking that newspaper will kill the grass?
2. If newspaper will suppress the weeds and grass, now many sheets of
newspaper should I use.

Any responses will be appreciated.

Rob