Planting tomatoes with newspaper around?

[calicokat]

Hoping someone has some info on this. DH was saying that if we plant the tomatoes and put newspaper around them, it will keep weeds down. However we disagree on HOW to do that. Do we put the newspaper around them, then anchor it down with say, bricks so it doesn't fly off and litter the yard? Or put the newspaper down, and cover it with garden dirt to anchor it?

 

[windtryst]

Newspaper works well for mulch, put it down ( not the color pages) and cover with grass clippings, or what ever you have so it does not blow away... will help to keep the weeds down. I cover mine with salt hay.

 

[NanaKat]

Use at least three or four sheets so you get a good light blocking layer. I use straw from wheat hay.
The newspaper will break down by the end of the season and can be worked into the soil .

 

[Chick-a-roos]

Yes, the newspapers work great for a weed blocker and also to help retain moisture. I also use several sheets newspaper (like NanaKat), I cover with all the small trees/limbs that DH has put thru the wood chipper. My mom uses leaves from the past fall to cover the newspaper with. It seems like alot of work to begin with....but 100% worth it! Good Luck!

 

[calicokat]

I can't really use straw/hay because the chickies see that as a neon sign inviting them to come scratch around. So I'll keep the bricks holding it down for now, untill the next mowing, then pile some grass clippings on.

Thanks all!!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I run the newspaper through the paper shredder, then put them around the tomatoes and wet them down. Once they are wet, they tend to stick together and don't blow away. I do have an occasional songbird that comes along to steal a piece or two for their nexts.

 

[Whispering Winds]

Quote:
Salt hay reminded me of a lady who wrote a book about mulch gardening from the East coast, Ruth Stout. Salt Hay is what she used to mulch with, year round and she never had to till her garden. I read that book 38 years ago, and still have the dream of a no till garden.