With the weather being so nice here in Northern Utah (with the exception of today) we have been concentrating hard on getting our yard in shape for the summer.  A big issue we have had in the past is getting a good weed barrier.

We have spent so much money over the last several years on that black fabric weed barrier stuff you can buy at the home improvement store.  It’s easy enough to put down, although sometimes it’s little putting together a weed barrier puzzle in my curved flower bed.  After the weed barrier is down we cover it with wood chips. This type of barrier works for us in keeping the weeds down for about 2 years.

There are a few drawbacks to this method we have been using:

• The weed barrier material itself is expensive
• Perennial flowers & plants have a hard time spreading and growing larger
• When it’s time to change out the barrier it’s lots of work to get it all pulled up
• It’s not biodegradable if you miss getting some of the pieces pulled up.

This year I have decided to try an alternative weed barrier.  I was talking to my friend and she told me that she uses newspaper as her weed barrier.  Yes, she has to replace it every year, but every year her yard looks great.  Instead of using the black fabric, she just hits up the neighbors for their old newspapers for a few weeks and lays the news paper down over the existing mulch (which she also gets free from the local sewer plant). and then she layers it again with mulch.  Simple as that.  By layering these each year, she saves money and time by using free resources that are biodegradable.

I think I am going to use a variation of this this year.  My sister just moved into a new house and she has lots of cardboard boxes.  I am going to use cardboard boxes as my weed barrier this year and top it with sewer mulch.  It can’t hurt to give this a try!  I think it will look great too!

Some advantages to using an alternative weed barrier:

• It is biodegradable
• It is free!
• It’s a great way to recycle
• Worms love cardboard. Soil with worms is healthy soil.
• It should hold in moisture which is great in our drought year

Have you ever used newspaper or cardboard as your weed barrier?  I am interested in you sharing your observations!