I have never used just shredded paper at surface of mulch since I would be afraid it would blow away. But I have placed flat folded sheets of newspaper between perennials and then placed leaf mulch over it to make it pretty. And the paper reduces weeds nicely.

You can and some do but it isn't very attractive and you do have to keep it well wet until it mats down and clumps together to keep it from blowing all over.

Multiple sheets of newspaper, as mentioned above, works much better and by season's end it is ready to till in. ;)

Dave

I imagine once it mats it wouldn't let water penetrate the soil as well as other mulches would.

Two other suggestions: you could use the shredded stuff in your compost pile or use the sheets for a lasagna bed. I use newspaper to line the bottom of my guinea pig cage and then compost it when they're done with it. I know these may not apply to you, but they are suggestions.

Here in Maine, newspaper (six layers minimum---not shredded) makes a wonderful mulch. Water does penetrate it and the absorbent newspaper keeps the soil damp and cool for days after a rain. Worms (here in Maine) LOVE a newspaper mulch. (My former husband used to go to my half of the garden, peel the newspaper back, and pick up the worms under the newspaper to feed his brook trout.) I have to cover mine to keep it from blowing away and I'm lucky to be able to cover it with seaweed, which also keeps a soil nicely damp. Of course, seaweed and newspaper are ugly, so I have to cover them with something pretty like hay or chipped leaves. Sheet newspaper mulch = totally weed-free gardening. I've never used shredded newspaper, but I imagine that tenacious weeds might just shoulder it aside.

Maybe not.

I tried it once. It was a mess to put down. Even with a good layer of grass clipping on top there were still fly-aways for weeks afterwards. Then it turned into paper mache. Rock hard and dry. Sheeted newspaper is much easier to deal with.

It does do pretty good in the compost pile. I use mine to line my nest boxes in the chicken coop. Very absorbent and it rots fast when it mixes in with the girls' droppings.

Kay

What Kay describes is what happens if insufficient mulch is put on top of the newspaper. Even when paper is layed down you need a good 3 inches of mulch over that paper to hide it, to hold it in place, and to aid in moisture retention. A light scattering of something will not keep the paper moist, and when wet paper dries it can become paper mache, and will not hold that paper in place, especially if the wind is blowing over 10 mpg.

Yes, I always hesitate to rave about newspaper mulch too much (No, I don't. I never hesitate, but I have mixed feelings about it when I do.) because I have access to something that makes newspaper work really swell. That is seaweed, which is weighty, so the newspaper stays put, and which absorbs rainfall and releases it regularly, so my newspaper is kept fairly damp.

I often use shredded paper, but not newspaper, as mulch. It's not my first choice, but not having much lawn for grass clippings, and with shredded leaves in short supply by spring, I do use the shredded paper.

I have never had a problem with it blowing away! A quick squirt with the hose once you put it down, and it stays. As a matter of fact, the drawback, IMO, is that it gets too matted and does, as someone above said, keep water from penetrating as fully as some other mulches. But I just leave enough space around the base of the plant, and then every two weeks or so I just run my... gee, I don't know the name of it, lol! It's a three-pronged claw-type thing! I'm drawing a blank! Anyway, I use that tool to kind of stir up the shredded paper a bit, and it loosens up that hard cover, but still keeps the mulching aspect.

Since my paper is not newpaper but shredded mail, office paper, etc., one of the worst things is that it's so darn bright, lol! A sunny day can blind me! So I try to cover it with some grass clippings as soon as I can get them. Looks a bit better too, than just the paper. End of season, I just dig it all into the bed.

Now, all that being said, I can't vouch for shredded newspaper, but I would think it might work even better than shredded office paper...

:)
Dee

Diggerdee, you sure made me laugh with your blindingly bright mulch. Yes, I think newspapers are easier to compost. One more thing, the shredder I use has something called cross cut and what comes out are tiny pieces which would break down easily.

I have used shredded office paper, it was a mess. I got it in big bags and as I tried to put it out it went everywhere. I wet it and covered it but on really windy days pieces would still find their way out. If you have the cross cut shredder it may work better.

Its a wonder my neighbors havent killed me yet :)

Carey

Yes, yuogslava, I have a cross-cut shredder too. And yes, the blinding white of the mulch was something I didn't think of till I went back out the next sunny day into the garden, lol!

Carey, I wondered if my neighbor would be upset with the paper mulch, since it really doesn't look too good. Add to that the fact that my garden in that area consists of raised cinderblock beds, and I've got quite the ugly garden, lol. But he was actually somewhat impressed with the ingenuity of it all, and after I give him a few offerings from the garden, he is more than happpy to let me do my thing, ugly or not!

I am hoping this spring to put in a few shrubs to help block his view though, just in case. It isn't the prettiest thing to look at, especially in winter!

:)
Dee

Well, I put at ~least~ 3 inches of *green* grass clippings on top of the wet shredded paper and still had fly-aways afterwards. Gardens aren't static. Plants grow, wind blows, birds scratch around and what was once buried turns up. Much easier to deal with the sheets of paper because you can just tuck it in and add some more mulch on top if a corner peaks through. With the shredded paper it was a constant light dusting of confetti on the lawn. Bah.
Kay

Somehow, I thought when you spread shredded newspaper and spray it that it would settle on the soil. I mean, I have used newspaper which I would cover with compost or grass. What I was hoping for is to make it easier and use up newspapers. Shortcuts, my foot! No chance of that.

I love, love, LOVE newspaper mulch. The worms in my corner of Texas really like it, too. I use shredded and then put stuff on top. Last season I tried cedar wood chips because I heard the oils in the wood deter pests. I don't know if the wood chips really helped but they weren't super expensive and I didn't cover the ground completely -- just enough to hold the paper down. It wasn't very pretty but I'm not too concerned about looks. The wind is pretty notorious in West Texas. So, I get some flyways but they decompose well enough where ever they land in my backyard and I don't worry about 'em much.

I also compost in the trenches of my garden instead of in a compost heap. I save up my scraps in empty jars or containers. Then every two weeks or so, I go dig a hole about 12 to 16 inches deep in the trench and bury the organic matter. I think the newspaper mulch helps the worms do their thing much better than other mulches would.