WeedGuard Plus Paper Mulch Review

One of the best barriers between the ground (aka weeds) and your top layer of mulch is paper. Paper suppresses weeds and suffocates weed seeds; however, it still allows heat, water, and air through to your soil.

In addition to my use of newspaper in the garden, I also use paper mulch. Last year, I bought WeedGuard Plus non-fertilized paper mulch rolls, and they worked amazingly well. These rolls are available in a variety of widths and lengths, so you can customize your purchase to your garden size. I like WeedGuard Plus paper mulch because it is heavy grade, easy to apply, effective at suppressing weeds, and environmentally friendly.

Heavy Grade. The paper is the consistency of really heavy construction paper. It can easily be punctured to plant seeds or seedlings but doesn’t tear with every movement. It also held up nicely to rain for the first half of the season.

Easy Application. If you have a really big space, and access to a tractor, you can attach the rolls and just drive in a straight line while the paper trails along the rows. Or, if you’re normal, like me, you can just roll out the lengths you need, cut, and walk the paper to the rows.

Weed Suppression. The paper does its job smothering out weeds. I laid it on top of full-on lawn, and the grass was smothered out in about a month. It also prevented grass and weeds breaking through it for the first half of the season. Once the paper starts to break down, though, you could see weeds come through if you don’t have enough mulch (hay, leaves, etc.) on top of it. I made this mistake last year.

Environmentally friendly. WeedGuard Plus is 100% biodegradable, and the non-fertilized rolls are OMRI listed. Don’t be silly and buy the fertilized rolls. You don’t need chemicals meant for warfare to grow great food!

Rating. 9/10

Justification. The paper broke down before the growing season was over, which means that their claim that it can float on top of the rows isn’t entirely accurate. It needs additional mulch on top or a second application mid-season. I’m going with additional mulch on top because leaves and pine straw are free.

I won’t lie, WeedGuard Plus isn’t cheap. For that reason, when I ran out last year (becuase I failed to order enough to cover the entire garden) and was going to buy a second roll, I shopped around for alternatives. I found several and ordered one from Amazon. Mistake. Read that again. Mistake. Although that company claimed the weight of the paper was the same as WeedGuard Plus, they lied. They sold me craft paper, not heavy-duty mulching paper. It was flimsy and tore with the slightest bit of twisting or dragging when I put it down. And, as I’m sure you can imagine, the first storm managed to rip the rest to pieces.

Over and over again, I learn the lesson that you get what you pay for. That is certainly the case with paper mulch. Spring for the WeedGuard Plus. I promise you won’t be disappointed, and if covered with plenty of other mulch, it should last the entire season and then compost down into your soil for the next year.

This year I ordered two 35 in. x 500 ft. rolls, which should be plenty to cover my garden and even have some left over for next year or other areas of the yard.

If you choose to buy WeedGuard Plus rolls, I suggest laying the rolls out before planting. It is much easier to plant through the paper than to try to pull already-planted seedlings through holes. I plan to cover the garden with paper, then cover again with mulch, then poke holes and drop seeds through and lightly cover with dirt. For the few seedlings I buy, I will just dig bigger holes and plant directly in the paper and pack in the soil around the seedling.

In case you’re curious what this stuff looks like, here’s a picture:

Pepper plants with WeedGuard Plus.

Photo linked to source

Garden Lessons from Old Folks — Newspaper Makes a Perfect Weed Barrier

One of my favorite ways to learn things, especially gardening tips, is from older people. Sure, sometimes older people can be resistant to change, or simply stuck in their ways, but sometimes these ways are good. Case and point: this older man who lives a few houses down from me. I think he’s in his late 70s/early 80s, not positive. I am positive about his gardening abilities though. He’s freakin’ awesome! He has the most beautiful rose gardens I’ve ever seen. They are the talk of the neighborhood. Literally–people actually talk about them.

Last spring, he and his sweet wife invited my husband and me and a few other neighbors over for a backyard barbeque, so I got to see more than his front- and side-yard gardens. In the back yard, I found my inspiration for life: beautiful arches of old-timey climbing roses, numerous individual gardens with perfect amoeba shapes, and a small vegetable garden with the blackest soil I’ve ever seen (actually, it might be a tie with my father-in-law’s, but still). It was gorgeous, and it didn’t have a single weed in it. Not a single one. I just had to ask him his secret. Want to know, too? Newspaper. That’s it, just newspaper.

You'll need a lot of paper, so start saving now.

He said he lays a thick layer of newspaper between the rows each year and then covers it with plenty of mulch (looked like a mixture of leaves, pine straw, and grass clippings). Then he just leaves it there all year and tills that in the next year and lays down a new layer of paper and mulch.

The plants were green and healthy looking, too. “And do you fertilize,” I asked. “No, just this,” he replied. Seeing the amazed look on my face, he was quick to remind me he’s lived in this house for over 40 years, so there are quite a few layers that have decomposed. He wanted to make sure I knew that creating this perfect dirt wasn’t going to happen in one season.

I promptly went home and started collecting newspaper. My husband had (and has again) a truly remarkable stack of old papers in his office at work. Truly remarkable. I had him bring it home, and we set out to covering our garden in newspaper. As you can imagine this is not an easy task. The pages fly all over the place, and unless you have enough mulch (which I didn’t last year), it will just rip and blow away in the first storm. Needless to say, I wasn’t so successful with newspaper in my big garden. And, arguably, it’s too big to cover in newspaper anyway. I ended up buying mulching paper, which I plan to discuss in an upcoming post.

I was, however, very successful using newspaper in my raised beds, which are about 8×8 feet each. I covered those suckers with a quarter-inch or so of newspaper and then mulched on top, and I had very few weeds sneak through. What’s better, when I planted garlic in one of the beds last November, I could see that the paper was breaking down and would soon become part of the soil. Yipee!

This year I plan to use newspaper in the beds again. My husband has been collecting it for me all year. If you have a small garden, or some raised beds, start collecting newspaper. Could you use plastic or landscape fabric? Well, sure, but isn’t that sort of a waste? Not to mention that neither of those options allows air and moisture through to the soil like paper does.

A few things to consider when using paper mulch:

• Don’t use the glossy inserts. You know why, I ‘m sure.
• Have plenty of other mulching material to cover the paper. Paper is very free-spirited and likes to fly away at whim.
• You’re recycling. Good for you!

 

Photo linked to source

Youngstown Gardening Gloves Review

A good pair of gardening gloves can make all the difference. Cheap gardening gloves often have poorly placed seams and skin-irritating fabric. I had one such pair last year and threw them out after just a few uses, and the pair I liked were ripped breaking up a dog fight (another story for another day). So I got to go shopping for new gloves this year, and I sprung for some good ones. They aren’t the $50 kind that Martha Stewart might wear, but they are the nicest gloves I’ve owned. And, so far, they’ve been well worth the $15 I paid for them.

Mine are this red color. They are also available in pink.

While shopping at my local co-op, I found these Youngstown gardening gloves. I’ve used them for two raking sessions and one hedge-trimming session so far, and I have no blisters. None! They are comfortable, soft, durable, and a perfect fit.

Comfortable: These gloves are slightly padded on the palm to allow for a little support when picking up sharp objects. They also have a short wrist cuff, which I like because it keeps my hands a little cooler. In addition, the wrist cuff has a velcro closure to allow a customized fit.

Soft: The padded palm is soft, which is nice, but the gloves also have a terry-cloth panel on the thumb, which is perfect for wiping the sweat off the brow or nose. The fabric also seems to pull moisture away from the skin, so when I take them off, my hands aren’t soaking wet and gross.

Durable: To be fair, I haven’t had them very long, but I can already tell they are durable. The material is not flimsy, and the fingertips are reinforced, which should keep the seams from snagging. The stitching looks tight as well, and they are machine washable.

Perfect fit: These are not one-size-fits-all gloves. They are sold in small, medium, and large, and are designed to fit women’s hands. I bought medium after trying on small and medium in the store, and they are just the right size.  The aforementioned velcro also contributes to the perfect fit.

My rating: 10/10

My justification: They are the best gloves I’ve ever owned

If you’re in the market for some new gardening gloves (or even if you’re not), might I highly suggest the Youngstown gloves. If you’re a man, you might try these. Go out and get some new gardening gloves this year and get ready for spring!

Photo linked to source.

Christmas in the Garden

There is perhaps no better time to receive gardening gifts than Christmas. By December, we are no longer exhausted from our summer work, and we are looking forward to new plants and blooms in spring. This year, my family gave me and my husband some wonderful gifts for our garden, and I’m just dying to get out there and start planting!

Three of my favorite herbs!

From my sister, we received some herb seeds and these tin markers. They are going to look so cute in our herb beds!

I love gardening books!

From my mom and stepdad, we received this indispensable  gardening book. This book has just about anything I could ever need to know about gardening in general as well as detailed sections on tons of different types of flowers, vegetables, trees, and ground covers. There are also plenty of sample garden plots, which I’m always a big fan of. It is self-labeled as The Gardener’s Bible, and I intend it to be just that for me.

The grass will be no match for this monster.

From my dad and stepmom, we received this Husqvarna rototiller. Until now, we have had to rent a tiller from a local auto store, which presents all kinds of problems. Mostly it was a nightmare having to get the thing to and from our house. We were completely surprised to find this “under the tree” this year and can’t wait to get out there and break up the ground this spring. This rototiller will mean we can re-till areas as needed (without the rental hassle!) and hopefully plant and till in cover crops next year.

We also received gift cards and money, some of which will likely be spent on seeds, organic fertilizer, and other garden supplies. All the snow has been a nice treat, but I’m really ready for spring, so I can get outside and use all these new gardening tools!

Photos courtesy of their owners. The first one is mine; the others are linked to their sources, please click photo for source.