Can Shredded Paper Be Used As Garden Mulch

shredded paper garden mulch — Junk mail one minute, garden mulch the next

Junk mail and newspapers are two of my best crops, sprouting up everywhere inside the house, covering surfaces like kudzu. Solution: shredded paper as garden mulch. Before you hyperventilate and say, "NO! NO! NO! It robs the soil of nitrogen, adds toxins, and is ugly as hell, hear me out. My research suggests otherwise, well at least on the first two counts.

using grass clippings as a garden mulch — Mulching is a great idea

I'm an ardent believer in mulching the garden. In my cutting garden, I use grass clippings as a garden mulch around my zinnias, sunflowers and dahlias. What is mulching? It's simply the practice of adding a loose organic material to the top layer of garden soil. Nestled around each plant but not touching stems or trunks, mulch protects the plant from competing weeds and dry soil conditions. Material options range from wood chips, to pine bark, to grass clippings and straw, and in the case before you, shredded paper.

Look Mom, no weeds! — Look Mom, grass clippings and no weeds!

Good Reasons to Add Mulch to Your Garden

Reduces weed seed germination and growth
Conserves water by slowing surface evaporation.
Adds nutrients to the soil through slow decomposition.
Regulates soil temperature as an insulation layer.
Saves gardeners from constantly having to pull weeds.
Recycles garden waste and paper products.
Softens to become edible worm bedding
Birds love it for foraging for insects.

zinnia plants begging to be weeded — Cheeky little zinnias feeling neglected.

See what happens when you don't weed or hoe your garden; the weed seeds see an opportunity.

xvzc — A weeded bed is a happy garden bed (at least most of the time).

One day I was planning a trip to the recycling station on the island to drop off three bags of shredded paper. Before I left, I did a little research and discovered the pulpy stuff can make a great garden mulch. There was one caveat in most articles: don't shred and use highly-colored ads, or glossy promo materials. While most inks are soy-based and safe for gardening use, hyper-colored printed materials may be still using metallic inks for the bold effect. So for that reason, I don't add colored ad inserts or glossy magazines.

Take that clearing house sweeptstakes! — Take that, junk mail and flyers!

First, pull weeds from the area, and then place the mulch around the plants. A light watering afterward will keep the paper from blowing around and also act to keep it together as a matted layer of mulch. As far as shredded paper robbing nitrogen from the soil, as a top layer this doesn't really happen. Just like leaves on the forest floor, decomposition is slow and beneficial. As far as adding toxins to the soil, research tends to support not using glossy and highly-colored paper materials. So recycle those catalogs and glossy magazines.

tucked in for the summer — Tucked in for the summer

While I have to admit, shredded is paper is not garden-tour pretty, you can also add a top dressing of grass clippings or bark mulch to make it more presentable.

It's a good day to weed (almost convinced). — It's a good day to pull weeds (almost convinced).

Summer is here, and I'm always trying to find ways to lessen the daily workload of gardening and farming activities. Mulching is one way I save time from pulling weeds and watering. And besides, I can't convince any neighborhood kids that it's a fun pastime, no matter what the hourly rate of pay.