2012 Peony Mulch with Paper Bag Weed Barrier

With a half day off from work yesterday, I was able to get in a little bit of work in my yard. It's always tough in the fall when the time changes. The days are already getting shorter and the hour you lose just makes it that much darker when you finally do get home. I've been needing to mulch around the new peonies in my Saunders peony bed where I added on to it this fall. There is quite a bit of open space around some of them, and a few fall weeds had already begun to sprout. A great chemical free way to prevent weeds is with a layer of mulch, but what to do when the weeds are already sprouting? A good way is to lay down a barrier underneath the mulch. I am definitely not in favor of the plastic weed barriers. They never biodegrade. The weeds grown through them eventually, anyway, and you are left with a really big mess! What I like to do, that I've done in the past, is lay down a layer of brown paper as a weed barrier underneath the mulch. It protects the bed from weeds for a few seasons, and by the time is it no good, it has already started to biodegrade - so no mess! Also you can just keep adding layers of paper and mulch if you like. Here's a step by step pictorial to get you started.
Materials Needed: Paper Bags, Scissors, and Mulch


Peony Bed Addition with Weeds Sprouting


Peony Bed with Paper Bag Weed Barrier


Peony Bed with Mulch Piled on Paper Weed Bag Barrier


Peony Bed with Fresh Mulch Over a Paper Bag Weed Barrier