The absolutely best stuff I have found to block weeds in the garden is newspaper. Not only is the reducing, reusing andd recycling, its easy and practical!

I have tried all the different types of landscape fabric out there and newspaper still works the best. Its  good for the soil (adds carbon), its biodegradable, its free (mostly), its allows water to pass through it into the soil without washing your mulch away, and its easily torn and trimmed. Compare that with landscape fabric!

It always takes more newspaper for a given area than it appears, so save a large stack before starting. It will smother out existing weeds so you don't have to pull them unless they are very tall or woody. This also allows the plant matter to naturally breakdown in the soil underneath the newspaper.

Take the newspaper  and lay it in your garden area about three to four pages thick. It works best if the the edges overlap. Water the paper until the top sheets are saturated and stick together. Poke holes through the paper with your trowel and plant your flowers. After planting, you may want to tear small pieces of paper and place them over any dirt that may be exposed around the stem of the flowers and water that paper as well. Next, cover all of the wet papered area with the mulch. 

If the paper is not covered with mulch, it will dry out and blow away, so mulch is a must. Also, any paper that is exposed to sunlight will not decompose. 

The newspaper will not prevent weeds from sprouting on top of the mulch, but it blocks the roots of the weeds well enough that it is a breeze to pull them up. (Have you ever used landscape fabric and had the weed's roots grow through it into the soil?! Its very frustrating to pull up a weed and your landscape fabric in one tug!)  

It takes about two years for the paper to completely breakdown in our soil. By that time, the weeds and the seeds they left under the newpaper will have been composted. You will know its time for more paper when you move the mulch around and the newspaper has disapeared. Some small pieces of paper (usually the "glossy" pages or exposed edges) may remain. In some soils may take longer for the paper to compost.  

Using newspaper are the plants has greatly reduces the amount of watering they need. The spongy quality combined with the mulch on top to keeps it from drying out. This makes a nice place for worms to live, and also frustrates moles.

I used newspaper with shredded pine bark mulch when we planted our strawberry patch and it was virtually maintenance free for the first two years. This is a miracle if you have ever tried to deal with weeds in a strawberry patch! The Strawberry runners would just root on top of the mulch and it filled itself in just beautifully.

Don't worry about what the neighbors think...They will never know! Cover your newspaper block with mulch completely and its invisible.

Well good luck using up all of  that newspaper in your garden! Start saving now so you will have plenty to use in the spring!