shredded paper as mulch?

As mulch: it rained a lot so maybe it won't blow all over the yard. Do you think it will work?

I have been happy in the past with it as a lower down layer to kill off grass/weeds.

I am just not finding straw for sale around this year, and hay has been a mistake in the past. So necessity is a mother- I surrounded my pumpkin seedlings with all the shredded paper I'd brought home from work over a few months.

We use shredded paper in the compost all the time.  It might not look as nice in the garden as straw but ya do what you have to.  I prefer stuff like other people's bagged leaves as mulch in the garden because shredded paper can get a bit like paper mashae when wet and could harden up and stop water from soaking in during the next rain but will probably be ok.

tHANKS- if I get over my laziness I'll try to put some leaves on top of it as well to facilitate moisture penetration, and might bust a few holes in it to avoid a vast area for runoff.

Poke it with a stick method is always useful to keep in mind

i mix the shredded paper in my compost piles for a while before putting them on the garden..but a lot of people use the paper and cardbaord in the sheet mulch method..been tempted to just layer them on but prefer to use other items in my sheet mulch right now..paper is a bit on the ugly side unless thoroughy covered with something else.

I think the paper is aesthetically ugly, so I cover it up with weeds or leaves or straw.  Also, the other stuff helps to keep it from blowing around.  Even just a thin layer of soil will help disguise it.

Sue

one thing i love about my new shredder too is how it cuts up cardboard boxes..not the big corrugated ones but things like the cereal boxes are created..that thinner cardboard..i run all of that though the shredder and put it in the garden..well in the compost pile right now..as most of my gardens are sheet mulched already..so i'm letting it break down with the compost.

We have a Fellows Power shred paper shredder.  It can manage to shred up corrugated cardboard so long as it isn't too thick and heavy.  This is a really good thing since shredded corrugated cardboard seems to be the BEST worm bedding I know of.

We did manage to break one of these Fellows power shredders though.

ous says it will shred 10 slices of paper..but i haven't tried corrugated cardboard through it..it might be a good test to try ..sometime soon??