It's springtime and the home gardener is busy planting flowers, shrubs and vegetables in anticipation of the enjoyment they get from a beautifully landscaped yard and/or a bountiful harvest. Springtime also means that the weeds are popping up in your garden, threatening to take over. Now is the time to get those pesky plants under control and clear the way for your plants.

Mulching is the recommended way to not only control weeds but retain precious moisture and protect root systems from extreme temperatures. There are many different types and ways to apply mulch. Some of them can be very costly. I've found a better way to control weeds naturally and inexpensively.

If you're putting in new plants, be sure to follow planting procedures like proper depth and spacing as well as watering the holes where your plants will go. For established garden areas, make sure to hoe or pull weeds more than two inches tall. Also be sure you have applied any compost and tilled it into the soil well. Level the ground and break up any large clods of soil.

Then it's time for the mulch. While you can purchase rather expensive commercial mulches, a more cost effective alternative is to use newspapers and shredded bark. The newspapers are of course free, and you can feel good about recycling them. The shredded bark can be picked up in quantity at a very reasonable cost from your local sawmill.

First, wet the ground to be covered. Don't make a mud puddle, but be sure to soak it well. Then lay out the newspapers. You can use 1-2 sheets, overlapping them to keep them in place. Put rocks or some other heavy object down to hold them down temporarily. Once you have an area covered, wet it again to soak the newspapers. This will keep the paper from blowing away and you can pick up and move the rocks or weights to the next area. Repeat this procedure until the entire area is covered.

If you have existing plants, you can tear and fit the newspapers around them. Make sure they snug right up against the base of the plants to keep the weeds out.

Then apply the bark mulch. Since you've already put down a weed barrier (newspapers), you won't need nearly as much bark mulch as is usually called for. You can apply just enough to cover the newspapers. Commercial applications calling for mulch at a 2 inch depth will require one 2 cubic feet bag to cover 12 square feet. So it will take about half that if you use the newspapers under it.

Which kind and size of mulch to use will depend on your budget. The treated mulch will help repel insects, but is about twice the price of plain medium sized bark mulch at a commercial outlet. Purchasing shredded bark from a sawmill will cost less than that.

Be sure to spread the mulch evenly. To keep your garden weeds down, reapply as needed in the fall or spring each year.

The newspapers will work as a weed barrier and are free compared to expensive weed cloth. They will also retain moisture in the soil and degrade naturally to improve the condition of the soil in your garden. The mulch will cover the newspapers giving your garden or flower beds an attractive look. They too will degrade into soil-enhancing nutrients. Mulching will also help protect roots from extreme temperatures, keeping the root system warm during cooler spring nights and cooler during the hot summer days.