I wrote about my experience with no-dig gardening saying
that I liked to use a layer of compost and/or well composted
manure as a mulch.
Jessie at Columbia in New York wrote: >how thick do you make your layers of compost? Have you >ever tried the newspaper method? If so, how do you >think the two methods stack up?
I usually apply layers of compost about 2" (5 cm) thick. That's
about all that I can handle at any one time and I normally apply
the 2" layer twice a year - once after our January clean-up of
the garden (in Southern California) and once at the start of our
hot, dry summers. Keep in mind that I am using these layers
of compost as soil amendments to keep a high organic content
in my soil.
I have also used the "newspaper method" which is fine for weed
control but doesn't work as well as the compost for building and
keeping a high organic content. Layers of newspaper also need
to be covered with some kind of mulch simply to keep them in place.
I use newspaper only when I have no other options. For example,
Japanese Anenome is a righteously severe weed in our environment
and it spreads below the soil surface. A layer of newspaper 5 or 6
sheets in thickness blocks out the light and keeps things more or less
under control. Compost just makes the soil richer and it encourages
greater spread.