I don't know whether it is OK to put strips of paper (from my shredder) on to the garden. Is it?

Question

I shred old letters, etc. Would it be sensible to put this shreded paper on my garden?
I know that eventually they will rot, down, and get absorbed into the soil. Does this improve the soil, or is it a waste of time?

Answer 1

It depends; you can shred plain paper and use that but not shiny coloured printed paper, like magazine pages.
You can use it as a weed suppressing mulch. It uses nitrogen as it rots down which is why people don't like to use it. But like straw if you just add nitrogen it won't be a problem.
You can mix it with wet material in your compost heap, or use it in a wormery. It will make ok bedding if dampened, or can be used to soak up excess water.
You should never add cat or dog waste to compost. The temperatures don't get high enough to kill the worms and bacteria; dog and cat waste should be incinerated.

Answer 2

there is an upside to this and a downside.

the shredded paper will improve the soil over time, and in the mean time will help with water retention and aeration. newspapers actually work best, and degrade slowly.

the down sides are this. paper, requires the proper microbes to disintegrate, or sunlight. if you till it in, it wont get sunlight, so you need to make sure that things such as worms of the fishing variety are in the soil. the other down side is some of the ink has things in it you don't really want in you veggies. however, the amounts are usually tiny and wont hurt a thing. they degrade too. best case, put the paper in the ground in the fall, let it deteriorate over the winter. or, just add it to a compost pile and compost it. basically, any food type garbage, grass, tree limbs,and even nails and steel can go into the ground, if it came from the ground, it is usually OK to put it back in the ground. just don't over do any one thing.

Answer 3

I don't know about on the surface, I think it would look a mess, but if you want to grow vegetables especially ones that need a lot of water and you live in a dry area as the paper will retain water. Dig a trench and place the shredded paper in it, old newspapers are good to. Then replace soil. and plant veg seeds. I used this for Runner Beans when I needed a quick hedge in 1976 (one of the driest summers on record) and got great results plus some good beans.

P.S. Our local council does not accept shredded paper for recycling so if its going to landfill it might as well be your land you fill and it will over time improve your soil quality.

Answer 4

It would be good if you could compost it first. Can aerate soil.

I think not so good if using coloured ink. I don't think is a good idea to put directly on top of soil as a mulch.

Would need to dig it in unless you wetting it first as it will blow around when dry and then you will have a very messy garden, and if you cant contain it in your own garden you may find the whole neighbourhood on your case.

You can compost with grass clipping and other garden waste include fresh uncooked potato peelings etc in a black plastic bag, just puncture a few holes in the bottom.

Get a book out of the library about composting.

Answer 5

First of all, if the paper you are throwing to the garden is not recyclable and naturally biodegradable, there's no use to utilize that practice.

On the other hand the best way to control moisture in a well done and designed garden, you should care for it's look because paper won't look good at all. You can use wooden chips and red oak chips that you can buy in garden centers. Also, leaves, are a natural biodegradable perfect composte for gardening purposes.

No paper please. Won/t do good at all

Answer 6

It depends on the kind of paper you're shredding.

Newspapers rot very quickly, and are almost always printed with soy based inks. They make great mulch.

The problem with flyers, letters, glossy advertisements and catalogs is they are usually printed on coated papers that do not rot quickly, and will add undesirable chemicals to your soil. The health of your plantings may suffer, and the chemicals will leach into the ground water.

Answer 7

shredded paper makes good compost for the garden, if you do not have a compost heap in your garden then find a spot at the bottom end of the garden you dint use much dig a hole and just bury it it will rot away very quickly i do this very often and have done for many a years

Answer 8

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Answer 9

I'm not sure if it is good for the soil, but whenever we plant grass seed, we put shredded paper from our paper shredder on top of it. It works great!!!! It is biodegradable and it works it's way back into the ground.

Answer 10

Shredded paper will tend to blow around too much; I've tried to compost both shredded sheet-paper/letters etc, and shredded newspaper, but particularly the former seems to take forever to break down.
I sympathise with you, but if you can recycle it as you would newspaper, but securely, that would be my option. I am still reluctant just to put it in pink sacks and hand it over!!