Martha Stewart's Method Of Upcycling Used Burlap To Prevent Weeds

If you follow Martha Stewart's blog, you'll know she uses a lot of burlap around her garden to protect both plants and large stone urns and structures from damage during the winter months. Anyone who gardens in a region that gets snow in winter would be familiar with this fabulous, biodegradable resource. It can help to protect delicate trees and shrubs in the yard and have them looking fresh and lush once spring comes around again. In fact, this is an easy and affordable way to protect young trees from frost damage and nibbling deer. Although the burlap will degrade over time, it can actually be upcycled and reused to prevent weed growth when the weather warms up again. Just add a layer or two of used burlap on to of the soil and top with mulch to suffocate weeds.

Burlap, or hessian as it's also known as, is a woven fabric made from jute which grows well in countries like India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Jute is a fibrous, grass-like plant and the most utilized vegetative fiber after cotton. For history buffs, jute fabrics were commonly used to make bags or sacks for grains and other commodities such as potatoes, sugar, coffee, and even bacon. According to Stewart, new burlap can be reused to cover plants adequately for about three to four years before it starts to break down and can't provide as much protection anymore. So, in her efforts to recycle and reuse items that are often used on her farm, she's found another purpose for this excellent material.

As long as you've used natural burlap in your yard to protect plants over winter, this can make an effective weed barrier once it's outlived its purpose as a protective covering against snow and frost. Keep in mind that there's also a synthetic one available now, so only buy the organic type if you want to reuse it in this way. Plastic fabrics are harmful to the health of your soil and will not decompose. If you have some of this lying around and you're not sure whether it's made only from plant material or not, a simple burn test will tell you. While natural burlap will burn and turn to ash, a synthetic one will just melt.

Once you've removed the burlap from your plants and feel it won't continue to provide the same amount of protection because it's now starting to degrade, you can easily use it to cover weedy spots in your yard that you want to turn into garden beds. This material is also a great alternative to using landscape fabric under gravel to prevent weeds. Just lay the burlap over the ground, overlapping where necessary to get enough coverage. Then, all that's left to do is cover the entire area with some good quality mulch. This should keep the bed relatively weed-free until it's ready for planting. Apart from using burlap as a protective winter coat, you might also be interested in other ways to cover plants from frost.