Hello, I would like to mulch my yard and gardens this weekend and need to order the mulch today. It's my first time mulching, and I have a few questions. I will be mulching two types of areas: a large section in my backyard that will not have any plants in it (this area currently has decomposed mulch on it from the previous owners, and I want to simply put new mulch on it to prevent weeds and look nice), and around perennials in gardens in my front yard to help prevent weeds and look nice. Attached are 3 photos - the first is the backyard mulch area (from the brick border back to where the wooded tree area begins, you can kind of see where the previous owners had mulched though now there are weeds growing!), the other 2 photos are of the two gardens in the front yard that I'd like to mulch around the plants/tree. Questions: 1. I prefer not to use chemicals/plastics. Would you recommend putting several layers of newspaper down before putting the mulch (to help prevent weeds)? For both the backyard area and the frontyard gardens? Is there a good place to buy a lot of newspaper? 2. What depth of mulch for the backyard? What depth for the frontyard gardens? 3 inches for both? 3. I read online that the mulch should be 4-6 inches away from tree trunks. True? And is there a distance away from plants? 4. Would you recommend using weed killer in the backyard portion? If so, does that need to be applied 1 week before the mulch? (As I mentioned, I prefer not to use chemicals unless necessary, if the newspaper will work just as or almost as well I'd rather use that). 5. We were thinking of ordering Western Red Cedar Mulch. Thoughts? Here's a link: http://www.gertens.com/western-red-cedar-mulch-by-the-cubic-yard-9088.html 6. Do I need to add nitrogen fertilizer before the mulch in the garden? 7. For the parts that have had mulch previously, do I need to dig out the decomposed mulch or just leave it? 8. Any other suggestions? Thank you! Laura Calbone<personal data hidden>