I'm blocking weeds before they sprout by using this old newspaper trick in my garden borders – it's a super easy, expert-backed method to stop them in their tracks

Spring flowers in garden border.

After winter, my garden borders always seem to look a little worse for wear. And by early spring, they tend to feel quite messy, and I know all too well that once the weather warms up properly, weeds will start popping up in their droves.

In the height of spring/summer, they seem to appear overnight, and no matter how often I head out with my trusty root slayer, it can feel impossible to keep up with them once they get going. So I've been looking at ways to get rid of weeds naturally before they even have the chance to appear.