Garden Edging

As long as the newspaper or mulch isn't coming in contact with wood it's a workable idea. You can't just lay it on top of live grass or weeds, and expect it to work. You'll have to kill as much of the growth as you can. Hit it with RoundUp, let it die, and mow it down as best you can before putting the newspaper and mulch on. (You only need to wet down the newspaper if the wind is blowing it away before you can get the mulch on it to weight it down.

Don't forget to use an edger to slice-off the roots of the running grass below the surface, and regularly edge it. The problem with grass isn't so much what's on top, but those runners. If you don't edge it regularly, all your work this year will just need to be redone two years from now.

Never tried that, but I've found bricks or narrow pavers are a good way to go. Place them right at the soil level, and the wheels of the mower will ride on them & take care of the grass edge. Obviously, this costs, but it's permanent. And, the stones don't cause any problems when you periodically need to go around with a spade or edging tool to cut the grass runners.

Yes you can.

Yup. All edging does is slow down those runners. If you keep on top of the runners, you don't need edging.

sdb