Grass removal?

retired member 2 4/2/2011, 3:47 pm

How paticular was everyone when removing the grass prior to putting down a weed barrier in their SFG beds? It is hard to chip away at the thin layer of grass/weeds that is growing on the slate where my beds are going and I was just wondering how pickey I need to be about this.

ashort 4/2/2011, 4:06 pm

I think it depends upon the kind of grass - if it is Bermuda or St. Augustine then I would go to the effort....

BackyardBirdGardner 4/2/2011, 4:23 pm

Ditto above. Bermuda, however, will also come in from the sides, but weedblock seriously cuts down what comes up from underneath.

I don't worry about grass. I don't even weedblock. I just dump the MM right on top of the grass. Never had a problem and built 5 beds the past two years.

**rowena___.** 4/2/2011, 8:45 pm

i don't remove the grass under my boxes, i leave it to decompose and enrich the soil. i use a layer of dry leaves on top of the grass, then a layer of cardboard, newspaper, paper bags--whatever i have at the time--a thick layer to separate the decomposing grass from the mix in the box. the earthworms come for the leaves and they stay for the cardboard. eventually they make their way into the mix proper and then i'll slip them a little treat from time to time to thank them and to encourage them to stick around.

a friend dug up her sod and turned it over, so the grass was buried but still left to decompose in place. if i were more energetic i'd do the same.

**camprn** 4/2/2011, 9:00 pm

Because I didn't want to use weed barrier I removed all the sod before I put down my boxes. Then I stacked the sod in a pile, grass side down next to my compost area. This year it is a huge pile of compost/soil mix that I will use for flower garden. Very Happy

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