I want to tear out some grass and lay down mulch. Whats the easiest/cheapest way for me to do that??
Question:Should I kill the grass then pull it up, or tear it out?
Answers:
Leave the grass where it is, put down a barrier, then put down the mulch. A good, cheap, easy way to do this is to use cardboard that you can gather from your local recycling depot. Cut it in the shapes you want. Use several layers to make sure no grass can get through it. Then pile the mulch on top. Eventually, the cardboard will break down. By then, the grass will be thoroughly dead. You'll have nice healthy, composed soil under your mulch for your new plants to grow in. You won't be exposed to dangerous chemicals. And the labor is minimal.
mark the territory with chalk then use Round Up ..but do it on a day no wind is blowing. grass will die root and all. mulch over top.
What we did was scrap the sod off the top with a landscaping square shovel. Not easy work, but once you get under the sod, you can scrap along underneath and peel it off. Then work the area up with a rototiller and if too small, you might have to use a lot of hard work using a trowel or spade. We mixed in peat moss to get the soil all nice and loose. Then you can place mulch over the prepared area.
You'd do just as much digging if you kill it first. Save yourself the time. My question is why you would do this. Are you making a planting bed? If so, you need more than mulch. If not, then I recommend laying down a weed barrier cloth under the mulch, otherwise you'll have all kinds of stuff sprout up from underneath.
what i have found the easiest way is mark where you will be tearing the grass up then soak the area with the hose get the grass and soil super wet then use a square shovel and it will dig right up... make sure its real wet, that is the easiest i have come across.♥
I am slowly converting my grass lawn into paths and flowerbeds, so for 2 years I have been digging up grass. There is no easy way to do this. It's cheap, because all you need is a shovel and some muscles. I dig up the grass, shake the excess dirt out of it, and discard the grass. I get very dirty. Yes, you can use a grass-killer first, but you will still have to dig up the grass.
If, however, you are not adding a flowerbed, merely creating a blank mulched area, you may lay down weed-barrier fabric over your grass and place mulch over the fabric. I have done this also!
I like the total vegetation killer that kills it all! and then you can still dig it up if you feel the need or just rake the dead stuff off..
Seems the easiest ,least backbreaking to me.
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