what to do with grass

p.h.baker

ok i have a small lawn (3x2m) in front of the house....wifey wants to create a planting bed instead.....so....i was going to spend hrs and muscle digging up the grass,,,digging over the ground....weeding etc then planting and topping off with some sort of chippings.......BUT....i watched tonights GW episode......the "no dig" episode.....

Im wondering if i can pinch an idea......how about instead of digging up sods.....i cover the grass with some black liner ofd sorts....then plant directly through the liner into the turf....then top off with chippings,...

do we think this would work ? would it kill the sods to provide nutrients or would the grass just keep on growing up through ?

thoughts ladies and gents please ?

thank you  

Paul.

Obelixx

I think that if you want the new plants to do well and get their roots down and find all the nutrients and water they will need, you need to put in some effort and improve the soil so:

Either strip off the grass turf and dig it over to remove any deep rooted weeds and then again to work in plenty of soil conditioning compost and then rake level and plant and water.

Or build a frame to cover the grass like chappy did on GW and fill it with good quality compost and then plant and water.

hogweed

Pitting a membrane down on the grass and planting throigh the holes will not work as the grass will just grow through the holes and get tangled up in the roots of the plants and then you are on the rocky road to disaster. 

Papi Jo

I can unreservedly recommend the "lasagne" method which I have quite successfully used when I widened 2 of mixed borders recently.

You will find lots of websites explaining variations on the method, but here's mine.

- best time of year : autumn

- mow the grass as short as you can

- if weather & soil is very dry, water it

- spread cardboard sheets all over the lawn you want to treat, do not leave any surface uncovered, you may add newspapers too

-cover the cardboard with grass cuttings, compost, various debris, etc.

- leave in place until following Spring

- normally you will find that the cardboard has entirely been "digested" by earthworms, now you can dig

Obelixx

I hardly think an area just 3m x 2m needs a rotavator.    I like the lasagne method and plan to use it myself in this new garden but I don't think it's very attractive as a system for a front garden, especially if the OP's wife wants her garden this year.