Removing sod for landscaping around the house.....

[JacobMHD]

We moved into a new house last summer and planted grass in the yard right up next to the house. This year we plan to put down blocks for edging. I am looking for the easiest way to remove the grass where the mulch and block will be going. I started using a flat garden shovel to cut the sod and roll it up but I really don't need the sod and I would rather keep the extra elevation we current have without bringing in more top soil. Besides, it is really hard work and I like to work smarter rather than harder. Is it safe for me to use a ground clear product to kill the grass in the areas we want? How concerned should I be of killing grass that we don't want killed? The area in question is approximately 3' wide and 150' long.

[Steve Foss]

Roundup is the easiest solution.

It'll kill the grass within a week or two, and then you can just till it all up and either rake out the dead grass/roots or leave it in as a tool to lighten the soil a bit. Roundup dissipates after application and will not harm things planted afterward. I wait about two weeks before planting.

I have also killed zones of grass along buildings, waited a week or so, put in edging, planted shrubs and perennials and then mulched the new beds, all without tilling or removing the dead grass. Works just fine that way.

Spray on a calm day (no drift of spray) when it isn't going to rain for a couple of hours or more, so the Roundaup has a chance to bind to the grass blades. You can use a can of spray paint to mark the spray line 3 feet out from your house, or stakes and string. By keeping the spray head close to the grass along the border between the spray zone and the desired lawn, you'll have a fairly sharp line of demarcation.

These days you can buy Roundup ready-mixed in gallon containers, complete with pump and spray handles, at most any big box home store or garden center.

[JacobMHD]

Thanks Steve. That was the answer I was hoping for.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Personally I would rent a sod cutter.

You can cut the grass out 2-3" deep so you get the roots and all, and you have bare soil to start your process.

If you till everything, it's going to be soft and mushy to put the block in, unless you put the block around the edge of the tilled ground.

You should be able to cut out 450 sq ft in about an hour.

The machine is about 20" wide, so a trip and and a trip back and you'd be set.

Then you can use the shovel to cut the sod / grass into small enough pieces to throw into a wheelbarrow or tractor bucket.

[Jameson]

Use round-up.

Look into renting a Bed Edger/ Trencher with a SQUARE head on it to cut your trench for your blocks.

[Steve Foss]

Thanks Steve. That was the answer I was hoping for.

No prob, Jacob.

LwnmwnMan2's way is my way, too, but there are a lot of ways to skin a cat.

If ease is your prime concern, I'd take the option of leaving the grass intact after it's dead, planting right in it and doing the edging between bed and good grass, then mulching. If it hasn't been that long since you seeded, there probably won't be a thick heavy turf built up. I'd also mow the grass short before applying the Roundup, but give it a day or two after that so the grass has rebounded and is actively growing before application. Roundup and most herbicides kill most effectively when the plant is growing hard. By mowing it short, you're making it easier yet to mulch over it.

I use a flat spade to cut flat square trenches for the blocks.

Good luck with your project.

If I may ask, what are your plans for plants and mulch? One reason I ask is that a 3-foot border isn't especially deep unless the smallest shrubs, or any of a wide variety of perennials, are going in.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Use round-up.

Look into renting a Bed Edger/ Trencher with a SQUARE head on it to cut your trench for your blocks.

Yes, the Bed Edger is a good idea as well.

The round-up will work.

I just like mulching over areas that are bare dirt. I have some properties where they mulched areas, but the turf / weeds weren't completely dead under the mulch.

You don't realize it until the weeds / grass grow through the mulch, which you can then hit with roundup again, but then you have the dead plant sticking up through the mulch, until you manually pull it.