Killing Large Areas of Grass

[Jonny Klobber]

You will have to work your a_s off to maintain the bed-line to the grass area. Its a lot of extra work that only a landscaping co should take on. The photo above is a low-maintenance easy to care for now. You and make it into a hard-to-manage area very easily by adding a lot of flashing and bed areas. If it were me, I would add native shrubs and trees to the area as is to keep maintenance down.

You do have a point there...

 

[cpp gardener]

Missed the pic. Don't do the plastic close to the trees. It will kill them too.

 

[Jonny Klobber]

Missed the pic. Don't do the plastic close to the trees. It will kill them too.

I won't. I'm actually rethinking my strategy here, based on oneeye's advice. My original goal was to minimize maintenance by getting rid of the grass (I hate mowing, I hate paying somebody to mow, I hate the sound of mowers, and I prefer more of a grass-less forest look), but maintaining grass-free beds that are surrounded by grass seems like it would be a battle I'd never win, and expecting to create an environment that will discourage grass from growing around and under the trees in the short term would clearly be an exercise in futility since I'd need lots of big trees providing lots of shade, which isn't really possible when you're starting with just a field of grass...

So I may just dig out as much grass as I can when planting the trees, mulch around them all to give them a good chance to settle in without having to compete with grass and weeds, and eventually just let the grass grow where it wants to grow. And suck it up and pay the young guy who lives down the street to mow our yard once every two weeks.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I'm planning to remove several large patches of grass in our front yard and do a lot of tree/shrub planting in those areas this September. Trying to decide the best way to do this. I've done a bit of reading and have found that the following options should work:

1. Spraying the areas with Roundup or Bonide Kleenup.

2. Smothering the grass with plastic or some other sort of material.

I would prefer to avoid spraying anything like Roundup or Kleenup if I can avoid it, so was leaning towards option 2. And I realize that using this method could take a few months to finish the job, so now would be the perfect time to get going with that if I plan to do my plantings in mid September... I was thinking that I could just put large tarps out over the areas I want to remove, and hold them in place with rocks... Or... Maybe I could cover the grass with something else (not sure what) and then mulch over it and leave it like that for a few months. Would something like cardboard work well for this? I guess it would need to be biodegradable so that I could just plant through it without having to pull plastic out from under the mulch... I should add that the grass is mostly rye grass (and lots of clover, creeping charlie and various weeds too!)...

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

12 months it takes. Plants are not up all year unless they are evergreens. Many start growing in the fall, others the spring.

 

[MiniOrchardDude]

I know. I don’t want any grass though. Methodically getting rid of all of it.

I with you on that, I hate grass! I covered my entire garden with cardboard and then wood chips. Took years to find a tree company to drop off chips. Finally found someone and get them whenever I run out all for free. I just make sure to tip the driver and when I need a tree removed I give hin the job. Don't bother getting quotes from someone else. He started planting fruit trees and has been asking a lot of questions so Im always trying to helo him. Offered to prune his trees. Went through 3 truckloads already this year. Finishing up the 4th load but because of the heat not laying much now.

I wouldn't use plastic or fabric. You will regret it later. Cardboard will decompose within a year maybe faster depending on how much water you get. It will also attract the worms. Just make sure to remove all the plastic tape and any staples. Don't use cardboard that is shinny it might be toxic. This has worked very well for me. Just keep in mind as the chips decomposes you need to add more chips or you'll start getring weeds. As the years pass you will end up with a nice layer of rich soft soil.

MOD

 

[Jonny Klobber]

I with you on that, I hate grass! I covered my entire garden with cardboard and then wood chips. Took years to find a tree company to drop off chips. Finally found someone and get them whenever I run out all for free. I just make sure to tip the driver and when I need a tree removed I give hin the job. Don't bother getting quotes from someone else. He started planting fruit trees and has been asking a lot of questions so Im always trying to helo him. Offered to prune his trees. Went through 3 truckloads already this year. Finishing up the 4th load but because of the heat not laying much now.

I wouldn't use plastic or fabric. You will regret it later. Cardboard will decompose within a year maybe faster depending on how much water you get. It will also attract the worms. Just make sure to remove all the plastic tape and any staples. Don't use cardboard that is shinny it might be toxic. This has worked very well for me. Just keep in mind as the chips decomposes you need to add more chips or you'll start getring weeds. As the years pass you will end up with a nice layer of rich soft soil.

MOD

Thanks, MiniOrchardDude. Nice to encounter someone else who shares my feelings about grass!

 

[pepper]

Thanks, MiniOrchardDude. Nice to encounter someone else who shares my feelings about grass!

I share those feelings about grass too lol.

 

[pepper]

I with you on that, I hate grass! I covered my entire garden with cardboard and then wood chips. Took years to find a tree company to drop off chips. Finally found someone and get them whenever I run out all for free. I just make sure to tip the driver and when I need a tree removed I give hin the job. Don't bother getting quotes from someone else. He started planting fruit trees and has been asking a lot of questions so Im always trying to helo him. Offered to prune his trees. Went through 3 truckloads already this year. Finishing up the 4th load but because of the heat not laying much now.

I wouldn't use plastic or fabric. You will regret it later. Cardboard will decompose within a year maybe faster depending on how much water you get. It will also attract the worms. Just make sure to remove all the plastic tape and any staples. Don't use cardboard that is shinny it might be toxic. This has worked very well for me. Just keep in mind as the chips decomposes you need to add more chips or you'll start getring weeds. As the years pass you will end up with a nice layer of rich soft soil.

MOD

Approximately how many inches of chips did you have to add before the grass stopped growing threw it? There is a section I'd like to try it on.

 

[MiniOrchardDude]

I cut the grass as short as possible first. Lay down the cardboard. The cardboard is the key the chips just keep the cardboard in place and cover the ground when the cardboard breaks down. You can get away with any amouth of chip depth as long as it covers the cardboard. Youll just have to add more chips when they break down. Therefore I usually add as much chips depth as I can. Just keep in mind if you plant in that area you need to dig a decent size hole to build up the soil to the surface of chips or have your plants below the chip level. I build up the soil so I dont create a pool for water.

The tree below I had already planted them elevated with the intent to lay chips arpund it.

MOD