i am turning lawn into a vegi patch i am digging the grass up can i turn it over or do i need to remove grass

Question

the grass i have dug up am i best trying to keep as much soil of the roots as possible or can i discard it all.my wife mentioned that we should keep this something to do with top soil and secondry soil

Answer 1

OK .... if you turn it over the grass will seek the sun and you will just have more grass. Breaking apart the roots works for a little while, until they recover and start producing grass again, lol. I garden avidly. I have found that removing the entire chunk of grass and roots is the only way to keep more grass from springing up in no time at all! The only alternative which works well is to block all sunlight and as much moisture as possible for an entire season... ex: when I am planning a new bed in the fall to be begun in spring I layer the area thickly with newspaper and then a 6 inch topping of mulch. I let this decay over the winter and basically it kills off most of what was previously there and enriches the soil. In the spring add compost, peat and manure and you have a soil which will grow anything! Back to grass: I took the chunks of grass and roots and piled them up in an area of my yard where I knew I would later be making raised beds. Eventually the stuff at the bottom rotted away and I used a tiller to break it all up and form the foundation of said raised beds. Back to your veggie garden. I would get rid of the grass and roots and also consider adding at least a foot of enriched topsoil, a good amount of peat and manure and put retaining brick or lumber around it, since it will now be a raised bed and you don't want the topsoil running off every time it rains or you water. Within this bed, form hills in rows. Plant your seeds or seedlings in the top of the hills. This causes what you plant to get better air circulation (important for preventing decay and mold) as well as forcing your plants to go deeper for moisture and thereby forming a much healthier root base. A healthier root base yields a plant which yields more produce. Water at ground level if at all possible. Wet leaves invite mold, rot and insects. Mulch heavily between the rows with grass clippings. They smell for a couple weeks as they rot, but they will enrich the soil for next year and keep away many weeds and bugs, especially pesky old ants. Next year, till up the soil and plant again, only be sure to rotate your veggies.... don't plant the same thing in the same spot yr after yr .... it depletes the same nutrients over and over leaving you with poor quality soil. You will find that this approach to gardening usually yields the best veggies and/or flowers. Good luck and have fun.

Answer 2

The problem with removing the grass it that you are also removing your topsoil. That would be the part of the ground with most of the organic content in it which is what helps your garden grow. I'd suggest you just get a tiller and till the grass up a few times. This will usually kill the grass although you may get some growing back. If you remove the grass then I'd buy enough topsoil to cover your garden about 2 inches and then till that into the soil.

Answer 3

Definitely remove the old grass but shake the soil off as much as you can back into the patch you removed it from. You don't want to turn it over because that is basically just like planting it all over again!!!! You might like to enrich the soil with peat and a good load of topsoil and some old compost.

Answer 4

If you leave in colder climate where the grass are seasonal, turning it over is OK, it won't grow back.
If you're in warmer climate, the type of grass is usually perennial (Bermuda grass, paspallum..) don't turn it over, removing it won't works as any small part of the will grow back.
Don't use most of the herbicides as they will prevent the growth of the vegetables.
The best way is to use Round-up (glyphosate) on the grass when it is healthy & growing. Keep watering the grass if needed, wait 2-4 weeks until the grass dies, then turn it over, it will add organic matter to you patch. (always good in a soil.)

Answer 5

G'day Dave,
If you build up the garden bed with news papers, over lapping and layer with top soil, mulch, compost, sugar cane mulch what ever you have. Even you can use carboard first, it will breck down and stop any grass growing through. Trust me, this will save you time and money. Don't forget to water well.
I know this as I have tryed it myself and no grass at all, I got it from a book called lasagna gardening by Patricia Lanza.
Look on ebay, you might pick up a cheap copy.
Good luck, I hope this helps you.
Happy gardening
Rob

Answer 6

If you have bermuda Definitely remove it; and don't worry about the topsoil, just be sure to get as much of the root as possible. If it is fescue-I suggest you lay some boards or dark plastic on the spot for about a week, then till it under.

Either way you should add some organic matter (such as a compost material) to the area and till it in also. If your soil is heavy add some topsoil along with the organic matter to help loosen it up.

Answer 7

remove the grass as much as you can, put into compost and buy some top soil for your vegi patch. then when you need to feed your veg you can use the compost. Good luck with your veg growing ! A very rewarding hobby.

Answer 8

if you are in no hurry for the veg patch. then when you dig it turn the grass over and make sure that you have none of the grass showing. this will rot down i have done this many times before.
or remove and get as much soil off as poss, and i would put in compost bin.

Answer 9

i would remove the grass,you don't want to have a problem with grass growing in the garden just replace the top soil that was removed

Answer 10

Try lasagna gardening! Just lay large flattened cardboard boxes or thick layers of wet newspeper (like 1/2" thick) on the area you want to convert to garden. Soak well, then cover with layers of compostable mulch: raked grass, dried leaves, whatever you have on hand. Ideally, finish with a layer of compost or aged manure - that will enable you to start planting the garden right away, while the layers below slowly break down. By the time the veggie roots reach the cardboard or newspaper layer, it will have softened enough for the roots to penetrate.