The 4 ways to organically prep a lawn for a garden (in the summer)
Man, we sure do love turf grass here in suburbia. And why not? It stops erosion, keeps the dirt from tracking into your house, and can be a cozy barefoot space for summertime. But it takes a LOT of water to maintain, and we think a veggie garden is a much better use of space! #growfoodnotlawns, right?!
So you know you want to add a raised bed (or expand the one you have) and you want to do it yourself, but there’s a bunch of sod/grass/weeds in your way. Depending on the type of grass you have, you may or may not just be able to place the garden on top of it. Bermudagrass is the worst.
Here are a few ways to eliminate grass and prepare for a raised bed garden in Texas:
1) Solarizing.
Kill unwanted grass and weeds in the space you want to plant by using plastic to heat up the area and dry it out! First, measure out the space you want to place a raised bed or in-ground garden, including any borders or walkways, extend 6 inches all the way around beyond that. Scalp the grass and weeds with a string trimmer. Lay down black or clear plastic (garbage bags work, also!), secure it down so it won’t blow away with landscape staples, rocks, chairs, whatever you can find. Leave it for 2-4 weeks. That hot Texas sun will fry the grass below to soil to the roots. Next you can rake up the remains, or do a light hand-till (totally not necessary) to get up as many roots as you can. Then just place your raised bed frame and deep, rich organic soil right over it!
2) Vinegar.
Use 20% strength vinegar to kill the leafy tops of unwanted grass or weeds. (Hint: Grocery vinegar is likely 5% or 10%. You can boil it down to the correct strength, otherwise, you can purchase 20% at most local garden centers.)
Choose a non-windy, sunny, dry day when the temps are at least 60 degrees. Spray the vinegar over the tops of all the plants you want to kill – avoid those you don’t! Wait a few days, then reapply to any green you see. It will take a few applications to get it done. If you have bermudagrass or another strong, invasive weed, we prefer solarizing to vinegar.
3) Blow torch.
We’re not kidding. The civilized name of this product is “weed burner.” But let’s be real; it’s a blow torch. This uses the clean-burning propane gas to heat up the tops of weeds, inhibiting their ability to photosynthesize, thus killing them down to the root. This may also take a few times over several days to really kill the weeds to the roots so they don't return. And please, please be careful and prepared with a bucket of water in case you start a fire in your yard. This method is loud, and oh so satisfying.
4) Dig it up.
This is our favorite way to do it and the way we do it in the gardens we install. Dig up the grass either by hand or with a sod cutter. This allows all the leaves and a good amount of grass roots and rhizomes to be removed as well. It also loosens up the top 3 inches of earth so leveling the bed can be accomplished. Leveling is 100% vital to the health and longevity of your bed. We recommend this option the most, then following behind with #1 or #3 (or both).
Another effective approach that involves not removing grass at all is with a layer of cardboard underneath the bed. The cardboard will eventually breakdown, and by then the grass under the bed will be dead. This approach is only feasible for areas with very wimpy weeds or almost no plant life.
With any of the above methods, just remember that if there is any bare soil between or around your beds, you will have weeds (and a lot of them!) very soon. Any bare, exposed native soil should be covered, either with hardscape or 2-4 inches of heavy mulch.
Finally, we have to mention the method we DO NOT recommend.
In fact, we loath and strongly discourage it: That’s the use of toxic, chemical herbicides containing a product called glyphosate, the most popular being Roundup. (There are other toxic herbicides, none of which we recommend, but this is a popular one.) Some say evidence supports this being a safe product. We say it does not. There’s evidence (and big dollar lawsuits) indicating Roundup causes blood cancer. Anything you put in the soil can affect, not only your garden, but your neighbors' garden and the environment of the soil underneath. Just don’t do it.
We hope you get inspiration from this post and remember, if you have the heart of the DIY’er and feel stuck, we are here to help with virtual coaching so you can move past the obstacles and make it happen - because the planting season waits for no one!