I need help with a very basic project. Our new cedar fence was finally finished
Saturday, nine weeks after we ordered it and 4 weeks past passed the promised
completion date. This has created a perfect spot for a flower bed along the
fence.

But how do I turn the strip along the fence, which is now grass, into the
nicely cultivated soil of a flower bed?

I have to use basic garden tools, no power tools. Can I just turn the soil over
with a shovel, burying the grass, and then break up the soil? Will the grass
die under the soil or grow back? (The grass that was under the piles of soil
from the fence post holes sure seems dead after only a week.)

Or must I somehow kill or remove the grass first, before turning the soil?
Removing the grass without also taking a lot of top soil seems almost
impossible. Any advice on this would be appreciated.