"Suzanne D." wrote in message
...
"brooklyn1" wrote in message news:%YYRl.312
Unless one already has the plywood exterior ply doesn't come cheap... and
a 4' X 8" plot is not much gardening space... I'd not bother with less
than six sheets. And you still need to till, pick rocks, rake, amend,
and till and rake again, and again.

Well, no you wouldn't. If you start off by smothering the grasses with
plywood or some other solid surface, then you shouldn't till at all after
that. Tilling will just bring the submerged weed seeds to the surface and
you'll have the same problem over again. It's much better to smother
everything under where you want to plant (letting the old plants rot and
add nutrients to the soil), and then build on top of that to make new,
relatively weed-free soil. This is why I would advocate cardboard instead
of plywood (since cardboard can be left in place to decompose), but the
plywood *IS* a good idea if you can get it and don't mind moving it when
it comes time to plant.


Again, the original subject was Bermuda grass. Not your generic "weed". If
you don't get the vast majority of the roots out of the soil, you might as
well thrown handfuls of Bermuda grass seed.

The major thing I disagree with the prior post is you have to actually use
your hands to aid getting these roots out of the soil. One needs to use a
spading fork or shovel to bring up a big chunk of soil. Then, allow it to
dry. Then, break each chunk down to free all the subsurface plant material.
Then, you can use power tools.

A good deep rototilling will dispatch any weeds/grass so that those will
never grow again...

A good, deep rototilling will also dredge up dormant weed seeds and bring
them back to life. With my clayey, weedy soil, I have found it infinitely
better to leave the tiller in the garage, and just pile organic stuff on
top of cardboard to make rich, fertile garden plots that are virtually
weed-free.

Again, the subject "weed" is Bermuda grass. It grows right through organic
stackage, wet newspaper, and around solid objects beneath the surface. The
OP did not mention clay soil that I've seen so far, so I don't see the
applicability here. Bermuda grass seeds and germinates that season. Any
remnants are not of any consequence. Timing is what's important, early
spring.
--
Dave