Hello

I have created a new flower bed area running the side of my garden (20 meters on each side of the garden). The area was once grass and I had someone remove soil and then grass. I still see bits of grass around and it seems it been a bad job by the labourer. I will be adding 50mm of new top soil but today I had pulled hidden grass roots. I am not sure if grass will grow through the new soil.

I questions are;
1. Will grass grow through the new 50mm soil?
2. Is there anything I can do to the existing soil (bits of grass) before adding new soil?
3. Are there any chemical based products that I can use to kill grass and when should it be applied (before or after new top soil)?

Thanks
Rasik

rasik wrote:

I have created a new flower bed area running the side of my garden (20
meters on each side of the garden). The area was once grass and I had
someone remove soil and then grass. I still see bits of grass around
and it seems it been a bad job by the labourer. I will be adding 50mm
of new top soil but today I had pulled hidden grass roots. I am not
sure if grass will grow through the new soil.

I questions are;
1. Will grass grow through the new 50mm soil?

Yes, definitely.

2. Is there anything I can do to the existing soil (bits of grass)
before adding new soil?

Till the entire area removing roots and rocks and then till in the new
soil to about a 6" depth.

3. Are there any chemical based products that I can use to kill grass
and when should it be applied (before or after new top soil)?

There are plenty of products that will kill grass but they will also
kill your new plantings... there is no need to use any chemical
defolients. Prevent grass/weeds with a good layer of mulch... medium
pine bark pellets work very well for flower beds. For long strip beds
roll out heavy duty weed block cloth and then cover with pine bark
mulch to about a 4" depth. Cut slits in the cloth to insert your
plants. Good quality garden cloth should last some 20 years.
This one costs a bit more but it is truly heavy duty:
http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/p...t=2,2300,33272

On 1/22/12 6:14 AM, rasik wrote:
Hello

I have created a new flower bed area running the side of my garden (20
meters on each side of the garden). The area was once grass and I had
someone remove soil and then grass. I still see bits of grass around
and it seems it been a bad job by the labourer. I will be adding 50mm
of new top soil but today I had pulled hidden grass roots. I am not
sure if grass will grow through the new soil.

I questions are;
1. Will grass grow through the new 50mm soil?
2. Is there anything I can do to the existing soil (bits of grass)
before adding new soil?
3. Are there any chemical based products that I can use to kill grass
and when should it be applied (before or after new top soil)?

Thanks
Rasik

Small pieces of grass that include a stem joint can sprout roots. To
eliminate this, you must sift the existing soil, which can be quite a
chore. And yes, grass can grow up through 5 cm of soil.

There are herbicides available here in the U.S. that are specific for
killing grass and that do not affect most non-grass plants. I don't
know if they are available in the U.K. If they are, I would be careful
about using such an herbicide around any monocot (e.g., bulbs) since
grass itself is a monocot. I have successfully used such an herbicide
on a large slope that is planted with dicots (e.g., ivy, daisies).

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

rasik wrote:
Hello

I have created a new flower bed area running the side of my garden (20
meters on each side of the garden). The area was once grass and I had
someone remove soil and then grass. I still see bits of grass around
and it seems it been a bad job by the labourer. I will be adding 50mm
of new top soil but today I had pulled hidden grass roots. I am not
sure if grass will grow through the new soil.

I questions are;
1. Will grass grow through the new 50mm soil?
2. Is there anything I can do to the existing soil (bits of grass)
before adding new soil?
3. Are there any chemical based products that I can use to kill grass
and when should it be applied (before or after new top soil)?

Thanks
Rasik




Grass roots can be quite deep. A polo ground in California bragged that
their grass roots were over six feet deep. I'm sure that the type of
grass, the structure of the soil, and the care given the grass can all
affect how deep the roots grow.

rasik wrote:
Hello

I have created a new flower bed area running the side of my garden (20
meters on each side of the garden). The area was once grass and I had
someone remove soil and then grass. I still see bits of grass around
and it seems it been a bad job by the labourer. I will be adding 50mm
of new top soil but today I had pulled hidden grass roots. I am not
sure if grass will grow through the new soil.

I questions are;
1. Will grass grow through the new 50mm soil?

yes

2. Is there anything I can do to the existing soil (bits of grass)
before adding new soil?

dig them out or poison them, you choose

3. Are there any chemical based products that I can use to kill grass
and when should it be applied (before or after new top soil)?


Yes, before.

An additional issue is how will you keep the grass out of the bed in future.
Consider an edging that will stop runners and that you can mow right up to.

David

In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

rasik wrote:
Hello

I have created a new flower bed area running the side of my garden (20
meters on each side of the garden). The area was once grass and I had
someone remove soil and then grass. I still see bits of grass around
and it seems it been a bad job by the labourer. I will be adding 50mm
of new top soil but today I had pulled hidden grass roots. I am not
sure if grass will grow through the new soil.

I questions are;
1. Will grass grow through the new 50mm soil?

yes

2. Is there anything I can do to the existing soil (bits of grass)
before adding new soil?

dig them out or poison them, you choose

3. Are there any chemical based products that I can use to kill grass
and when should it be applied (before or after new top soil)?


Yes, before.

An additional issue is how will you keep the grass out of the bed in future.
Consider an edging that will stop runners and that you can mow right up to.

David

Cover the area with several layers of newspaper, or a layer of cardboard
before you add the soil.
--

Billy

E Pluribus Unum

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.