if i want to kill some grass. can i put dirt and mulch on top of it?
will this kill it off in a few days or will the grass grow through it?
thanks

Requester wrote:

if i want to kill some grass. can i put dirt and mulch on top of it?
will this kill it off in a few days or will the grass grow through it?
thanks



Dirt will kill grass if it's applied thick enough, but it has to be
about a foot thick. Otherwise some of the grass will find its way
through.

The woven polypropylene ground covers are fairly effective at killing
grass, but it takes a year or more. Note that if you walk on the area
during this period you will contribute to soil compaction. Plant roots
tend to loosen up the soil.

Clear plastic will kill grass a little quicker by (1) denying the grass
water and (2) raising the temperature during sunny days. Again, it takes
a while, and this approach may also drive soil life out of the area.

The best way without using herbicides is probably to remove the sod
(along with the roots) and either stack it somewhere to compost or use
it on other areas that need it. Then plant your garden and prepare to
keep weeding, since you won't have gotten all the grass.

If you put dirt or mulch on top of the grass it will grow up through it in a
few days. You can put weed killer on the unwanted grass and it will get rid
of it, the only thing is you will have to wait a week before planting
anything there.




"Requester" wrote in message
om...
if i want to kill some grass. can i put dirt and mulch on top of it?
will this kill it off in a few days or will the grass grow through it?
thanks

Requester wrote:

if i want to kill some grass. can i put dirt and mulch on top of it?
will this kill it off in a few days or will the grass grow through it?
thanks


I usually put down a 5 or 6 sheet layer of newspaper down, then put
mulch on top of it (5-6 inches) and pull by hand anything that manages
to get through. Has worked extremely well for me so far. The down side
is that you have to wait a while for the method to work. Generally, I
get this done over summer, and it is ready to plant by next spring.

Suja

In article , Suja wrote:

Requester wrote:

if i want to kill some grass. can i put dirt and mulch on top of it?
will this kill it off in a few days or will the grass grow through it?
thanks


I usually put down a 5 or 6 sheet layer of newspaper down, then put
mulch on top of it (5-6 inches) and pull by hand anything that manages
to get through. Has worked extremely well for me so far. The down side
is that you have to wait a while for the method to work. Generally, I
get this done over summer, and it is ready to plant by next spring.

Suja

I put down cardboard or a dozen layers of newspaper & cover it with a much
smaller amount of sterile compost, so it looks like a rich black loamy
patch of soil. It does the grass in extremely well.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

(Requester) wrote in message . com...
if i want to kill some grass. can i put dirt and mulch on top of it?
will this kill it off in a few days or will the grass grow through it?
thanks

Not stupid. The *answer* turns out to be *answers*, and there was a
fairly lengthy exchange (45 posts) on the subject just recently. See
the thread in rec.gardens entitled "How Soon To Plant After Using
Roundup?", which was most recently posted to on 5/13 (by someone who
thought he was posting to a discussion of squirrels eating tulip
leaves, but that's not important now).