Is There an Easy Way to Remove a Lawn?

[June]

My lawn is not doing well. It is brown and bumpy and looks bad no matter how much I water it. I am thinking of getting rid of it. Is there an easy way to remove a lawn?

[Michael]

The lawn is becoming less popular as more people recognize the environmental costs - they require a lot of water and fertilizer, and they are typically mowed with gas powered equipment. Environmentally friendly alternatives to the lawn are growing in popularity.

There are several effective approaches to removing the old lawn. A little knowledge of the species that inhabit your lawn will help you choose your options.

If your lawn does not include any drought tolerant species, you can stop watering and dry it out. When the lawn is dead, you can plant new plants into it. That's easy....

But most lawns in our area include dwarf tall fescue grass, which will go brown during periods of drought, and revive when the rains come. These lawns can stripped off the surface of the soil. Let the soil dry out some before you dig - wet clay soil is very gummy. Use shovels or mattocks to skim a 1- 2" layer of soil and lawn roots. You can compost the grass, or just leave the clumps in place and let them die. Then plant your new plants, using the old lawn as mulch.

Sheet mulching is another option. Lay a solid blanket of cardboard on the old lawn. Cover it with a layer of wood chips. You can get chips for free from the local tree trimmers, or buy them from a garden supply center. If the soil has nutrient problems, you can spread a layer of compost on top of the cardboard before spreading the chips. This blanket will kill the old lawn within a few months. Then plant new plants - first slice through the cardboard to expose the soil. Sheet mulching is a good way to suppress most weeds.

But, if the lawn includes Bermuda grass or Kikuyu grass - two common and very aggressive species - they will survive the above mentioned techniques. They do not mind drought or cover. They can be controlled by careful and thorough digging, except where they have established roots under paving or among the roots of landscape plants you wish to keep. In this case, you might decide to apply herbicide. Both species are vulnerable to Roundup. Herbicide use under these circumstances is a compromise sustainable landscape managers sometimes make.

With the old lawn gone, you get to choose what to put in its place - a patio of stone, gravel, or wood chips? A native meadow? A shrub and perennial planting with paths providing access? There are many wonderful choices.

Good luck and happy gardening,

Michael

[June]

Thank you! They are pretty simple approach. I'll try it. It'll take me many days to remove the lawn but it is the right thing to do. Thanks again for the advice!

[amor]

Interesting! I just went to a talk "Saving the World From Your Own Backyard". They talked about removing a lawn with sheet mulching and replacing with drought tolerant plants. It seems that convert a lawn to a native garden makes a lot of sense. We are not living in England where it rains most of the year to keep the lawn and other plants green all year round. We are living in California which it rains in the winter months and dry most of the year. Thus we use a lot of precious water to water our lawns to keep them green. Then apply fertilizer and water again to help them grow. Then we cut them short. That is wasting a lot of resources and our precious time, or money if your hire a gardener. umm... May be a native garden is what we need!!

I also learned about composting. It is easier than I thought. In a compost bin, mix in about 50% green (grass clipping, yard trimmings, fruit & vegetables) and 50% brown (dried leaves, straw, newspaper, cardboard) and some water. You can turn the pile once or twice a week and get compost in about 2 months. If you want the easy way out like me, just leave it there it will turn into compost eventually! It is a lot better than let it going to the landfill and become methane gas which is worse than CO2.

[smko]

I found sheet mulching is the easiest and most environmentally friendly. There is no need to dig or to use chemical to kill the grass. You save time and save money. First, soak the grass. Then use cardboard or newspaper to cover the old lawn. Make sure the cardboard/newspaper overlap about 6 inches and not letting the sun shine through. Add 3 or more inches of compost on top of the cardboard. Lay drip system on top of compost. Add 3 or more inches of mulch or woodchips on top. If you plant small plants you can just plant them in the compost immediately without waiting for the cardboard to decompose. For larger plants, plant them before sheet mulch or wait 3 months after the cardboard decomposed. Ideally, it's best to do it in the fall to let the rain to do the watering. But it can be done anytime, you just have to turn on the sprinklers.

[dianed]

It doesn't sound difficult at all. It may take a little time. This will be my next project. No weeds and no mowing!

[Stanleys]

Mowing is a one thing that you will consider because having a lawn can give a good relaxation in the eyes it achieve creativity to involve a certain things given.

[Grahamson]

Renting a sod cutter is the best way to remove a lawn.

[smko]

If you can just cover the lawn with newspaper or cardboard and let them decompose, why would you rent a sod cutter? Newspaper and cardboard (collect them every time you go to the supermarket) are free and you can even ask your kids to help spread them out. Turn it into a family project, I'm sure your family would enjoy spending time with you and helping to save water and money.

[healthydecode]

Start by mowing the turf as low as possible, and then leveling the contours by spading sod and soil from high spots into low ones.

Next, saturate the soil with water, then dig a trough 8 to 12 inches wide and 3 inches deep around the turf you're removing. The trough furnishes space for anchoring the biodegradable material in place and allows the runoff to penetrate the soil.

Cover the lawn with either cardboard or multiple layers of newspaper. (With paper, the process takes longer, and the newspapers are harder to hold in place.)

Wet down each layer as you apply it, and arrange the pieces so they overlap 6 to 8 inches, since any grass that pokes through will continue to grow after sheet-mulching is completed. It will take roughly six to eight weeks for the material to decompose completely.