I get asked all the time how we removed our grass and I kept meaning to write it down.
As you probably know, I’m pretty anti-lawn. We have a small yard, so having grass was a big burden to keep up. There are some grasses that are low-impact on the environment (less watering and you use natural fertilizers) and if you’re diligent and don’t live in a rain forest you can manage the weeds without chemicals. If we had a huge yard we’d probably have some grass, but something low-maintenance for sure. In our little yard we opted to remove all the grass. We started with the front yard, and by “we,” I mean, our friend who was staying with us for a month in between jobs. He removed all of the grass from the front yard.
If you want to remove grass there are a few different methods:
The absolute best (most effective) thing to do is dig it all out. Grass is so resilient (stubborn) and surprisingly hard to kill, digging it out will save you time later, even though it’s harder now. Yes, it’s a lessen in not cutting corners. What do you do with all that grass? We used the grass tufts to create mounds in our front yard and to build up the bottoms of planter boxes for filler. The rest we put in our compost bin. Even doing this there is still grass growing along the edges of the sidewalk. But MUCH easier to rip out. To remove the grass we used a trenching shovel. Regular shovels require you to dig too deep and the sharp angle and narrow blade allowed it slide right under the grass mats. You’ll want to dig out dandelions and weeds after you get all the grass up. Maybe there’s another way? We already had this shovel, but there might be an actual tool for this. I usually only buy tools if I know I’ll use them for years and we only needed to remove all the grass once.
The next best method is cover the grass with a weed tarp or cardboard and rocks to hold the cardboard down and let it die. It doesn’t take too long. In Oregon in the summer it’s so hot and dry that it dies very quickly.
The only other thing that kills grass is roundup, but you probably don’t want to use that. Or you shouldn’t because it causes cancer and still won’t keep it dead. (“won’t keep it dead.” Thank you 2020.)
When is the best time to removed grass?
This is very dependent on where you live and which method you choose. For method #1, late winter/early spring is best, because the soil will be soft and the shovel will be able to rip the grass out easily. If you wait until summer, the ground will be too dry and hard. If you choose method #2, you should wait until the dead of summer. You don’t necessarily need to weed tarp if it gets hot and dry enough where you live. Simply stop watering and wait. Weed tarp, plastic, or cardboard will help speed the process along.
We removed the grass from the front yard in the fall (September) and the back yard this spring (April).
In the front yard and the back garden bed, we put in a layer of wood chips. My husband is an arborist so we were able to procure enough wood chips for our house and everyone on our street. My husband and our friend spread all the chips over the course of a few days. I built up mounds using old cement and rocks from a different bed and the grass, I put the grass mounds in upside-down to deter the grass from regrowing. In the main part of the front yard we didn’t even remove the grass, we just covered it up and piled on dirt and mulch and then planted in the beds. We put in enough plants and ground cover to outcompete the grass so we shouldn’t have too much weeding to do. You might remember that we planted a tree in one of the mounds and shared the proper tree planting process with you all.
If I were going to do this again, I would build the mounds with top soil, but we didn’t have a way of getting rid of all the grass. So it was kind of a win win. We’ve had a bit of grass try to grow through, but it was manageable and easy to maintain with regular weeding, which we’d have to do anyway.
My husband did all the work on this portion of the backyard. He removed all the grass (with a tiny bit of help from a tiny person). Installed the edging, weed tarp, and hauled in the gravel.
I can’t say this with enough emphasis. It will be ugly. But not forever. I can’t imagine what my grass-loving next door neighbor was thinking. Anyway, our front yard looks amazing and is the best on the block. The back yard has a ways to go. I mean, look at that awful fence. But this was a big step in the right direction.