Lawn to beds...Rotovate with Mypex or Remove turf altogether?

Hello!

I am new to the forums! Firstly I just want to say hello! I am an avid gardener/Landscaper and would love to give advice or help where I can. I have a slight problem which i would like advice for. I haven't been able to find the same problem in the forums.

I have some large areas of turf that I would like to turn to planter beds for some hardy shrubs instead. The soil has a high clay content and is topped with bark mulch everywhere there are beds already. I have identified the turf as either
Tufted Hair grass or Fine Fescue - I'm guessing this would have been put down due to the poor drainage of the soil underneath.
Now I was wondering if I could save a big amount of time by rotavating the areas I want to change to beds, planting the shrubs and then covering the rest of the bed with mypex or weed control fabric so that the grass doesn't return. Rather than the latter, which would be to take the top level of grass off manually and then taking it elsewhere (this will take a very long time, especially because of the clay content in the soil and the deep roots of this particular kind of grass)

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

 

Welcome to GC artygardener.

If you don't mind using chemicals, Round-up or a weed killer containing glyphosate will kill the grass and it's roots, but neutralise on soil contact. Then you could rotavate the grass back in when it's dead without the fear of re-growth. Be careful with glyphosate, it will kill or damage nearly everything it touches.

 

I did exactly what Sheal suggested in my old house with the old lawn. Gave it a couple of doses of Roundup, left it it for a week or so. Raked out some of the old stuff when levelling and then reseeded and I never had a problem.

Rusty