5 Ways to Remove Grass

One of the first steps to making your own vegetable garden or new flower beds is to remove the grass from your yard. In this guide I will show you five methods how to remove grass from your lawn (with pictures). I’ve used these methods multiple times, and they are the most effective. Additionally I’ll give you the pros and cons of each method so you can choose the best method for your lawn or situation.

Basics and background

Before you get started with any method, you should mark out your area. This helps you make sure you make your garden/bed to the correct dimensions, and can ensure you are keeping it square (if that is your goal).

If doing a square or rectangle, you can measure the corners diagonally to make sure the corners are at 90 degrees. This way you make the garden nice, neat, and square.

Once you have your profile, rectangle, or whatever shape you want you can then choose one of the methods below.

1. Removing grass with a shovel
2. Using a sod cutter
3. Remove your lawn with a rototiller
4. Smothering the grass with cardboard (sheet mulching)
5. Herbicides
6. Comparing all methods (ease, effort, cost, time)

Removing grass with a shovel

Using a shovel to remove grass isn’t easy, but it is effective and you get instant results. Nonetheless, you may want to do some stretches before undertaking this endeavor. But in general, the simplified process is as follows

First, this method is easiest in the spring or fall, as the grass roots are their weakest. And the soil is generally moist during those times of the year. If you are doing this in late spring or summer, make sure you water the grass thoroughly the night before you undertake the work. But for this method, you just need a good shovel. Preferably, a flat garden spade.

• Water the area thoroughly the day before you wish to remove the grass
• Get a garden spade, flat shovel, or scraper

But by using this tool, you simply lay out the outer profile of a sod pad you want to cut, and then drop to your knees and slice it. You then remove it by placing the shovel underneath the pad, and toss it into a wheelbarrow (just like removing a pizza from the oven).

I show this method clearly in the timestamped clip below:

Using a sod cutter

Ah yes, a sod cutter. These tools are amazing in that they will completely slice off your sod. You set the depth, fill it with gas, and go! They are mostly self-propelled, but even still are quite bulky and difficult to turn or maneuver. But they do exactly what they say.

But they have a bar that is along the back of the cutter. This bar vibrates fore/aft, and slices through the sod.

But just go along your area, slicing up the sod….and then……you’ve got to deal with the sod. Yes, it cuts the sod, but doesn’t remove it! So you will have to deal with the sod rolls no matter what. Because of this, I think this method is overrated. It costs money, and you still have a decent amount of physical work. But alas.

You can see in the above image all the sod rolls! I had to deal with all of those. Thankfully, I had a neighbor who wanted most of them. But this was hard work nonetheless.

Removing your lawn with a rototiller

Rototillers are adequate tools for removing the grass. Although their effectiveness can be somewhat wanting. Not on the part of the tilller, as many a person has thought they tilled enough to remove grass only to find that they missed some, and have those plants fill back in the bare dirt. But tillers are common enough that you probably don’t need to borrow or rent one – you can probably borrow one from a neighbor.

But you simply till up the soil, making 5-10 passes, and then rake out the grass. This takes a bit of time, but really try to have a critical eye and spot any errant grass plants you may have missed. Then, pull those specifically, because they can quickly fill themselves back in.

Some sources make the claim that tilling will churn up weed seeds. And that a few weeks after tilling you will have thousands of new sprouts or plants you don’t want. I tested this recently, and did not find this to be the case. You can review my results here.

Smothering grass with cardboard – aka Sheet Mulching

Ok, I just need to be up front here. Sheet Mulching is by far the easiest way to create a new flower bed or garden. It is a few steps, namely first you mow the grass as short as it can be. Second, you place overlapping cardboard or newspaper over the remaining grass. Third, water it all. And fourth, you put a layer of mulch on top of this (at least 2″).

Sheet mulching my absolute favorite way to make a garden. The only real drawback to it is that you need to wait 2-4 weeks before planting, as the cardboard needs a bit of time to starve the grass of light, thus killing it. Once this happens though, you can plant into the mulch. You simply pull the mulch back, cut an “X” into the cardboard where you wish to plant. Then plant your plant and replace the mulch.

Note – if you are building a vegetable garden, only use plain brown cardboard. I cover this topic in great detail here.

Herbicides

Using chemicals like glyphosate or 2-4-D are effective methods at kill every living plant. And as such, they work perfectly well when it comes to killing grass. The only real drawback is that you are using chemicals, and will likely have some collateral damage to soil organisms and insects. But you can simply follow the directions on the label and spray the area you wish to kill. It is a good idea to wait a couple weeks to make sure you have an effective kill, as you may need to reapply some areas.

But once you are satisfied that the grass/weeds are dead, you can simply put down mulch and begin planting. The dead grass will decompose, adding a bit of organic matter to your soil.

I do not recommend you use this method for vegetable gardens. There are many arguments both for and against the use of chemicals in our food supply. I err on the side of caution, basing my position on the fact that nature (and we) are complex systems, and introducing new compounds into those systems may cause harm. And that harm may come to us many years from now, as it is not all ‘instant’. That being said, I will not judge anyone who does choose to use them for growing their own vegetables.

Video guide

Below is a video I released covering all these methods in detail. You can see all the action below!

Comparison of all methods

So, what do we say about all these methods? Well, I generated the little matrix below to help you decide what is best.

As you can see, the first two methods listed are both hard, but do provide instant results. Once you have removed grass with a shovel or sod cutter, you can directly plant into the soil. Sheet mulching is by far the easiest in terms of labor, however, it also takes the longest to plant.

Another special note on sheet mulching – if you build a vegetable garden in the fall, you can sheet mulch and use autumn leaves as mulch. This will smother the grass, start building your soil, and be a natural weed barrier (and other benefits)! It’s the best way, as I’ve documented over the years. In case you can’t tell, I’m a HUGE fan of leaf mulch.

But for cost, the sod cutter and chemicals will not be free, but not overly expensive either. And rototillers can often be borrowed, and you will just have to pay for gas.

Conclusion

So, I hope you got something out of this article. What method of grass removal you choose will depend on your situation, and what you value most. If you are in a hurry to get planting as soon as possible, then using a shovel or sod cutter is the best choice. If however you have time on your side, then sheet mulching is probably the best option. But either way, each method is mostly or fully effective.

Find more gardening tips here