jvdubb said:I plan to make a new slightly raised bed in my large area of lawn. I am not exactly sure how deep it will be or how big. I am ordering 7 yards of planting mix from the nursery and I will use rocks to for the border. I may add bags of topsoil and compost if I think the seven yards is not enough. Originally when I had a landscaping company give me a quote to make it they insisted the lawn had to be removed there.
Can anyone tell me why? Wouldn't the dirt on top of it just kill it? Could I at least cut a corner and just use something like Roundup and kill the grass?
The key issue here, I think, is the plan for a
slightly raised bed; that's most of where the problem of grass re-emergence starts. If you begin with, say, 10" of lift and it quickly settles to 5 or 6", then yes, grass/weeds can find their way to the surface. Raised beds in lawn areas that are quickly covered to a significantly deeper depth (and stay that way) can kill the grass beneath. The raised beds I've been making here were designed to be deep enough to match the tops of large tree stumps (about 20" high maybe), and well into year two these beds are still grass-free.
If I have cardboard available I'll still use it under any sloping edges, but otherwise, I haven't found it to be absolutely necessary.
Hopefully your ordered mix has a lot of compost included in it, since you probably can't make a pile of yard debris for the bottom layer. It'll be a viable bed so much quicker that way.
It's exciting to build a new bed, isn't it?
Can't wait to see it, Jennifer!
