Remove Grass in lawn

BrookieD

OK garden experts a question for you all.

I want to remove all grass from the front lawn in my house. small enough area 3mx3m approx.
The idea is to replace the grass with wood/bark chippings.
So the question is what is the best way for this to happen.

i have read that i can cut the grass to as low as possible. overlay newspaper or cardboard and top off with 3 to 4 inch of chipping?

Any help would be great.

Cheers
darren

Katzi

I don't think this would work. Newspaper and cardboard will simply disintigrate when wet. Woodchip is also not heavy and will blow all over the place in high wind.

I know that people use heavy duty black plastic to 'line' areas they want to replace with gravel or woodchip. I think the idea is that you use a weedkiller on the area first - in this case your lawn - and once the weeds/grass are dead you immediately cover with the plastic.

However, it needs to be done properly. If there are any holes in the plastic or any soil left in with the gravel or woodchip you will soon get weeds growing in your gravel/woodship, which looks terrible.

Don't know where you live, but if you have a good garden centre near you, they should be able to advice you on exact materials to use.

secman

Buy a roll of the black material made especially for this type of job, get it in any decent DIY store. it supresses weeds etc and it will let water soak through it, plastic would cause water to lie. Use the whole roll, double up if necessary. Make sure all edging is covered, then cover it with gravel or wood chip. You would need a good covering of woodchip to weight it down.

Secman

GreeBo

Have you considered slate chips instead?
Wood chips tend to blow all over the place, whereas the slate will stay in place and looks fab; especially when wet!

prospect

To be fair, I use 2or3 sheets of newspaper under the mulch on all my beds. It works perfectly well, allowing water through and stops the weeds growing.
However, it only lasts about 4 or 5 years, but by then if you have been topping up the mulch regularly the plants should have provided sufficient cover to make the job considerably easier.

So, it is cheaper, equally effective and greener.

Mulch is light though and will blow away in high wind regardless of what weed barrier you use.

I agree about the slate chips if you do live in a windy area.