First dig of garden for veg patch - what to do with grass?

[Elf]

I'm about to make the start of creating a raised bed with deep digging. However, I will be using an area which is now grass. How do I skim off the top layer, or don't I? Surely I need to be rid of the grass and don't want it in my vegetables soil? But I'm not sure what to do. Thank you anyone!

[ib]

Take off the grass, then stack it upside down to rot down (somewhere else of course!)

In a few months it will have broken down and you can add it as a soil improver to your plot next year.

[tigana]

aren't you supposed to stack it in layers, grass to grass then earth to earth ...

[jeremyspants]

Yes, tigana, it works better that way.

[Elf]

thank you but how do you take off the grass - and is it really tough?!!

[Elf]

thanks Dittany.

[jeremyspants]

There is a league from the 'no-dig' school and I think Bob Flowerdew mentioned it in one of his books.
I've tried it and found it worked well but got into a furious debate with other gardeners.
looks for link..www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/
There are other websites if you Google 'no dig gardening

[Elf]

Jeremyspants thanks for the link, looks like a mine of information.

[missingtheaction]

you can rent a turf stripper from some tool rental places (like the one on Groundforce). It is NOT as easy as Tommy makes it look but it's excellent for a biggish area. I find turf stripping really really hard work so tend to no-dig if I can't delegate it?

My last new veg patch was created from a field. I made raised beds, dug the first one, then after that did no-dig. Made the beds, covered the grass, used old compost bags to cover bits i wasn't going to use immediately and old newspaper + topsoil/compost/grass clippings/chipped sticks from my shredder everywhere else. I planted potatoes through the newspaper into the turf and they were splendid! Other stuff depended on how deep the topping was and what they were - palm cabbages went through the newspaper into the soil; carrots went on top (stumpy ones), courgettes i made molehills on top of the topsoil on top of the newspapers and they jsut rooted through.

Where i covered with old plastic bags/mypex the grass just died off so it was easy to dig those bits out later in the year.

[Elf]

Missingtheaction, thank you though that does sound terribly complicated to a newcomer like me. I shall try and disipher it slowly.

[missingtheaction]

yes, looking back it does sound complicated although i assure you i am a lazy gardener and it was by far the easiest route!

The basic principle is that

• if you cover up the grass comprehensively enough it will die leaving just earth underneath
• you can actually plant into the grass before it dies off and while it is dying off - you don't need to wait until it's dead

So you can cover the area with newspaper + something to hold down the newspaper that will rot down, and cut down through the paper and plant strongish stuff immediately. Eg potatoes, plants of tomatoes, cabbages, etc etc. they will have their heads in teh sun and their roots in the nice moist soil so they will thrive, while the grass is being killed through lack of light.

If you are a newcomer, don't try to be too ambitious at the start - do it in bitesized pieces!