preparing yard for gravel landscape

[jus4nan]

We live in yuma az, recently bought a house with a medium size grass area that we want to convert to a rock and gravel landscape. How do we remove the grass? Does it have to be dig up and removed beause of the deep root system in the sandy soil or will roundup do the trick...any ideas?

[opabinia51]

Okay, I will advize you not to use Roundup.

The active ingredient in Roundup is called Glyphosate and it is a very nasty chemical that is very long lasting in the environment.

The best way to be rid of grass is to dig it up with a shovel after mowing it really short with the lawnmower (down to a one).

[The Helpful Gardener]

There are vinegar and clove oil solutions to kill grass as well; good organic alternatives are out there...

[Grey]

And further, Roundup is hugely expensive... the organic alternatives are much easier on the wallet.

[jus4nan]

I know I hated the thought of so much chemical..but have come up with a alternative, we are going to cover it with heavy plastic and smother it! The rock will weight it down and we can deal with any stubborn leftovers. Thanks for the response

[opabinia51]

You can buy a gardening plastic that is black that will absorb the thermal energy and help suppress weeds and such. If you don't plan on using this stuff, be selective because some platics have plastisizers in them that "leak" into the enivironment and can be quite detrimental.

[The Helpful Gardener]

I like your solution, but a little weeding the heavy stuff before hand will go a long way...Mother hates to be denied...

HG

[jus4nan]

Gee you would think that .huh.. well truth is the only grass that lives and grows well here is bermuda grass and the roots run DEEP..so it lays dormant a long time..this stuff is like a fierce weed, we have had 2 bids and we are going to tarp is and watch for the rascal rogue grass to work its way to the surface, they say 2 years or whenever the landscaping tarp cracks so we will see. lol