hi, i have done the newspaper thing many times and it has worked wonderfully. i didnt dig or till the grass and weeds, i just laid the newspapers down. make sure to overlap them well! wet down the newspaper (i dont know if you need to, i havent always, but i think it helps it to all break down faster) and add your soil/compost over top. we always have alot of leaves here so i will add leaf mold, or ever just shredded leaves under the soil/compost.

then, when i plant a larger plant it is easy to just dig right through the layers and plant it. no problem.

now, depending on how strong your grass/weeds are you may get some peeking out at the place where you dug through and you have to keep an eye on them so they dont start to take over.

I agree with lizziem62, the lasagna gardening technique has always worked very well for me! As for preen to kill the grass- Preen is only a pre-emergent herbicide. It only prevents seeds from germinating. To kill grass (and other plants) you would use a glyphosate (AKA Roundup) if this is the route you want to go. I wouldnt recommend it as the lasagna gardening method avoids the use of these chemicals altogether and helps to improve your soil at the same time.

Looking at your garden from last year, you are planting straight into the ground (Macky77 would adore you ;-)
So I am not sure you want to mix flat with raised (lasagna), but if you don't think that will be a problem, I would cover the grass with a couple of layers of saturated cardboard, and then put on top as much "medium" as you can find, and then plant away....

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Wow - that looks awesome! Silly question... am I going to easily be able to 'dig' into the cardboard - or newspaper, if I go that route? Or am I going to have to 'cut' out a circle of it in order to dig the dirt below it - in order to do my planting? I hope that makes sense...

Thanks to all of you for responding!

Here are a few more pics I just took of what 2011 will look like:
2011 Garden Plan

It all depends.....
For Example on mine, I added over 10" of Compost/Soil over my very thick grass, by the time the roots get down to the cardboard,they will be able to push right on through, (that is one reason to saturate the cardboard ahead of time.), but if you plan on just barely covering the cardboard (which is really there to simply but effectively block grass and weeds from coming through and killing them by blocking access to SunLight), you will have to contend with whatever is still alive underneath (but to answer your actual question,no, whether you use paper or cardboard,as long as it was wet when you started,it is very weak and will be able to be moved very easily, ...no cutting necessary)

If the lasagna method is carried out, this is --lets say its April, and you wish to cover some lawn with its accompanying weeds by laying over it some cardboard and top it with soil/compost.

The area in question is an additional 35 ft by 8 feet.
Just to put down ...let's assume 3" over that 280 sq. ft.
will require (roundly) 1 cubic yard of your choice.
If you go with the 10" mentioned, a large truckload would be required to deliver 8 1/2 cubic yards....just to do the new area.
If such method included the whole area, you can figure its going to take a helloflotof soil/compost.

Its spring, if you intend to get this garden going this season, wouldn't it make better sense to just get at it...remove the lawn, kill the weeds and rototil the area, amending it with some good compost that 3" depth and plant what you have in mind.
Lasagna methods are best done when you have time on your hands. Begin in late autumn so the soil still has heat in it, the sun can still work its magic, and over winter/early spring the soil will do its work.

I too am building a bed and found the following recipe in a book and would welcome some feedback:

"For each 100 square feet of new garden space:
Plant Tone 5-10 pounds
Rock phosphate 5-10 pounds
Greensand 5-10 pounds
Gypsum 5-10 pounds
Osmocote (8 months) 2 pounds
Till all these ammendments plus organic matter (I presume this means compost?) into the soil, rake smooth and your bed is ready to be planted."

Now some background on my soil. Soil test in 2009 indicated dense/heavy clay > 40%, pH 7.7-7.8, N Med/Low, P High, K Med/Low, Volatile Organic Content 1.5%, Humus Med/Low, Salts 92ppm.

I laid down cardboard and layered peat moss and compost on top last fall. I already have an Acer Palmatum and plan to add Acer Truncatum (Shantung maple), Port orford lawsonia 'Blue Surprise' w Guardian Stock, and Thuja 'Emerald Green.' Also perennials and shrubs as yet to be determined.

I notice moss growing in the bed and areas where water pools. I did a drainage test by digging a hole 1 feet deep and filling it with water. After one hour there was about 3 inches left. Filled a second time and after one hour there was about 1.5 inches left.

Two more questions, will Doctor Earths 4-4-4 work as well as the Plant Tone and If I could purchase only 3 books and 2 magazine subscriptions to learn more about responsible gardening, which would you suggest?

Thanks again for the replies. Would have hoped to get going on things this week, but the weather dropped back to the mid-30's (was 60 last week... ahhhh... Chicagoland weather...). My plans are to break ground in the next two weeks. Thanks again!

A planting bed, made following Pat Lansa's directions for a Lasagna Bed can be planted in immediately, no need to wait. Yes it does take time for the grass under that bed to die and be digested by the Soil Food Web, but that is of no concern because you are planting several inches, if not a couple of feet, above that.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lasagna Gardening 101

I would like to plant a garden? Is it too late. What would be great veggies to plant now?