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Soil, Compost & Mulch

Grass in raised bed

10 years ago

Hi,
I have raised beds that are 8 inches high but only filled with soil to about 5 inches. I put brown paper down on top of the grass before hand, however when shuffling the soil around to mix it up most of the brown paper got torn and taken out of the box. so now the there is a thick grass only 5 inches beneath my soil and some parts the grass comes through as I'm planting my transplants. So i guess my question isÃ¯Â¿Â½. Will the grass die from the 5 inches of soil or will it grow threw sucking the life out of my plants. I fertilized with worm castings and azomite so i was thinking that might make the grass grow even more.

Comments (8)

gardenper
10 years ago
You won't know what's in those 5". The grass could be spreading everywhere. But the moment you see a green grass growth pop up, try to pull it.

If you know the general spot, you can also repair it with some additional paper by digging out the dirt again. Best to do it now before more planting and growth occurs.
plaidbird
10 years ago
Fives inches of soil isn't much. I would expect the grass to grow fine. How about before you put any plants in there, you put on some garden gloves, get down on your knees and grub around. You'll figure it out pretty fast. If it turns out you would be better removing the sod due to the timing of this, others undoubtedly have a favorite method they would share if you ask.

I'd hate to think you gave up on the idea of gardening because something like this set you up for failure from the start. My love of gardening has seen me through good times and bad times. Those bad times were pretty bad...and it was the garden that healed my body and soul in a way my team of doctors could not. My garden saw me though the death of my life long partner in a way my family and friends could not. And the garden keeps me active and exercising, while I see others my age not doing as well, as they spend their days in front of the TV.

Gardening can be a life love love, so getting started right is worth the effort. Plus you get tomatoes.
Good for you finding this group and asking.

Good luck. :)
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I had my garden re done and veggie beds raised several yours ago.This is what professionals did exactly as nicely said in this post, so I will paste it: "Cardboard and or newspaper is a good idea to smoother the grass. If you do cut the sod with a sod cutter you could turn the cut sod upside down so that the grass side is in the dirt and the dirt side is up" That made sense to me too, so here is what I had to learn the hard way. I had no veggies for couple of years following that makeover.I had to find out what was eating and killing all my newly planted veggies ?The beds were totally infested with wire worms.When I took a shovel full of soil to garden masters to help me diagnose they were under impression that it took me several hours to collect that many healthy and shiny as they said wire worms.After I explained that I just took a shovel and that is what I came up with.They were shocked and said that the best way to deal with this problem was to remove all soil and start new.I have raised beds and it would have been a huge not to mention expensive project.So I have taken lots of time to learn all about them and how to get rid of them.Took at least 2 to 3 years to get rid of them totally.Wire worms live undisturbed under your lawn not too deeply.They do not travel horizontally so they won't cross to your veggie path even if its next to it.As you disturb "their home"they will come up to surface no matter how high you cover it.They want to live.Since you will have newly planted plants they will eat them or make tunnels in your veggies that nothing will be left for you.So if I were to do it again I would not even consider putting this in the bottom of my compost.I hope it helps you as they are not easy to deal with and they multiply really fast.Good luck to you.
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Kimmsr
10 years ago
That depends on which grass species you have. Putting 5 inches of anything on many grasses can kill them while some other, more invasive, grass species will only be slowed down a bit.
The United States is a pretty big and diverse place with many soil types as well as climates so a bit more information about where you are would be somewhat helpful.
david52 Zone 6
10 years ago
Ditto what kimmsr sez - there's grass and then there's other grass. I've got some brome grass here that just thrives when I put 18" of soil over it.
mustard_seeds
10 years ago
how big are these beds, and is there some edge to them or was it just piled up without an enclosure? I have 4 foot squares - if it were me starting out in the season with the size of bed I have, I woud lay down a tarp next to the bed and remove the edge, and rake the soil onto the tarp. Then I would lay down a couple layers of cardboard on the area, wet it down, and rebuild the bed. So, not knowing the size and edging, etc, I am not sure this would work for you. But I would hate to pull grass rhizomes all season. For my squares I had the cardboard extend beyond the walls of the bed so that I could put wood chip paths around the squares and grass could not come up. Good luck!!
sbarnes144
Original Author
9 years ago
so your all saying to dig out my bed and either remove the grass or put down cardboard. Well I've planted in all my beds except 1. I put up 1 by 8 wood frames around my beds. Im not sure what type of grass i have ill take a pic and post soon. I think i answered everyones questions.
toxcrusadr
9 years ago
About all you can do at this point is watch for grass coming through and kill it. Snip it off and mulch with something dense like grass clippings.

If it gets really bad, this fall you can dig it up and turn everything over to kill it off.
wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana
9 years ago
Yes, at this point, garden on!

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