How big is the area your converting to sq ft garden? If it's not that big, I'd just get a shovel and dig up the area. Or if you know a friend or neighbor that have a tiller, that might work too. The grass would decompose and the nutrients would feed your veggies down the road. You might have to replace some of the soil (or sand in most areas) with some good quality organic material. Remember, we're in Florida so root knot nematodes are a big problem down here. Adding plenty of compost and organic material will help keep the nematode population down as nematodes absolutely thrive in sandy soils.

I definitly wouldn't use any Roundup, as I don't know how long that will stay in the soil and affect your future garden.

The area is only 8'x 4' but the area has some grass and weeds. If I dig up the grass I will end up with a hole and need even more organic material to fill it in. I am going to put in compost, peat moss, and vermiculite after I figure out what to do about the grass and weeds. Thank you for your help.

I just layed corrugated cardboard right on the top of the grass and piled mulch and top soil on top of cardboard. It's been two months since, not one single weed inside the box.

{{gwi:956244}}

i always let the grass grow as long as possible, then, using a spade, cut out blocks of grass and flip them over. instant organic material and loosened soil. then lots of compost piled on top and lots of mulch on that. yes, it's higher than the surrounding area. and, no, it doesn't matter. my whole back yard was once weeds, and now it's all mulched garden... slow and steady wins the race.

I did what yuliana did and have had much success (thick newspapers work too). Ill-man's method is good too but too much work for me :-)

Denise

One method is to mow the area as low as the mower will go . Really scalp the heck out of the spot .
Then layer cardboard , newspaper , woodchips , compost - even aged manure , oak leaves , grass clippings , hay - anything you can find .
Water frequently if no rain .

Skip the peat moss and vermiculite - a waste of good money for this project .

The hardest part is waiting .
I did this to a bare spot in the lawn and now have a great place for veggies and as a pot nursery
( sunken pots to grow out rooted cuttings of roses ) . The okra and eggplant loved new bed this season .

I was amazed as how quickly the ingredients settled and decomposed . When the weather cools I will freshen up this bed with new ingredients as I see them .

Thank you for your suggestions. I think I need to buy some newspapers...

I don't read print newspapers but my neighbors do and save them for me. Talk to your neighbors. I give them tomato plants and other plants in return.

Sharbear, most newspapers today, use a soy based ink, so I wouldn't worry about it. You can always call the newspaper and check with the press room supervisor.
cora

I'm on my third year of a variation of Gatormom's method and I get great results and save my back all that digging.

I actually trim everything in the yard in the last few weeks of August and throw all the trimmings in the area where the veggie garden will be, even big limbs. At that point in the season, it's already got really great grass - better than anywhere else in my yard I'm afraid. I also cycle my composters, spreading the summer's compost all over the bed. I don't even bother to mow down the grass, because I'm about to kill it anyway and I'm going to use the bags of mulch to squish it down.

When I buy mulch, I leave the bags on top of all the trimmings and compost for a week. I do this in one-week cycles, buying seven bags of mulch, leaving them there for a week, buying seven more, then using the first seven to prep a portion of the bed. I do this to squish down stuff that otherwise would stick up and let in enough space to let in weeds and such.

I spread newspapers under the mulch each time I spread it. I've used cardboard too, but found it actually broke down too quickly compared to newspapers. I know others here have had really different experiences with cardboard versus newspapers, but for me newspapers work best. I lay them pretty thick. (And if you're at all worried, six months after I've put down newspapers, I can't find them anymore. They decompose completely. Same is true for cardboard, but I find they get weedy faster than newspaper does.)

In a few weeks with this system, I've got a giant prepared bed for veggies, full of organic stuff, nicely mulched, ready for the baby plants to go in the ground. And that bed is getting better and better each year. As the winter goes on, I also add more compost, so that keeps improving it.

This is just about the least work I can think of for my yard - I don't haul the clippings out to the street, just over to the veggie bed and I don't dig up everything. Laying the newspaper under the mulch isn't as easy as just spreading mulch, but it works so much better it's worth the work. And using the bags of mulch to squish down the organic stuff so it doesn't poke through the paper and mulch saves having to cut it up into smaller pieces, plus, being stuck under plastic bags for a week starts the decomposition process nicely.

Susannah

Susannah, I like how you think! That's MY kind of gardening.
cora

Thank you all for all your help. I just finished spreading newspapers and put a bunch of compost, peat, vermiculite and garden soil mix in there. I mixed them all in a wheel barrow and then shoveled it in. A lot of work...it is still over 90 degrees out there, hopefully it will all be worth it. My back hurts, lol.

I found that throwing down some roofing paper or shingles will kill the grass, I go to Home Depot and they have broken or damaged bundles of heavy roofing paper or shingles and sell it cheaper-- I keep some on the side of my rose beds and when a weed comes up I slide a piece of shingle on top of it, it suffocates and the heat of the sun burns the weed and kills it.. I toss a handful of mulch on top so it doesn't look so awful, but the dark shingles blend in anyway... it usually takes only a week or so and then I can remove the shingle... saldut