Placing a garden bed where there is zoysia
#1
04-27-17, 05:51 AM
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Placing a garden bed where there is zoysia
I currently have a an area in my front yard that has a pretty thick patch of zoysia.
It used to be a garden bed with shrubs in it - but the person I bought the house from never maintained this so the bushes died off and I had them removed. Now I am left with a patch of zoysia that I want to remove.
What is the best way to approach this? The spot is about 13' x 4'.
I plan on adding 2-3 shrubs to the area and cover with mulch and probably raise it slightly higher than the rest of the lawn.
Do I need to cut the zoysia out or can I just cover it with top soil and mulch to kill it out?
I am a complete noob when it comes to any of this type of work. A local lanscaping company wanted $1000 to take it out and fill with top soil and mulch... I dont have that kind of money to throw at this one little section. I am sure I can tackle this with a little guidance!
Thanks in advance for the help!
It used to be a garden bed with shrubs in it - but the person I bought the house from never maintained this so the bushes died off and I had them removed. Now I am left with a patch of zoysia that I want to remove.
What is the best way to approach this? The spot is about 13' x 4'.
I plan on adding 2-3 shrubs to the area and cover with mulch and probably raise it slightly higher than the rest of the lawn.
Do I need to cut the zoysia out or can I just cover it with top soil and mulch to kill it out?
I am a complete noob when it comes to any of this type of work. A local lanscaping company wanted $1000 to take it out and fill with top soil and mulch... I dont have that kind of money to throw at this one little section. I am sure I can tackle this with a little guidance!
Thanks in advance for the help!
#2
04-27-17, 07:34 AM
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Spray the grass with herbicide to kill it. I would use anything containing glyphosate which is a active ingredient in many brands of grass and weed killers like Roundup. I would mark the area and spray it. Then come back a week later and spray anything that looks like it might be alive. Then, after all the grass is dead start work on preparing your garden bed.
#3
04-27-17, 07:49 AM
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If using a chemical - how long before I can plant shrubs/flowers?
Also, how do i start working on bed after grass is dead? Do I dig out the dead grass? Or do I cover with top soil?
Also, how do i start working on bed after grass is dead? Do I dig out the dead grass? Or do I cover with top soil?
#4
04-27-17, 09:00 AM
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As I mentioned I would make the first application and then wait a week to make sure everything is dying. It's easy to get proper coverage when using a pump up sprayer but if you try it with a finger pump sprayer you'll likely miss spots. Once everything looks visibly like it's dying you can start working. Everything doesn't have to be dried and brown but you want to make sure it's on it's way to dead.
How you start depends on how much work you want to put into it. The herbicide will kill the roots so you can just till/shovel them under and they will decompose naturally but you'll have (dead) roots in the dirt. You can dig out the sod and top layer of roots but then you'll have to find a place to dispose of them and you'll have to bring in fresh topsoil but that could give you "cleaner" dirt. If the area was previously a garden the soil is probably pretty good so I would try to keep what you have. You could do something in between and remove what dead grass and roots you can and then till up the rest and amend the soil if needed before planting.
How you start depends on how much work you want to put into it. The herbicide will kill the roots so you can just till/shovel them under and they will decompose naturally but you'll have (dead) roots in the dirt. You can dig out the sod and top layer of roots but then you'll have to find a place to dispose of them and you'll have to bring in fresh topsoil but that could give you "cleaner" dirt. If the area was previously a garden the soil is probably pretty good so I would try to keep what you have. You could do something in between and remove what dead grass and roots you can and then till up the rest and amend the soil if needed before planting.
#5
04-27-17, 04:31 PM
How much higher will this 4' X 13' area be above the rest of the front lawn ?
That's such a small area (only 52 SF), you should be able to subdue the undesirable vegetation without resorting to any chemical herbicides.
If it's going to be raised more that 2-3 inches (like 6" or more), I'd venture that you could smother the Zoysia Grass by denying it sunlight for a few weeks using several layers of overlapping newspaper beneath the topsoil that you're going to be adding anyway. The deeper the added topsoil, the less likely the Zoysia Grass will be vigorous enough to penetrate BOTH the layers of newspaper AND the thickness of the topsoil and mulch to reach the surface.
Do any of your Neighbors have Zoysia Grass? It may be that some of them would be pleased to remove portions of the unwanted sod and use it as plugs to fill bare areas in their own lawns. I'd especially direct their attention to those individual spots where you intend to plant your shrubs so that the desired plants are not having to compete with the residual subterranean Zoysia Grass.
That's my 2¢
That's such a small area (only 52 SF), you should be able to subdue the undesirable vegetation without resorting to any chemical herbicides.
If it's going to be raised more that 2-3 inches (like 6" or more), I'd venture that you could smother the Zoysia Grass by denying it sunlight for a few weeks using several layers of overlapping newspaper beneath the topsoil that you're going to be adding anyway. The deeper the added topsoil, the less likely the Zoysia Grass will be vigorous enough to penetrate BOTH the layers of newspaper AND the thickness of the topsoil and mulch to reach the surface.
Do any of your Neighbors have Zoysia Grass? It may be that some of them would be pleased to remove portions of the unwanted sod and use it as plugs to fill bare areas in their own lawns. I'd especially direct their attention to those individual spots where you intend to plant your shrubs so that the desired plants are not having to compete with the residual subterranean Zoysia Grass.
That's my 2¢
