New Flower bed on existing grass area

Hello

I have created a new flower bed area running the side of my garden (20 meters on each side of the garden). The area was once grass and I had someone remove soil and then grass. I still see bits of grass around and it seems it been a bad job by the labourer. I will be adding 50mm of new top soil but today I had pulled hidden grass roots. I am not sure if grass will grow through the new soil.

I questions are;

  1. Will grass grow through the new 50mm soil?
  2. Is there anything I can do to the existing soil (bits of grass) before adding new soil?

  1. Are there any chemical based products that I can use to kill grass and when should it be applied (before or after new top soil)?

Thanks Rasik

Reply to
rasik
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Yes, definitely.

Till the entire area removing roots and rocks and then till in the new soil to about a 6" depth.

There are plenty of products that will kill grass but they will also kill your new plantings... there is no need to use any chemical defolients. Prevent grass/weeds with a good layer of mulch... medium pine bark pellets work very well for flower beds. For long strip beds roll out heavy duty weed block cloth and then cover with pine bark mulch to about a 4" depth. Cut slits in the cloth to insert your plants. Good quality garden cloth should last some 20 years. This one costs a bit more but it is truly heavy duty:

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Reply to
Brooklyn1

Small pieces of grass that include a stem joint can sprout roots. To eliminate this, you must sift the existing soil, which can be quite a chore. And yes, grass can grow up through 5 cm of soil.

There are herbicides available here in the U.S. that are specific for killing grass and that do not affect most non-grass plants. I don't know if they are available in the U.K. If they are, I would be careful about using such an herbicide around any monocot (e.g., bulbs) since grass itself is a monocot. I have successfully used such an herbicide on a large slope that is planted with dicots (e.g., ivy, daisies).

Reply to
David E. Ross

Grass roots can be quite deep. A polo ground in California bragged that their grass roots were over six feet deep. I'm sure that the type of grass, the structure of the soil, and the care given the grass can all affect how deep the roots grow.

Reply to
Notat Home

yes

dig them out or poison them, you choose

Yes, before.

An additional issue is how will you keep the grass out of the bed in future. Consider an edging that will stop runners and that you can mow right up to.

David

Reply to
David Hare-Scott

Cover the area with several layers of newspaper, or a layer of cardboard before you add the soil.

Reply to
Billy

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