Chemical free methods to kill old lawn and weeds in prep for new sod
Posted: September 6th, 2020, 5:48 pm
First off, if this would be a better post for the Organic section, feel free to yell at me a bit as I am new to the forum.
I live in the Colorado front range and my front lawn is a mess due to neglect of past owners (and self inflicted neglect due to a new baby). The lawn is about 200sqft. I am getting ready to kill off the old grass and eliminate all or most of the weeds to put in new sod next spring. I am looking for chemical free ways to do this.
Right now, I am thinking of a sheet/lasagna compost and solarizing mix. My plan is to start the sheet compost now (September) using cardboard, mulch and compost and leave it to overwinter. I am then thinking of starting the solarizing in the early spring (March- April which I know is not the best time) to finish the composting process and kill anything left over so I will be ready to rototill the area and put down the new sod in mid-late May.
Has anyone tried something like this with any success? Is my timeline way off? Is this just the most foolish, labor intensive/low success idea ever? Do I have any other non-chemical options that don't require 2-3 years to work? Any thoughts, comments, criticisms or ideas would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
I live in the Colorado front range and my front lawn is a mess due to neglect of past owners (and self inflicted neglect due to a new baby). The lawn is about 200sqft. I am getting ready to kill off the old grass and eliminate all or most of the weeds to put in new sod next spring. I am looking for chemical free ways to do this.
Right now, I am thinking of a sheet/lasagna compost and solarizing mix. My plan is to start the sheet compost now (September) using cardboard, mulch and compost and leave it to overwinter. I am then thinking of starting the solarizing in the early spring (March- April which I know is not the best time) to finish the composting process and kill anything left over so I will be ready to rototill the area and put down the new sod in mid-late May.
Has anyone tried something like this with any success? Is my timeline way off? Is this just the most foolish, labor intensive/low success idea ever? Do I have any other non-chemical options that don't require 2-3 years to work? Any thoughts, comments, criticisms or ideas would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance!