Removing grass/Sod

[Hornin Hong Kong]

I have a 20*20 piece of grass I need to remove during a renovation - it's not st augustin it's more like bent grassy stuff and its growing wild with clover and shiat. Ill take it out now and resod it in October

Gardeners says he will be happy to do it for 1000 USD.
a
I mean wtf a wheelbarrow is like 100 bucks and a shovel is like 30 right (and Labor in HK is like 3 bucks an hour)

What tools do I need and what is the process do ya think?

 

[bozo_casanova]

Sod cutter. Rent and enjoy.

 

[bozo_casanova]

You could even get chicks to do it

 

[Hornin Hong Kong]

this is HK i doubt i can get a sod cutter - is a shovel enough?

seriously

 

[GhostOfTomJoad]

You could do it w/ a good couple of shovels. It won't be much fun but you don't have a very large space but it will probably feel like an acre by the time you're done.

A few years ago I removed 2 sections of St. Augustine in our front yard so my wife could plant some asian jasmine along the curb. Each section was about 3' x 6'. You'll need a good spade to cut into the turf & if the roots aren't too thick (I have no idea what type of grass/soil conditions you have in HK) you may then be able to use a square point shovel & slide it between the grass & the soil. If you can pay a friend w/ some beer it's great to have an extra set of hands as they can peel back the sod as you work the shovel parallel to the ground...kinda like filleting a fish.

If you can get a friend to help you should be able to tackle this in under 2 hours.

 

[DieUCLA98]

I just killed off my entire front and side yards' grass a couple weekends ago. Going to plant new seed this weekend.

I started by using a garden hoe but my arms were not feelin' it... Went to Home Depot, bought a $20 thing of Round Up with a spray and a $20 bottle of Round Up Concentrate for refills. Sprayed across the entire yard one day and put on a 2nd helping the next day. A few days later and my yard is totally dead. Then I tilled up the yard using a Honda Tiller I rented from Home Depot and raked up the dead excess grass using a metal rake. Total cost was less than $100 and easy as hell. In fact, using that tiller was pretty damn fun.

Now I'm gonna drop down some compost, sprinkle in the seed, rake it in, and water water water water.

Edit:: By the way, planting new seed in October is NOT a good idea. Unless its sod (in which case I miserad), plant in spring. You can plant sod in October though, no biggie.

 

[wolfman]

I was going to suggest the same thing that 98 did. Just kill the grass now and re-sod/re-seed later.

 

[Hornin Hong Kong]

I'm actually looking forward to the labor - dont get to work outside much - I'll try the square spade route first

thanks

 

[Mrmyke709]

Get a square D shovel.
Perfect for working sod.

 

[fuzzyE]

I'd go with the Roundup - I have done this several times before. This stuff has no soil activity and once the grass turns a nice dry straw brown you just rake it out and reseed the whole thing. It's easy and not so work intensive as pulling it up. fuzzyE

 

[bozo_casanova]

Why waste money on roundup and kill worms? The roundup is going to be relatively persistent and prevent nitrogen fixing for at least a few weeks.

Cover the whole area with thick black plastic for 1 week and the combination of high heat along with no air or light will kill everything in the top couple inches. Then you till in some compost and you are ready to go right away.

 

[gardere_owns_OU]

you're looking forward to it now... but you'll be begging for a massage and a happy ending after.

when i was a kid i use to do yardwork in the neighborhood to earn my money. pulled weeds, laid grass, mowed lawns, ...... sigh... it was hard stuff, but then i'd ride my bike down to the lake and jump in. my worries were gone.

i'm not sure if my post means much to you, but i felt like sharing.

 

[B]

I did the DieUCLA 98 method on 1/2 of my front yard and that worked well. I used a tiller attachment on my weedeater, which made it more back-breaking.

I did the square spade method to remove some St Augustine sod from a smaller area close to the house to expand a bed.

Go find a couple of Filipino day laborers.

 

[Hornin Hong Kong]

thanks dudes - I didnt get to it this week but will probably do it soon.

To be clear im removing it this week then not resodding it until october

 

[DieUCLA98]

Btw, why are you removing it so soon? I would think you run the risk of weeds growing through (or some grass you missed spreading otu again) only to have to do it again to a lesser extent in October.

Or did you spread some pre-emergent stuff (i.e. corn gluten)?