I would spray it with Round Up & then till it up. It might look brown from the lack of rain,but you will be fighting grass if you simply till it under without spraying first. You could skim off the sod but that takes away a lot of the best part of the topsoil. A third way is to do look up "lasagne" method & do that.I prefer the first method. Doris

I use roundup. I than do the lasagna method. You need to give the grass 24 hrs before you start your layering. You could also take a sheet of clear plastic and stack it over the intended spot. This will take several weeks. It will also sterilize the soil.
I just read in the Farm Show magazine about laying out large weighted down sheets of card board in the fall. The card board will have a melted-in effect by spring. You punch holes were you want to plant. It keeps moisture in and weeds out. Also the earth worms love it. No tilling. The earth worms were thick under there. We all know how great worm casting are. You could do this and mulch over the top. I plan on doing my veggie garden this way next year.

Thank you for your thoughtful replies! The lasagne method sounds very intriguing, I have never heard of it before. Perhaps I will try that next spring on my vegetable garden!

If you use the Round Up method, try using the weed whacker to take the grass down to the nub first. Makes it easier to spray and kill.

The lasagna method is great fun and immensely easy. I've done three beds, all in the fall, and planted them immediately. By spring the perennials behave like two-year plants instead of one-year-olds.

I guess you could call it the lasagna method but I have better luck with it when I lay newspapers down and then put straw(which I use because I can get it easily), grass clippings, leaves, compost, dirt, and then leave it until spring. All the grass and weeds underneath are broke down and dead along with everything you put on top. You can plant right in it without any tilling or digging. I hardly have to weed the first year as the straw makes a good mulch. I have started all my beds this way, so easy! Dianne

When I have big area -that I want to add to be flower-beds. Rent sod cutter. And I have been lucky. Someone needed grass. Help me do the work and pay for Sod cutter.In small area use round up. Or if not in hurry put heavy black plastic down weigh it down with blocks. let Sun bake the heck out of weeds and grass. I also do the lasagna style.

I've used the lasagne method (which I think is the same as sheet mulching) with great success, and I think it's by far the easiest. You can plant in it instantly if you're planting relatively big plants (like out of 1 gal. cans). You do have to watch for weeds around the edges of the holes you make, but on the other hand this method stirs up fewer buried weed seeds. I wouldn't use it where the soil is very compacted, though.

So IB,

What are some methods to achieve "deep tilling"?

Can you get down low enough with your average garden tiller? What about in tight areas around existing plants?

This is an excellent question with few good answers. The time to deal with the compaction issue is before you plant. Once the plants, especially trees, are in the ground, your options are limited. That is one of the biggest reasons why I am no fan of lasagna gardening. Once everything is in the ground, it is a little late to be going back to what should have been done in the first place.

However, not all is lost. A reasonably easy solution to compaction problems is raised beds. Although not very common in Iowa, in places where bedrock is near the surface, you have little other choice if you want to garden. Of course, where bedrock is deep but compaction is a problem, the old solution favored by the British was to double dig their garden beds. In other words, they would remove the soil a full spade depth, set it aside and dig yet another full spade depth. Amendments were added as the bed was refilled. This is a tried and true method that works extremely well. Unfortunately, it is also backbreaking work. Most people are unwilling to expend this much energy and are looking for easier methods. Hence, the popularity of lasagna gardening; which is actually only a slight modification of Ruth Stouts method written about decades before a slick marketing name was given to it.

Hey, if you are currently using the lasagna method and are pleased with the results, have at it. It is certainly much better than not gardening at all. However, be honest with yourself and realize that it does have limitations. It is not a cure-all. Quite frankly, one should have enough common sense to realize that if it sounds too good to be true  it probably is. Soil compaction is not eliminated; it is only masked to the uninformed.

The way that I addressed the issue of soil compaction was to deal with it when my house was being built  a narrow window of opportunity not afforded to most of us very often. I subsoiled my entire yard to a depth of about 16 inches. (Make sure you call for the utilities to be located, first.) I then incorporated truckloads of compost into the soil as deeply as possible with a tractor-mounted rototiller. And then, most importantly, I kept all heavy vehicle traffic OFF. As I built my garden beds, I incorporated even more compost into those areas and now walk only on the paths.

As to the original question of this thread:
At my older homes, I eliminated grass by cutting it off with a sharp spade (a sod cutter would work well) and then threw the sod into the bottom of the beds that I was double digging. I further amended nasty, yellow clay by using an old Karen Strohbeen garden soil formula: 30% soil, 30% coarse sand & 30% compost. The soil was tilled and the results were wonderful. I gained supplementary benefits of modified raised beds due to the additional materials and air space. On existing beds, whenever I lifted plants for dividing and/or replacement, I took the opportunity to dig down and create "Karen Strohbeen soil". Of course, at times I hit big tree roots so you just do the best you can.

I realize that there are many more ways to do things than the ones I have chosen. Also there are many, many other extenuating factors to consider. For one, I am a big strong guy. If I asked my wife to double dig a new garden bed, she would probably use the spade to double whack me! My preference now is to use my 40 hp tractor to pull a subsoiler. Not all people have a tractor. Some have health issues that demand they use less strenuous methods. For many of these people, lasagna gardening can provide an attractive option. However, sometimes the claims I have heard people making, approach that of a snake oil salesman. Life is full of compromises and tradeoffs  and this is just another example. Every coin has two sides.

IronBelly

Garasaki,

One method that I forgot to mention concerning your question about relieving compaction in established beds was the use of a bulb auger. Quite frankly, if you don't have a high quality bulb auger in your arsenal of gardening tools, you are really missing out. These are so versatile that I have essentially stopped transplanting by any other means.

Ladies ... I swear that this little used tool was designed by God just for you. When speaking, I always tell the ladies in the audience to buy a good quality, battery-operated drill as a "gift for their husband" (wink, wink) for father's day, Christmas, birthday, etc. Also buy a bulb auger for yourself to put into the drill and when he isn't looking, you take this combo out to the garden. Digging was never made so easy -- and I am not just talking about bulbs. I just drill a hole in the ground and wallow the thing around until the hole is big enough for whatever I wish to plant. No heavy strain on your wrists or back and the resulting soil is ever so fluffy. Talk about easy!

This same tool can be used to penetrate deeply between plants without destroying the whole bed as using a spade would do. True, you won't be tilling up a whole bed with this thing but especially for those small planting tasks, thei tool is wonderful.

{{gwi:1002086}}

IronBelly

IronBelly, this would be a great help for women if the augers gave drill spec requirements or the shafts on the augers weren't circular. I've tried two different bulbs augers and both slipped in the drill rather than bore into the soil. And I do use the clutch on the drill. If this were ground that had not previously been worked, I could see it not doing the job, but in all instances, the soil had been amended and no walking done to compact it (however, there had been a season's time lag since the soil had been worked). It is a 9.6 volt, 3/8 inch cordless variable speed drill/driver. It does just fine with drill bits.

Do you suppose it's the drill/driver I'm using? I tighten it down as much as I can.

Returning to the topic of the post, I have a related problem I'm wondering if anyone has addressed. It's *what* to do with the grass (sod) I've removed.

I amend the soil every time I plant, and over the years it's gotten to the point that I'm out of places to put excess soil and/or sod. I've filled all the low spots in my yard, banged clods together like a pair of cymbals to retain soil for the hole, sprinkled soil over beds and yard, and compost what I can. I refuse to build a berm one spadeful at a time. My lawnmower would disown me.

I'm beginning to empathize with cemetery custodians... All that amending of the soil and what to do with the excess?!?

What do others here do with the excess sod or soil?

Marilou,

Both excellent questions. As to the auger slipping, I agree. I had the same problems until I went to an auger with thicker shaft. I had second thoughts about the picture I posted but it was the only decent one I could find with the drill & the auger together. It helped with this problem tremendously when I bought a better auger with a thicker shank. I use the one on the left of the picture below with a 1/2 inch battery-drill and the shank is not turned down as in this photo.

A neighbor lady with recent back surgery uses a longer shanked model that she can use while standing. She just drills the holes where she wants them and has her young son place the plants into the holes.

{{gwi:1002087}}

As to the excess sod (etc.), as I said earlier, I just throw the sod into the bottom of my new holes or beds and cover it up. All of my beds extend several inches above the original ground level because of the additional amendments and/or air spaces.

IronBelly

Back to using the lasagna method. I live in an area that is clay. I just added a huge bed last fall to a grassy, but hard clay area. I layered newspaper,grass clippings , compost, straw and more compost. The worms and night crawlers love this. They are the best tillers out there. They also provide you with casting for fertilizers. Weed pulling is a breeze also. You don't plant alot of weed seed by layering. Tilling will guarantee weeds that you didn't even know you had in your area. That new area looks like it's been there for years. Everyone comments on it's beauty.
Marilou, as for the sod, check out your paper for folks who are looking for clean fill. I see signs all the time for that. I wish you lived by me, I'd take it!

MaryLou said

"It is a 9.6 volt, 3/8 inch cordless variable speed drill/driver. It does just fine with drill bits. "

You need MORE POWER (ugh ugh ugh...Toolman Tim Taylor style grunts). That thing can't produce the torque required to "churn" the soil so it's slipping on the shank instead. It takes quite a bit of power to twist soil (as you've probably noticed before). A higher powered drill will probably also allow you to clamp on the shank harder.

Thicker shank = more surface area = better grip, so like IB said that'll help too.

What about the "Garden Claw" that I see around? Is that thing worth a darn?

"You reap what you sow" = if you work hard at starting a new garden, you will be greatly rewarded with an exceptional garden. Gardening is hard work. You just have to have a passion, and be able to see the end result before you even begin. Cut that grass off, either use a spade or sod cutter. Get that shovel out and dig, dig, dig...... and then dig some more. If you want your plants and veggies to meet your expectations, then you have to prepare in that same manner. Remember in the olden days when people worked hard for what they had?
You won't regret working hard.
And out that sod in the compost, make sure to turn it every couple of weeks. It will break down nicely. It won't always be a huge pile of grass in the corner of the backyard. Otherwise, turn it over and put it in the bottom of the new garden bed as mentioned above a couple of times.
Good luck! You will be so satisfied and proud of yourself when you are finished!!!
Blessings, Tina

Marilou,

I agree with Garanski: those 9 volt drills are not much good for anything other than drilling a few small holes with bits 3/8" and less. Personally, I use an 18 volt battery drill but have also used a good 12 volt drill in the past with good success. Yes, they cost more but you get a tool that you can actually use.

As an alternative, you could substitute a regular 120 volt drill that you plug into the wall. I would use at least a 3/8" drill and make sure that it is plugged into a ground fault protected outlet. Dragging a cord around is a pain but it does work -- just do it safely.

Being a skilled tradesman, I was always taught that if a job was worth doing, it is worth getting the proper tools to do it well. Yes, I did pay a little more but the good ones I have are a joy to use -- and use them I do!

As far as the garden claw: the only thing I know is that there is a ton of jokes about them. I have never used one.

IronBelly