I'm trying to kill off large parts of my backyard lawn to replant with low-water-use shrubs. What's the best/easiest way to do this? I've used Roundup, and that has worked ... sort of. Is it safe to dig the remaining dead grass into the soil and then plant? And why in the world do sod growers use that blasted indestructible, non-biodegradable, infuriating green netting? Do they think no one is ever going to want to dig up the sod someday? (Can you tell I've been dealing with it today?)

Thanks in advance ...

Below is a paraphrasing of the responses to my questions and other bits I've found on the forums (none of it is my direct experience... yet!)

The black sheets will work, but it takes about a year. And it seems that the whole area needs to be covered, not just a portion (another person was asking about raised beds, and was told that wouldn't work).

Round up works as long as the grass is growing, and needs to be used several times. Since you want the grass growing, it's important to keep watering and then use round up several times.

I am very interested in how successful you are in killing it and then planting shrubs and the like.

But if you want to stick with the legal route, you buy concentrated round-up, read the label and mix it at the rate for your type of grass, and then add horticulture oil. The oil with act as a sticking agent.

Whatever you do, don't pull out the grass until a few days after its been brown and dead. The round up must travel all the way through the plant.

Here is another strang tip, keep watering every few days while you are trying to kill it. This will keep the grass absorbing the chemical.

If its bermuda then you will have to do this about once a week for a month to kill off better then 95% of it, but you will still be spot treating for the next 6 months.

Good Luck! I use to work for TruGreen and killing bermuda was a royal pain.

The website below doesn't advertise it, but you can buy some professional grade herbicides from them. The only problem with buying professional roundup is that it comes in a 1.5 gallon container and costs about $250. Of course that will be enough round-up to treat your house for a year or more.

If your area to plant has any existing grass or weeds, these must be eradicated prior to planting. Many grasses may be removed with a single dose of glyphosate (Roundup) or 20% vinegar. For the quick and complete removal of Bermuda or other hard-to-kill grasses, we’ve only found one consistently reliable method: Let the Bermuda grow up to a height of 3" and treat with glyphosate, then wait 4 days and mow the grass very short and immediately treat again with glyphosate. This will kill Bermuda all the way down through the roots and rhizomes so it does not come back later. Wait about a week before tilling the area and installing plugs. After establishment, any invading Bermuda may be killed with Fusilade, which will only brown the Tech Turf without killing it.

Hope this help.

I personally use Roundup QuikPro. It contains Glyphosate(systemic), Diquat(kills plants at foliage), and it also has a surfactant.

If you do have Bermuda grass, make sure you have completely killed it before you plant in the area. You will regret it in the future because Bermuda sure is a pain in planting beds.