Removing Grass

OK I've read the thread on killing grass and have sprayed my lawn with Glyphosate (Zero) but:

I need to remove all the grass (for some paving due to start soon). I have a few weeks if I need it - but I was hoping somebody will tell me a magical non-back-breaking method for actually removing the grass. I have no problems with using chemicals if you tell me some industrial strength acid is what I need!

What about (controlled) burning it once it's dead & dried (given fire bans of course)? Is there a 'magic' tool out there? I was thinking of maybe some type of hard-pronged metal rake to 'rip' the grass out?

What's the easiest way to remove grass before paving? I have sprayed it with Glyphosate (Zero) but now realised I will have to remove it once it's dead! I was hoping some paver would have some trick. I will consider anything!

I reckon it depends on how much grass you have, and how much sand you are going to put on top of it. If there is not a heap of grass and it isn;t too long, I would simply mow it as low as you can go, spray it again, and then put your paving base over it.

If there is a fair bit and it is clumpy, try brush-cutting it to get it down as low as you can go so it won;t interfere with the sand/pavers. But you may have to dig out the clumps. Glypho has a 3 day 'root release' effect, whereby the roots start to die off in about 3 - 5 days and pulling weeds/grass out is pretty easy. I do this stuff for a living, and when there are weeds I spray glypho then come back a week later and pull the weeds, usually very easily.

The other option, once you have eliminated as much grass as possible, is to get some soil steriliser (Once A Year Pathweeder is one brand) and soak the area with it - this will reduce the chance of weed seeds germinating if it rains again:confused: and save you a bit of maintenance on your paving. There will likely be a few weeds and seeds germinate over time- they get blown in, come in on shoes, etc. but a quick squirt of glypho does the trick - oh and I assume you used the full strength glypho? the 360 gm/litre stuff? Some variations of Zero have a very low concentration of glypho and can be ineffective. There is also a higher concentration glypho available now - 400 gm/litre I think it is.

Jeff

Hi Smiley,
You can hire a small turf cutter from Kenards. You walk behind them and they have a blade that slices the roots just under the surface.
Youre not on the Northern beaches are you, just drove past a place with all the grass as dead as a dodo and thought .

Thanks - I'll check the strength of the Glyphosate on the Zero bottle. I did overdose on it a bit.

Great - I'll check out the cost of those!

I'd just set the mower on the lowest setting, then if you want to remove any remains take a file to the edge of your spade and file a sharp edge and slice off the remaining clumps. The dead grass will offer little resistance, if nothing else this is a pretty cheap option.

John

Sell it - you can get good money for GRASS, yeah perhaps cmpress it and sell it as HASH - it sells for heaps if it has Head in it - that's the bit with the seeds and tips - - - - - :o OH :eek: That grass - different huh :rolleyes:

Thanks JOHNC - I think this looks like the best option for me.

Sigh.

The engineers among us (and I know who you are! :p ) SHOULD have told you to get rid of it all. Get rid of the topsoil too.

Get rid of all organic material under the paving.

Of course you only have to do this if you don't want any movement over the next year or two. :rolleyes:

For those who are not technically minded. The organic matter WILL decompose, and even if it doesn't compact significantly, it WILL act as a loverly pathway full of munchy stuff for ants and other insects. When that happens.. well I'd almost have money on your nice level paving holding water in spots (or worse) with the passage of time.

Cheers,

P:cool:

Hire one of these about $170 - $180 a day

http://www.dingo.ws/html/basics/dingo_hire.htm

Thanks for all the tips. I found poisoning the grass and leaving it for a week worked a treat. I also mowed it as far down as the mower would go and sharpened my shovel with a file. Having a pointed shovel seemed to work best. The Kikuyu is a bit tought than the couch but is still coming out easily enough (I had a mix of grasses). The couch came out like butter (well almost).

I'm glas the low cost option has worked out well, hopefully the paving job gets you full marks at home also.

John