Sheet Mulching to Get Rid of Grass

Identification

• Sheet mulching is method of trapping lawn grasses and weeds under layers of matter, allowing the lawn to break down without making you physically remove the lawn. It’s also known as lasagna gardening, according to the University of Florida IFAS Extension. This is not meant to be a temporary layer that you remove after the grass breaks down; it is rather a way to convert a lawn into fertile matter ready to plant with your choice of flowers, shrubs or vegetables. Sheet mulching fits well in irregular spaces, such as portions of the lawn that curve around trees.

Process

• With sheet mulching, specific layers of compost, newspaper, grass clippings and other organic matter sit on the lawn and decompose over a few months. This involves more than just tossing your kitchen trash and recyclables onto the lawn; after cutting down the grass, you place the layers in a particular order. You can use many different materials, as long as they meet certain requirements: The point of adding all this varied material is to provide carbon and nitrogen to the forming soil. Sheet mulching also lets you avoid tilling the soil yourself; the Grays Harbor County Noxious Weed Control Board notes that that’s the job of earthworms already living underneath all of that matter.

Variations

• One option from the Grays Harbor County Noxious Weed Control Board includes adding a 2- to 3-inch layer of compost, worm castings, dry leaves or manure to the lawn after cutting it and leaving the clippings. Other contents of the layers include water, newspaper, more compost and a final layer of leaves, grass clippings or bark. In contrast, a sample of what the University of Florida recommends is grass clippings; newspaper; compost; leaves or sawdust -- repeated layers of these in this order until the bed is as high as you want -- and a final layer of newspaper or leaves.

Caution

• Despite the layers of non-plant material, weeds are still a threat to your new bed. Because sheet mulching materials can contain grass clippings and leaves, it’s possible for a stray weed seed to get into the mix if the clippings or leaves picked one up somewhere along the line. Keep a close eye on the mulch as the days go by and remove any weeds you see. The Grays Harbor County Noxious Weed Control Board says you can use green, seed-free weeds in the bottom layers of the mulch, but be absolutely sure the weeds are green and don’t have seeds clinging to them. Contact your county or university extension office for more information on weed identification in your area.