Someone posted info about renting a sod cutter. We rented one about 5 years ago when I expanded some beds and wanted to remove a lot of sod around my beds. I put mulch down to neaten everything up and cut down on all the mowing.
The machine is big and heavy ... I never could have handled it alone & it was quite a work out for D.H. ... but boy does it do a great job! If you have a large area it's well worth it. I forgot exactly how much it was to rent but I'm thinking about $60 for the day. You just roll the sod strips up after to remove them. I was lucky - my neighbor's son wanted it to fill his lawn in where the grass wasn't growing well. He came and hauled it all away for me.
This is 3 pictures put together of my side yard with all the sod rolled up.
