Is there an easy way to dig up sod?

Hello All :)

I don't know if this question should go in Beginner Garden forum or this one...
Well, I'm not a beginner gardener (winks)...
Anyhoo, I want to build a new garden this year....35' x 8'. I exhausted myself digging up sod in a couple of gardens the same size last year. It took me a couple of weeks doing a little at a time...Good Grief! I'm hoping there is a better way then just scraping pieces up...
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated :)

Susan

This message was edited Feb 2, 2009 6:13 PM

I just flip it over...as long as there's no green showing it dies, especially if done on a hot day.

Hello Three,

Well, I cart the sod away and have the refuse pic it up. I replace it with bags I purchase of topsoil and compost from our local nursery. I just needed to know if there is a special tool/devise that I can use to get the sod up easier. Maybe I'm dreaming...lol

I wish I knew. I dug out this approx. 20x8 foot area by hand. This picture is after three days of work.
I took a sharp shovel and cut about a one by two foot rectangle, about 5 or 6 " deep, then wedged and shoved the shovel under the grass, getting as many roots as possible, and lifting it out. I was trying to save the sod to use in other areas of my yard.

I feel for you! It was backbreaking. If I had more money I'd have hired someone.

You could look into renting a sod cutter, that should make it a pretty quick job if you don't mind spending a bit of money. Or if you've got some time and it's not a really aggressive grass like Bermuda you can layer a bunch of newspaper and cardboard over it to kill it, then plant right through the paper layers once the grass is dead.

The fastest way is the turf cutter Ecrane mentioned, they are like petrol lawn mowers, but instead of cutting the grass, they cut deeper with the blade, the machine then cuts under the turf and you just roll up the long strips of lawn /grass turf, its like lifting a carpet runner of the floor. Better still, the very best way to do it is to hire the guy who rents the machine, mark out the area you want, sit back with a coffee in hand and watch a pro at work.
If you have just a small area to remove, why not ask the hire place IF they are in your area soon, then he may come to a smaller price if he is working in your area, say on his way home, he could cut your small area in about 15 - 30 mins, you then roll up and stack the turf away somewhere it will rot down and you can dig it back into your beds the next year, you need to cover it and keep light of it rotting or you will get bits of grass grow again. good luck. WeeNel.

I read this thread with interest because I have dang near killed myself the last couple of years digging flower beds by hand. I said I was going to rent a sod cutter last year but never got around to it. I'm definitely going to do it this year. My method has been a pick axe. It will really dig up big clumps of sod with relative ease as compared to a hoe or shovel, but you have to stop and shake the dirt out of the grass clumps so as not to dig away all your good topsoil. It's not easy, and you will burn a calorie or two but it gets the job done. And if you are like me be prepared to spend some money on muscle rubs, because every muscle in your body will ache!

There is a method called lasagna gardening in which you put a thick layer of wet newspaper over the sod and then pile up layers of other organic material (whatever you have, compost, aged manure, soil, uncomposted veggie matter) and then top off with mulch (doing this from memory, sorry if it's not 100% accurate). The newspaper keeps the grass from growing up/through the bed and attracts worms, who then go up into the other 'good stuff' and move it into the soil below, aerating and improving the soil below. Best thing is, NO DIGGING. People plant new plants into the raised layers right away. I'm fairly new to it, did it on a bed that I had let go to weeds accidently, but sort of did it half baked, not enough layers of stuff on top. The newspapers worked well killing everything off. I'm going to use it this year to make some new beds and expand some others. I hear lots of people say that it works well and if you search here at DG or the rest of the web you can get lots of info.
Jomejamo

Last year I rented a sod cutter, it made the job of removing grass so much easier! The only issue I had was the sod was then so heavy I couldn't bag it for the county recycling to take it away, so I pilled it all on top of itself, upside down and composted it for 2 weeks, then spread out the dead grass in the beds.

It was just under $200 for a rental weekend, that included delivery, and it was well worth it over killing my self for weeks digging it up.
Hope this helps!
Lisa

What about a front end loader on a tractor. Scrape it!

I put in a perennial/shrub border last summer that's about 40' to 50' in length along the front of our lot, and between 10' and 25' wide depending upon where the curves hit.

I didn't dig up all of the sod. I bought shrubs and perennials and dug out the sod about 6" to 12" past the plant diameter, dug the hole, back-filled some with composted cow manure, and added more composted cow manue over the top. Whenever I would get a section of the garden planted, I would cover the remaining grass between the plants with thick layers of newpaper, then covered the newspaper with pine bark mulch.

Any grass or weeds that DARED show their heads through the mulch got a good squirt of Roundup.

If you know beforehand where you want to put a bed, you can cover the area thickly with newspaper (recycling at it's finest) and mulch over the newspaper in the fall. By spring the grass will be dead and decomposed and you can easily plant whatever you want.