How to Kill Grass in a Rock Garden
Rock gardens are a great way to landscape your yard with minimal maintenance. Replacing a flower garden with a colorful, beautifully designed rock garden is a great way to enhance your landscape, particularly if you live in a dry climate. Preparing your landscape for a rock garden starts with killing and removing any grass or weeds from your garden site. With a little time and preparation, you can easily remove any unwanted grass and begin designing your low-maintenance landscape. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Garden tiller
- Wheelbarrow
- Shovel
- White vinegar
- Black plastic ground cover
Instructions
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1
Walk the area where you plan to start your rock garden. Make sure you remove any sticks, rocks or debris from the area before you begin tilling up the grass, weeds and roots.
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2
Rent a garden tiller from your local equipment rental store. Depending on the size of the area you plan to till, you should be able to complete tilling within the typical 24-hour rental turnaround time, so you will only have to pay for one day's rental.
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3
Till up the grass, weeds and roots in your rock garden site, while wearing long pants and closed-toe shoes to prevent harm from flying debris.
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4
Remove the loosened grass, weeds and roots with a shovel, and place them in a wheelbarrow for later disposal.
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5
Saturate your freshly tilled area with white vinegar. Make sure you have enough vinegar to pour over the entire area. This will kill any grass and/or roots that may not have been removed by the tiller.
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6
Place your black plastic sheeting over the ground and secure it on the ends with rocks to weigh it down and keep the sheeting from blowing away. Keep the black plastic sheeting over this area for at least two weeks to prevent grass and weeds from growing.
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7
Remove the black plastic sheeting and begin designing your rock garden.
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Tips & Warnings
If there are no weeds in your wheelbarrow, you can recycle the grass and roots to create a mulch for other areas of your yard.
If you notice new grass sprouting up in your established rock garden, kill it by saturating it with white vinegar.
When using white vinegar to kill grass, be careful not to spill any of the vinegar on plants or vegetation you want to thrive because the vinegar will kill plants and vegetation as well.
