How to Lay Mulch Over Grass? Can You?

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Do you want to convert some areas of your lawns for pets, swings, or simple walking lines? Or do you want some of your grassy areas into flower beds to add life to your garden? Yes, you can do this by laying mulch over your lawn grass. It’s time to follow a simple and effective procedure that can give you the whole picture of applying mulch over grass.

Actually, there are two main types of mulch: organic and inorganic which help you decide whether should you put can you put mulch over grass or not. The main thing is if you want to suppress the grass growth you can lay inorganic mulch over it and if you want to grow your grass more efficiently you can use organic mulch.

So whenever the question comes to mind

“Can You Put Mulch Over Grass?”

The simple answer is yes, If you have grass that you want to kill, placing some mulch over it will do the trick. Mulch works by cutting off a grass’s sunlight and air supply, depleting its resources until it has stopped growing completely and leaving you with a great area for planting. Eventually the mulch, dead grass, and other barrier materials will decompose into the soil enriching it.

To lay mulch over grass, the first step will always be to remove the grass if you are using inorganic mulch. It means you will be laying mulch over dirt, not on grass.

To clean grassy areas of your garden and put mulch over them, there are two methods you can follow:

Method 1: Use the sod removal method to achieve a clear area of grass. but it is not a preferred method as laying mulch over grass is preferred to achieve grass and weeds suppression.

Method 2: To lay mulch over grass in order to kill weeds and inhibit grass growth.

Moving on to laying mulch over grass, here is the complete procedure you can read and try on your lawn:

How to Put Mulch Over Grass (Sheet Mulching)

So the basic principle of laying mulch suppressing grass is by putting on sheet mulch over it which acts as a physical barrier. This physical barrier cuts the sunlight and gaseous exchange to the grass which results in the death of grass and grass won’t grow.

Here the first thing you should keep in mind is that you are going to kill grass with mulch and you should only use mulches that suppress grass growth.

Material Required:

  • Rake – will be used to mow the grass bed
  • Newspaper – To spread under mulch
  • Compost – To spread below mulch
  • Mulch – To spread over the soil

Procedure (How to Mulch Over Grass)

Replacing your ordinary lawn with a bay-friendly lawn can be achieved by laying mulch over grass. By doing so you can also create a habitat for butterflies and bees. These lawn adds extra value to your plating hobby plus helps you in growing food for cooking, and fruits and will definitely increase the quality of lawn soil. We will do so by using a technique called sheet mulching.

In this technique, we lay mulch and newspaper or cardboard over an existing lawn. So these layers break down naturally in soil and made it more nutritious. It helps the soil and is also a very good way to suppress weeds. Follow these steps to sheet mulch your ordinary lawn and you are all done.

Laying mulch over grass will include the following steps.

1. Remove Weeds From the Lawn

First of all, remove all weeds from the lawn manually or using preen, if any along with their roots plus remove bulky or woody plants from the place. Plus remove invasive plants which are of no use from your garden or area where you want to lay mulch over grass. Plants like horsetails, oxalis, or Kikuyu are those you going to remove. Be careful while removing these plants so you do not damage the plants you wanted to keep.

remove unwanted weeds and plants

2. Watering the Area

Now water the whole garden area to keep the natural decomposition process active.

Watering the Area

3. Cut a Clean Edge Around the Lawn

Now cut the lawn 7 to 8 inches from the edge of the concrete using an edged shovel to keep the lawn away from the concrete. This will help in avoiding runoff of mulch from the lawn towards the concrete. While making the edge, the soil should be 3 inches below the floor of concrete.

Cut a Clean Edge Around the Lawn

4. Spread the Newspaper or Cardboard Over the Lawn

Now spread newspaper or cardboard over the soil. The newspaper should be 10 to 11 layers thick. Because the layer of newspaper thicker than this can stop oxygen contact with soil.  Or you can place simply spread one layer of cardboard all over the garden. Use white and black newspapers only, and avoid using multicolored newspapers as they can harm the soil. Newspaper and cardboard will simply decompose to soil and helps in creating better quality soil. Make sure no lawn area shows while placing cardboard if it is.

Also, Be sure to use only black and white newspaper print paper. DO NOT use colored paper or glossy, colors that contain harmful chemicals that can harm plants.

Here also, you should keep in mind that if you are about to use a mulch that is not newspaper then make sure you are getting a 3-inch layer thickness of whatever mulch you are using.

Spread the Newspaper or Cardboard Over the Lawn

5. Watering the Cardboard/Newspaper

Now wet the cardboard by watering it. The water holds the newspaper/cardboard firmly to the ground. Plus newspaper will help in blocking sunlight to soil and so help in stopping weeds growth. Do it all with proper care so that newspapers will not shift from any area. It will also help in laying mulch over grass properly.

Watering the cardboard

6. Spread and Compost Mulch Over Newspaper

Now lay mulch over the newspaper. Lay mulch over cardboard or newspaper properly to save wet newspaper from tiring apart. Also, select the best mulch type. You can use organic mulch or inorganic mulch depending upon your garden need. Plus make sure your mulch would be 4 to 5 inches. When you finished laying mulch over the garden water it again. You are all done with laying mulch over grass.

Spread and compost mulch over newspaper

You can dig holes in cardboard from the area if you want to install another plant.

7. Install Plants

It’s time to install the plants you wanted to. You can grow any plants and flowers you want.


Advantage of Laying Mulch Over Grass Than Sod Removal

Laying mulch over grass will turn your land into a more nutritious one. Because during laying you will use newspaper and mulch. Nutrition value in mulch and newspaper will add to the soil plus grass will also help in making the soil more fertile.


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Jack

After doing my master’s in agriculture, I went on with this field for more than 15 years because I love working in green. I have experienced using modern machinery and techniques that can help farmers and landscapers to achieve something great. My goal will be to deliver you the best reviews and information to make the right decision.

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