It's now been more than three months since I wrote the “Test of the Removal of Lawn
and Use of Newspaper to Eliminate Remaining Grass” - published June 3, 2015 - so an update is long overdue. As the summer and growing seasons end I can report that the test has been an unqualified success.
Very little grass has grown into the new garden bed. None of the original grass that was once under the new bed has come through the newspaper barrier although a little managed to bridge across the open trench we left between our existing lawn and the new bed. Any sprouts that did show up posed little problem and were very easy to remove by hand.
The new bed proved extremely successful and produced prolific plant growth. We grew three plants that produced zucchinis by the boatload, some of which grew larger than a loaf of bread while were away on vacation. We also grew lots of cucumbers, two healthy basil plants, red peppers and a beautiful dahlia.
Since the use of newspapers has proved to be so successful in the elimination of grass we
are now considering expanding the existing area and/or doing another section in a
different location in our yard.
The following photographs were taken on August 20, 2015
