How Long to Kill Grass

Last week I smothered a long strip of boring lawn with newspaper followed by mulch, as per your recommendations Eventually I want to plant perennials in there, such as coreopsis, shasta daisies, galliardia and daylilies that are all waiting in pots. My question is, how long do I need to wait before the grass & weeds are good and dead before I plant?

Thanks,Lisa

Doug says:

It will take longer than you might think. Expect the grass to die in about 2 months. Grass is really tough stuff and I've seen it pop right back up after only a month or so of dark conditions. If the grass was really healthy, it could take longer. I confess I normally try to kill the grass the year before I want to plant. In my own garden right now, I'm loading up the mulch over areas of newspaper and cardboard and expect to plant in September or next year with the vast majority of my plants.

In our northern climates, I've even seen solarization take 12 weeks to kill off everything under the clear poly.

The advantage of the paper and mulch of course is that the garden looks a lot better while the grass is dying than if you cover with clear plastic.

Do you have a question about how to kill grass?