Turning lawn into veg plot

[hamsterqueen]

I have managed to annexe another few feet of the lawn for my empire.

Tomorrow my son is going to start digging and I have more raised beds to go down.

What is the best way to turn lawn into veg patch? I have read that you skim the grass off, other books say dig grass , turn it over ..

I have linkaboard beds , which I'll fill with topsoil and compost (have 4 already and they are doing very well, but they were on ground which has been a veggie patch for years and has been dug and re-dug constantly)

Any ideas/tips?

[Snadger]

And about time too!

I would just turn it over, turning the turves upside down as you go, rake it over and put your raised beds on top.

[hamsterqueen]

:0)

Thank you!

I'll get the boy grafting tomorrow!

[Flummery]

Snadge is right (he always is!)
If you just dig it over you'll have grass growing through your crops. If you skim it off you've got to stack the turf for a couple of years to rot down. Do it Snadge the Guru's way!

[OllieMartin]

What I did last year was to cut it into squares and pile the squares up in a corner of the garden. It's much harder work and as Flum says, you have to wait a few years for it to break down. But this year the plan is to plant courgettes in the pile of turf.

Snadger's suggestion is much easier, especially if you're putting proper raised beds on top. My beds were at the same height as the lawn so it was handy to take the turf out and fill in the space it left with fresh compost. The turf would have been too dense for some veg'.

[Flummery]

Mine were the same hight too Ollie - so I double dug and put the turves upside down under the topsoil. Really lovely soil the following year. Harder work though!

[Incy]

We used a mini digger
But then it wasn't turf it was wild dog roses and a whole heap of other stuff with roots etc.....