"Removing or Killing Your Unwanted Grass"

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I posted this on the website of Apartment Therapy (link below), removing any unwanted grass using tarps with gravel:

Lawn Be Gone: 4 Methods to Kill Grass

These methods work great for drive-way additions, walkways, or just basic landscaping projects.

If drainage from your home is also a factor when removing grass / soil, stones will compliment your landscaping and help solve your problem.

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Light or No Foot Traffic:

1- Purchase plastic tarps at the dollar store, and lay them out on the leveled ground to be landscaped, side by side. Hammer long, wide-headed, stainless-steel nails into the tarp's end openings, to stabilize their movement.

2- Apply at least 1/2 inch of screening evenly raked, and water it down with the hose.

3- Pound the screening down with a hand tamper.

4- Let the screening dry and then cover it with at least an inch of landscaping rock (River Rock).

5- Make note of the location of the nails, since removing them will allow you to easily / quickly remove your stone tarp setup (pull it like a carpet), in the future if required. 

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Heavy foot traffic or vehicle use:

1- Apply the screening first (2 inches min), level, water , pound / roll

2- Apply tarps as mentioned above

3- Large size of landscaping rocks (River Rock), 3 inches min depth and enough to cover the tarps underneath

4- Use a roller to flatten down the rocks (slowly driving back and forth over the rocks with the vehicle will do the trick).

5- After initial use, adjust the depth of rocks as needed. A shallow depth of landscaping rocks, will make the tarp color very visible from near distances.

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This is the basics that works very well. What you have to consider is if dirt has to be displaced and where, slopes created, and how much material you will need in total. Factor in the exit path of rain water when creating slopes.

For larger slopes against the house, use more screening and blend it in with landscaping rocks.

I used this technique around the house to create drainage for a damaged basement. The house originally had a lot of grass / soil surrounding it (unfinished landscaping contributed to the problem) .

It's important in the beginning to decide how much grass and soil will be removed, including the leveling of the ground to apply the screening evenly (one inch depth works).

The extra soil removed in one spot, is now the foundation for another spot (lawn patches, garden soil, flower beds,...). Test it out on a small area first for the logistics.

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If applied properly, it will last years with only a min of upkeep. I dug out chunks of lawn / grass for additional parking spots, and it works great (railway ties make ideal lane separators).

Even Bindweed cant' get through it. The plastic tarp and cement like layer of screening, blocks all their growth. 

This is a task that you can break down over days / months if need be, since your lawn isn't going anywhere. It's definitely worth the labor and time.