We just finished planting an area in our back yard which was
previously part of the lawn last fall. After the leaves fell, we
raked the leaves from our lawn onto the area to be smothered.
Some people use newspaper for smothering grass. We realized
after using newspaper that it was very time consuming for large
areas and it took a while to build up a supply to have enough
for the job. For this project, we rolled out the paper on top of
the raked leaves, then covered the paper with more leaves. You
need to have enough leaves on top to weigh down the paper. A
shredded wood mulch also works well. This photo shows the layer
of leaves on top of the paper. There are some great advantages
to smothering grass this way. mycorrhizal fungi as well as not
promoting weed seed germination. Most of all it is a lot less
work than removing the sod. The added layer of leaves and
decaying sod creates a wonderful layer of humus and adds organic
matter to your soil. The paper and leaves need to be left for at
least two seasons, ie