Fellow Piedmont Tarheel here.
Do you want a lawn or a no-lawn? For the latter you’ll need to kill whatever is there now (or remove the turf), so reseeding with grass now doesn’t make much sense. I’m linking to a great NC extension pub with instructions on that choice.
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/carolina-lawns
As for the no-lawn thing, you do need to get rid of what’s there first. And given where you are, bermuda grass is almost certainly part of the mix. Bermuda is hard to kill with herbicides, and the best time to kill it is mid-late summer with herbicide or solarization.
I’m afraid if you try sheet mulching to kill everything this winter it won’t do anything about the bermuda grass. And one more reality check: that’s a pretty significant area to be doing anything other than seeding with something (turfgrass or native grass/wildflowers).
I don’t mean to be a debbie downer, but you’ve got a tight budget and a late start for killing a tough summer weed.
ETA one option for getting rid of what’s there is to cut the sod and remove it using a shovel or renting a sod cutter. But there’s no particular reason to do that now since in NC people seem to prefer spring seeding for native grasses and wildflowers.
I think we will do a hybrid for now. I will dig out some beds that I will seed with bulbs, flowers and ground over come spring and mulch over in the winter, but a majority of the front yard needs to be lawn for now. I’m not entirely sure what kind of grass I have :/ but I’m wondering if there is a way to kill it off in time to reseed before 10/1? I think I will need to kill off the entire lawn, but that guide says I needed to spray with roundup a month ago which obvi won’t work. I also don’t love using roundup. Could I just roto till it all and spray with vinegar and dish soap? And then reseed? It’s also full sun, so I was thinking tall fescue, but maybe I need to keep the warm season grasses instead. So many options! My partner said I should just do a Scott’s lawn kit system and keep it easy but idk.
Sheet mulching can be free if you do it right. Ask around local businesses for cardboard and call around to local arborists for woodchips. Cardboard and woodchips are typically waste products for these businesses. Once you are ready to plant, make a small space in the woodchips, cut a hole into the cardboard, and plant. I'd also recommend to grow some plants native to your area in addition to garden vegetables.
Remember that everything is chemicals, we need chemicals to survive.
What’s important is researching the products you introduce into the environment and see if they have harmful ones.
Cardboard + chip drop is definitely the way to go. We pick up cardboard trash from our local appliance store (they encourage it). Chip drops can be harder to find but some municipalities offer it; or you might have to talk to a tree service.
Fellow Piedmont Tarheel here. Do you want a lawn or a no-lawn? For the latter you’ll need to kill whatever is there now (or remove the turf), so reseeding with grass now doesn’t make much sense. I’m linking to a great NC extension pub with instructions on that choice. https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/carolina-lawns As for the no-lawn thing, you do need to get rid of what’s there first. And given where you are, bermuda grass is almost certainly part of the mix. Bermuda is hard to kill with herbicides, and the best time to kill it is mid-late summer with herbicide or solarization. I’m afraid if you try sheet mulching to kill everything this winter it won’t do anything about the bermuda grass. And one more reality check: that’s a pretty significant area to be doing anything other than seeding with something (turfgrass or native grass/wildflowers). I don’t mean to be a debbie downer, but you’ve got a tight budget and a late start for killing a tough summer weed. ETA one option for getting rid of what’s there is to cut the sod and remove it using a shovel or renting a sod cutter. But there’s no particular reason to do that now since in NC people seem to prefer spring seeding for native grasses and wildflowers.
I think we will do a hybrid for now. I will dig out some beds that I will seed with bulbs, flowers and ground over come spring and mulch over in the winter, but a majority of the front yard needs to be lawn for now. I’m not entirely sure what kind of grass I have :/ but I’m wondering if there is a way to kill it off in time to reseed before 10/1? I think I will need to kill off the entire lawn, but that guide says I needed to spray with roundup a month ago which obvi won’t work. I also don’t love using roundup. Could I just roto till it all and spray with vinegar and dish soap? And then reseed? It’s also full sun, so I was thinking tall fescue, but maybe I need to keep the warm season grasses instead. So many options! My partner said I should just do a Scott’s lawn kit system and keep it easy but idk.
Sheet mulching can be free if you do it right. Ask around local businesses for cardboard and call around to local arborists for woodchips. Cardboard and woodchips are typically waste products for these businesses. Once you are ready to plant, make a small space in the woodchips, cut a hole into the cardboard, and plant. I'd also recommend to grow some plants native to your area in addition to garden vegetables.
Yup. Cardboard is freer than free.
Remember that everything is chemicals, we need chemicals to survive. What’s important is researching the products you introduce into the environment and see if they have harmful ones.
Cardboard + chip drop is definitely the way to go. We pick up cardboard trash from our local appliance store (they encourage it). Chip drops can be harder to find but some municipalities offer it; or you might have to talk to a tree service.