We tore up the pathway bricks that went through the middle of our back yard. Found a couple inches of gravel, then under that is a concrete pathway. It appears to go under some of the existing grass. Wondering if we COULD just fill the path with dirt and grass, or if we really need to demo all of it (please no…). My partner thinks the grass won’t survive long if we don’t rip it all out. There’s also a concrete pathway under our hedges, and they are perfectly healthy.
by lieut_dan_ice_cream
15 Comments
Tear it out before planting grass. It will be better drainage and the grass won’t die off every summer when it dries out from being so shallow.
Do you not want a path there?
If the shrubs are fine, ignore that area and focus on the path in the middle of your yard. Be sure to have your utilities come out and mark the yard before you start demo.
If It doesn’t have rebar it’s an easy job for a small rotary hammer
Ideally it will need the concrete taking out or in hot spells the grass may struggle. – Why not try it first without removing concrete as you could later easily cut out any new turf you create and reuse if you need to remove the concrete.
“Want more yard for the kids”
But also “please no work, just slap grass over top of it so the kids have the *feeling* of being safe, but if they fall or play -as kids do- they may get quite the shiner!”
Pick one, but don’t set your kids up (or other kids visiting) to injure themselves because they *incorrectly* believe there is grass where there is actually concrete.
On that note, have you considered just spray painting it green instead? Dont be lazy.
Grass won’t survive well over that. You could do a mulch path on top if you really want, but that will migrate into the lawn. The correct option is just removing it, which shouldn’t be too bad.
You’re probably looking at a few hundred bucks in rentals and 2 days of labor for a single person.
I would (and have) done it for my kid
The path is there for a reason. Replacing it with new grass won’t last long if you still use that as a pathway.
In summer, landscaping subs are full of people posting patches of dead grass asking what could be wrong. An awful lot of the time, the answer is that there is concrete under the grass (septic lids, old patios, paths).
You definitely have to remove it if you want grass.
Grass won’t grow over concrete. The lime kills it very quickly.
It has to come out, unfortunately. Grass growing over that will die every summer because the concrete will block the roots from going deep enough to get water and worse, concrete or stone that shallow usually also absorbs a lot of heat from the sun and literally cooks the grass that’s on top of it
Just throw down soil and plant clover, you will have a beautiful clover path and pollinators will love it. Try it for a year, if you hate it, rip it up and try grass.
Clover generally needs less soil depth and fertility than traditional turfgrass.
Here’s a breakdown:
• Soil depth: Clover can establish in shallower soil (around 4–6 inches) compared to many lawn grasses, which prefer at least 6–8 inches for proper root spread.
• Nutrients: Clover fixes its own nitrogen from the air through root nodules, so it thrives in poorer soils where grass would struggle.
• Moisture tolerance: It tolerates slightly drier and more compacted soil than most grasses, though it still needs some drainage.
• pH range: Clover is flexible (around 6.0–7.5), while many grasses prefer more specific conditions.
If it is growing over concrete in spots, it’s likely that a lot of it is poa trivialis (aka rough bluegrass).
Poa trivialis has the unique advantage of being able to grow with little to no soil… It’s the bermuda of cool season grasses.
As long as it gets water, if it has 1-2 inches of soil over top of the concrete, it can honestly do fine. In fact, it really prefers that type of situation over well-draining soil.
To see if you’ve got poa trivialis, run your finger along the surface of the soil. Scratch and drag until you hit a root-like thing. Pull on that, if it ends up being attached to some grass several inches away, it’s almost certainly poa trivialis (and you just found a stolon, which is how it spreads).
Poa trivialis has poor heat tolerance, so suffers in the summer, particularly in sunny areas. But it always recovers in the cooler months… Always… ALWAYS. It can even recover from multiple applications of glyphosate.
Consider turf block
Add a load of top soil, bring up the level. Add compost, sprinkle lawn seed good quality hard wearing. water regularly with added miracle gro, you will have great grass.