Why I'd Avoid Weed Killer Completely
I want to be direct about this because it matters. Using a systemic herbicide like glyphosate to clear an area you're about to replant with borders and introduce gravel into is, in my view, an unnecessary and environmentally costly shortcut that creates more problems than it solves.
Glyphosate and similar weed killers do not disappear the moment the plant dies. They persist in the soil and can affect the microbial life, earthworm populations, and soil structure that you absolutely want thriving in your new planting beds. That living soil ecosystem is what makes plants grow well, and poisoning it before you even start is working against yourself before you've planted a single thing. Beyond your own garden, these chemicals move through soil and drainage into the wider environment, affecting waterways, invertebrates, and the very pollinators your new planting is likely designed to support.
There is also a practical argument against it. Weed killer kills the top growth but the grass roots and dock roots will still be there. Docks in particular have extraordinarily deep and persistent taproots that a herbicide application will not reliably destroy, and rotovating through dead but intact root systems simply chops those roots into smaller pieces, each of which can regenerate into a new plant. You would be creating more dock plants rather than fewer.
The Plastic Sheeting Method
Given your access constraints, this is almost certainly your most practical and effective option and it costs very little to execute. Cover the entire eighty-six square metres with thick black polythene sheeting or a heavy duty tarpaulin, weighed down at the edges with bricks, stones, or timber. Leave it in place for a minimum of three months and ideally six months if your project timeline allows.
What happens underneath is that the grass, dock leaves, and any other vegetation are completely deprived of light and gradually die back and begin to decompose. The soil beneath stays moist and dark, which actually encourages worm activity, and by the time you lift the sheeting you will find the surface vegetation has largely rotted down and the ground is considerably easier to work than it would have been otherwise. The dock roots will be significantly weakened by prolonged darkness and many will have died, though the very deepest ones may need a follow-up dig to remove entirely.
This method requires almost no equipment, nothing that won't fit through a 72-inch access path, and does the heavy work for you while you get on with designing and planning the rest of the garden.
If You Can Lift the Turf Manually
If you have the time and energy, or can recruit some willing helpers, manually lifting the turf by hand with a flat spade is the approach I would encourage most enthusiastically and here is why it is genuinely exciting rather than just hard work.
Grass turf that is lifted and stacked upside down in a pile, so the root side faces upward and the grass faces down into the stack, will decompose over approximately six months into some of the most beautiful, dark, crumbly, nutrient-rich loam you have ever seen. This is called turf loam or stacked turf compost and professional gardeners have been making it for centuries. The grass rots, the roots break down, the soil organisms do their work, and what you are left with is essentially free topsoil of outstanding quality that you can use to enrich your new planting beds.
Stack the lifted turves somewhere out of the way, even in a corner of the garden or along a fence line, cover loosely with more sheeting to retain moisture, and leave them to do their thing. In six months you will have a resource that would cost a significant amount to buy in bags from a garden centre. It transforms what feels like a disposal problem into a genuine asset, which is exactly how Mother Nature intends things to work.
Dealing With the Dock Leaves Specifically
Docks deserve a special mention because they are not just grass and they will not respond to the same treatment. The taproot of a mature dock can extend 30 to 60 centimetres into the soil and regenerates readily from any fragment left behind. The plastic sheeting method will kill the top growth but the most persistent roots may survive even six months of darkness.
When you do come to plant the new beds, remove every piece of dock root you can find by hand as you go, using a long-handled fork to work deeply rather than a spade, which will slice through and leave fragments behind. Do not compost dock roots unless your compost heap gets genuinely hot. Bag them and put them in general waste, or leave them in a bucket of water for several weeks until they have fully rotted to an unusable mush before adding to the compost.
https://youtu.be/4WIDSCJ4o6M
Planning Around Your Access Constraints
The narrow access and steps are actually less of a limitation than they might feel right now. Hand tools, wheelbarrows that disassemble, and the sheeting method between them require nothing larger than a person carrying equipment. If you do eventually need to bring in any material, sharp sand, gravel, or topsoil, most suppliers can deliver in bulk bags that split down into manageable barrow loads through a narrow access if you allow enough time for the work.
Do have a look at my garden design consultation service if you'd like a hand pulling the overall design together once the ground is cleared. Getting the layout right before you commit to gravel and planting positions makes a significant difference to how the finished garden feels and functions.
You are making all the right early decisions, Rosie. The fact that you questioned the weed killer advice before acting on it shows very sound instincts.
Lee Garden Ninja
Lee Burkhill: Award Winning Designer & BBC 1's Garden Rescue Presenters Official Blog
