I hate to think the worse but a disc and harrow on a small diesel tractor would do the job . It would turn over your soil and exposed the membrane . Alternately a Commercial Grade Tiller would do the same but would most likely tear up the membrane into small pieces , which would require additional man-hours to remove with a higher rate potential of Tine Entanglement .

Sorry, should have mentioned, this is a yard in a city. Total area counting the house is 0.16 acres. I need a hand tool. I have an electric tiller that I will use after the landscape fabric is gone.

Suggest doing it in many small steps. In a reasonably small area, use the tiller at a shallow depth, to loosen the soil -- then pull up the fabric.

The landscape fabric is at all different levels, some exposed, some buried. I can't take a tiller to it until I remove the landscape fabric. I've tried it and I spend much of my time taking the tiller apart to remove the pieces of landscape fabric fouling the tines.

If I can cut the landscape fabric into smaller, manageable pieces, maybe one foot square, then I will be able to pull them out. I envision walking through sections of the yard and cutting at the soil like you would a sheet cake, and then coming behind later and pulling up the fabric.

I need a long sharp knife, sharper than anything I have around here at the moment.

Pick up a Arborist Serrated Bow Knife , it has a Si-the/hoe like extend handle that will enable you to cut through the membrane at surface level and to within 2-3 inchs below grade. The blade is self sharpening so it will not be damaged for this purpose . Normally used for manual limbing of Fruit Bearing Trees . Some areas have Rental Shops that carry such Tools .

Gray: Yeah your on it Bro ! Good Luck and take it easy on the lower back Dude:)

Is there no easier way? A heavy duty tiller won't work? Probably bind up too quickly...? Very time consuming for a flip

Just re read previous comment, duh. I see tiller will work but picking up the particles... wouldn't the grass find a way to hide it?

is that wrong?

I have exactly the same problem. The landscape fabric and all the dirt/mulch is growing weeds like crazy but I can't grow anything pretty or productive. Also, my back yard is catch basin for the streets around me and now this yard is a puddle 9 months of the year. I'm sick of it! I have to work around some bushes and rocks so a tiller is a hard no. It's going to be a long hard slog. I think I'll just remove some of the rough edges for now, and pierce some spots with an old-fashioned long-handled grampa weeder for planting things with shallow root systems. Will probably take me several summers of back-breaking work to remove this poorly executed mistake.

Mary Cooke-Baker, can you build a swale to move water away from your yard?

I feel your pain! I had three layers of top quality, thick landscape fabric, each with its own layers of interwoven roots and weeds. I used a utility knife, changing blades frequently, and sometimes some sharp household scissors. It was back breaking labor, but I eventually got it done. I didn't put down this fabric, and I will not be putting down a new layer.

Pat Ramsey, at this point, I'm committed to just gardening in wine barrels and cloth pots. I've photographed the water retention so that when I move out, my landlords can't accuse me of drowning their little barberries and azaleas. It's very sad they spent so much money on a completely bizarre and unworkable setup. They probably got very bad advice from a landscaping firm just out for a quick job.