sorry, but when i talk about the vinegar souring soil, i meant will the dirt still be suitible for gardening after winter : ).

The "lasagna" method would be the easiest way to both kill the grass and get the soil ready for other plants. There are books available in the library or in bookstores, too. The only changes I would make in this link are to never use peat moss, and increase the depth of the first newspaper layer to 12 sheets of paper.

I've never done this, but my daughter did, and it worked well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lasagna gardening

Grass has shallow roots. I just dug mine out in the small areas. If you want to remove a large area you could use a sod cutter or the lasagna method as suggested above.

what does the "fungus-like" thing look like? Can you post a picture?

I've done it during the summer. Like wanda said, grass has shallow roots. I'm going to do my best at explaining the way that i get rid of segments of lawn. What i've done is segmented the lawn into strips about two feet wide, running the whole length of the yard, using a shovel. Then I use a pick axe and start picking at one edge and pulling the "carpet" back. When a strip gets too long (and heavy) to keep rolling back, i simply sever it, and continue with the rest of the strip. When i'm done, i simply turn the strips of lawn roots-side-up and the sun does the drying up and killing part. It's hard work, but the area is ready for planting as soon as the grass is dead. Maybe a picture is better at showing what i just tried to explain:

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I'm a very lazy gardener, so here's what's worked well for me and my sister-in-law, too. Right on top of the grass we put down 5-10 sheets of newspaper and cover that with 3-4 inches of mulch. When we're ready to plant we make holes through the mulch and newspaper, plant, and put the paper and mulch back in place. That's it. Periodically I replenish the newspaper (if necessary) and mulch. This kills the weeds, earthworms love the moist soil under the newspaper, and looks good at every stage (well, at least it looks a lot better than a weedy mess). The mulch breaks down and improves the soil, too. Good luck!

What kind of grass do you have? If it's Bermuda, which is rampant around here, lasagna layering does not always work.

We killed ours with Roundup, but if you want to go completely organic, then dig out the grass and add soil amendments or compost to rebuild the soil. Chances are the soil is exhausted anyway, grass is a heavy feeder and takes all the nutrients out.

I'm a lazy gardener like suzi in so cal. i've used the newspaper method for years, it works every time -- *and* it's an easy no-brainer way to garden. If i work too hard in the garden, then it just becomes another job :(

I vote for the lasagna garden. I use cardboard instead of paper if I can get enough. It really did kill all the grass. I get horse manure from a neighbor, spread it over the cardboard and put down whatever compost I can find. I have used grass clippings, leaves and whatever I can use from the compost pile. Keep it moist and it will be wonderful in no time.

I've covered our grass with brown packing paper and a 3" layer of mulch about two months ago. When can I be confident that the grass underneath is sufficiently dead?

Many thanks!