Before thought, I should say what I want to do! I have a large flower bed in the front garden which is too large and unsightly, so i plan to dig everything out and grass it. in the back garden, the grass is bare, and riddled with weeds of differing sorts so I plan to re turf it.

Now, my question is (forgive the long winded approach of asking!!!)... kill whats left in the back garden, remove the top half inch and move it to the front flower bed to fill it in. then i will returf the back and either seed or turf the front area. question is... as I am doing it on a budget, whats the best way to skim off the half inch form the back after the weeds and grass is all dead? I dont want to use a machine as I woiuld have to hire one and that costs money. I am not scared of hard work!

Where do you live and what type of grass are you trying to grow?

For skimming off the top layer, the machine version is called a sod cutter. It is well worth the rental costs. If you are just itching to see a chiropractor, you can use a flat shovel. Tilt the shovel handle low to the ground and push. With a little practice, you should be able to skim that top layer off. That is a VERY labor intensive way to clear a large area.