If water is available, water the plot thoroughly 24 hours in advance to loosen the soil.

Remove grass, roots, and top layer of soil using powered sod cutter (which can be rented) or hand tools. Be careful to cleanly remove soil and grass fragments.

Inspect the soil for remaining grass roots, if seen consider removing more soil.

Seed or transplant potted plants immediately into bare soil.

If you transplanted potted plants consider adding mulch around the plants to suppress weeds and hold in soil moisture. Do not add mulch if you added seeds.

If possible, water plants as needed for the first year.