He rented a sod cutter and cut the sod into strips, rolled them up and removed them. He then dug the whole area out a few more inches deep so we could put in thicker mulch (just to be extra safe). He bordered the area with those 8 ft long landscape timbers. He put the timbers 3 deep, except for one small spot in the front to make it easier to get in and out of.
Here are some pics:
During Construction:
You can see where he made it lower in the front for easier access at the bottom of this picture:
Completed project (we have since taken the disc swing down (came with it) and put up a baby swing for Mikki:
