Anti-growing

[quakerboy]

I have a small garden area within a small yard. The raised part is ok, nothing but the strawberries from last year are growing there.

The ground though, seems to really want to grow things. When we moved in, the grass was 6 foot tall. We cut it back, then poisoned it with something from HD. We figured on doing some sort of ground cover to keep it gone. Soon, the grass was back. And I completely turned all the ground, restructuring a hill into a flat upper and lower space, and doing the stuff(I think it was roundup). And the grass is back It grew in over the winter, despite poison and cold and whatever else. A few weeds, but mostly grass.

How do I get rid of this? The end goal is to lay down weed cloth, a layer of pea gravel, and then paint it with moss. But that has to wait until I can afford the gravel. The internet suggested bleach in a spray bottle for a quick kill that would evaporate leaving the ground none the worse, or salt for a longer solution. I tried the bleach two days ago. The grass looks none the worse for the wear. I tried salt over in a corner a few days before that. That area also looks quite green and happy.

Is there any way to get rid of this grass without permanently poisoning the ground or spending extensive amounts of money? Or, I suppose the obvious, pulling each grass plant up by hand, which would be a pita at the best of times.