Keeping a division boundary between your lawn and the neighboring driveway, sidewalk, patio, or flowerbeds is important. This stops the grass from spreading into these areas and makes your lawn neat.
You’ll need an edger or a trimmer to edge the lawn. An edger provides a vertical cut to the grass being manicured; a trimmer applies a horizontal cut to remove grass and weeds in hard-to-reach areas such as around trees, fences, houses, and other obstructions.
How to Edge a Lawn – Steps
Safety is very important before you start your lawn edging process. First of all, ensure there are no water pipes or power lines crossing underground. Wear your PPEs, including a pair of hand gloves, safety eyeglasses, and a respirator mask.
Here are important steps to follow when edging a lawn:
- Remove all debris on your lawn, including toys and tree branches, to create a clear lawn for mowing.
- Next, mow your lawn as you obey the 1/3 rule – never cut more than one-third of your grass blade’s height at a time.
- Demarcate your path using a rope to indicate where you will make the edging cuts. You can skip this if this is not the first time you are edging your lawn.
- Wear your safety gear and get your desired edger to start the job. You can test in a small area if everything is working well.
- For straight edges, start at one end of the lawn as you move towards the other end. For a curved one, you can start at the center of the curve.
- Once done, clean up your debris, including grass, soil, or sods, for disposal
- Finalize everything by cleaning your edging tool to remove all the soil and grass clippings and let it dry before storing it for the next use.
Lawn Edging Maintenance Tips
Lawn edging should be done at least once per year. Doing it every other time you mow your lawn is not viable. Instead, use edging shears for touch-ups. This will help in removing any excess grass growing on the created edge.
You’ll also want to trim your overgrown grass around the fences, house, and trees. This can effectively be done using a cordless string trimmer which is adaptive, lightweight, and easy to use anywhere.
Also important, try to trim overgrown tree branches and shrubs around your yard. This not only allows your turf to receive sufficient sunlight but also keeps bugs away, including mosquitoes.
Last but not least, plants will shed their leaves during fall in preparation for a cold winter season ahead. During this time, a lot of leaves will be covering your grass. You can decide to mow over the leaves or rake them before they smother the grass.