WBST informative article check 5

 WBST informative article check 5

Is lawn edging necessary?

If you mow your lawn regularly, maintain basic lawn care practices; still, need to edge your lawn. Edging is the process of preparing a neatly defined line between the grass in your lawn and the sidewalk, driveway, or flowerbeds. The borders of your yard will get an enchanting groomed look by regular edging. Though edging is not an essential part of maintaining your lawn, it helps to get a well-manicured appearance that is not possible in any other way. It creates the difference between an average-looking and an attractive lawn. Edgers are the tools required to do edging properly in the shortest possible time. These cut the grasses vertically to have a sharp look.

Edging is going to take more time for lawn maintenance. Are edgers worth it? I think so.

It gives a professional and aesthetic look: Edging your lawn will give a tidy and finished look. If you don’t clean the stuck-up grass tufts along your flowerbed or over your walkaway it will look sloppy. And definitely, you don’t want it.

It increases value: By edging your lawn you can have a comparatively better look. It is one of the cheapest and simplest ways to make your lawn more eye-catchy. Thus it adds value to your lawn without spending much money.

It protects lawn from grass root: If you don’t do edging regularly, grass will grow over the walkway edges and into garden beds. And you cannot protect your lawn from weeds. Edging prevents the growth of grassroots. High-quality edging can beautify your home gorgeously.

 

How to edge your lawn?

If your lawn gives an untidy look even after mowing, raking the leaves, and watering the plants; it is probably because of the small amount of grass around the lawn edge or along your walk away or driveaway where the mower cannot reach. Edging is the best solution to this problem. Your lawn will not give an outstanding look if you don’t edge properly. Don’t worry if you don’t have prior lawn edging experience. You will get to learn in detail how to edge your lawn with an edger. You have to invest a little amount of time and effort in this. It’s not a tough task and you can do it with gas, electric, or manual tool. Step by step edging procedure to have a professional look is below.

 

Step 1: Mowing grass

If you want to edge your lawn you should start with mowing. Then you will be able to know how short to trim the grasses along the pavement or the plant beds and will less likely to cut the grasses too low that can result in weak grassroots or bare patches.

 

Step 2: Planning edging path

If you are not enough experienced and going to edge your lawn for the first time then you should mark the path with tape or rope to show where you will cut the edges. It is a wise decision not to apply spray paint. But if you edge just along driveways or pavements and you find marking the path is unnecessary; you may skip this step.

 

Step 3: Choosing the best edger

Now you have to select an edger. You can choose either a power edger or a manual one. If you use a power edger like a string trimmer you will get your work done comparatively faster. In the case of a manual edger, you will have more control over it.

Power edgers or string trimmers are found in electric, gas, corded, or cordless form. String trimmers are featured with a cutting swath and a monofilament string to cut weeds and grasses. Gas-powered trimmers are suitable for large yards but they are quite expensive and need regular maintenance. And electric trimmers are more environmentally friendly.

You need to give more time and effort while using a manual edger but you will get a more precise result. There are different types of manual edgers such as landscaping edgers, dual wheel rotary edgers, and hand shears.

Landscaping edgers are used to remove grasses from pavement or driveway or remove turf around the garden bed.

Duel wheel roller edgers slice through grasses that grow over the edges of walkways.

Hand shears come in different forms, some are single hand-operated, some come with adjustable length and need to operate with two hands. People use these to give touch-ups to their lawns.

If you want to buy a power edger, try to buy one with lightweight to prevent back pain. And do not forget to buy some extra replacement blades for the edger.

 

Step 4: Using protective equipment

You need to gear up yourself first with goggles, gloves, long pants, and boots as power edgers can throw stones, debris while working with them. Be more careful if there are small rocks in the yard as you can be hurt by those. Some gas-powered edgers generate more sounds, so you can use earplugs for your ears’ protection. It’s your responsibility to warn people around you that you are going to use an edger so that they can maintain a safe distance.

 

Step 5: Edging with manual or power edger

After ensuring your safety you will start edging. Don’t forget to check the position of plumbing pipes and electric wires as you don’t want to cut them while edging.

If it is your first time, you can practice for some time to get familiar with the edger and the edging process. And of course, do it in some places which are not visible easily.

Now turn the weed eater on. If it is gas-powered then pull the string and in the case of an electric weed eater just press the on button. Flip the trimmer head of the string trimmer at 180 degrees, giving it a vertical position and keeping the deflector shield facing towards you. If you edge along pavement or driveways, keep walking on them and place the trimmer line between the hard surface and the grass. This will ensure the higher longevity of your trimmer. And it is better to start edging from one end to another; not from the middle. Hold the edger handle straight out in a forward direction and try to keep it as much steady as possible. Engage your core and maintain good posture to keep the tool under control.

Pay attention to the spinning direction of the trimmer string and walk accordingly. If the string spins clockwise your movement should be left to right. This movement will result in ejecting the weeds and turfs away from the walkway and keeping them in the yard. Thus you can save time as you don’t need to clean the walkways afterward.

There is no hurry. In the beginning, you should invest enough time and trim carefully. When you will be experienced it will take less time.

While using a manual edger, you need to drive the edger straight down into the soil with your foot strength. You need to hold the handle strongly for a more defined edge. Then rock the edger gently to cut through the soil and turf.

For both power and manual edger 2’’ deeper cutting is fair enough.

 

Step 6: Checking rugged area

Using a shovel place the mulch, weeds, or loose soil in a wheelbarrow. Now you know if there are any uneven or rugged areas in your yard where you need to go again for edging.

 

Step 7: Edging flower beds

Manual edgers are suitable for edging curved flower or vegetable beds as they provide sharper edges. Firstly mark the area and then follow the same steps of edging along walkways.

 

Step 8: Pruning shrubbery and cleaning the trimmer

After edging garden perimeter and curved areas, prune the shrubbery and bush. One last and the most important thing is to clean the trimmer just after using it with a stiff brush. As a result, the trimmer will remain ready to use next time.

 

How often should you edge your lawn?

Being a homeowner with a properly manicured lawn deserves some time that you need to invest in your lawn. A beautiful lawn needs timely watering, mowing, trimming, and other maintenance regularly. Your lawn cannot give your desired look even after all these lawn cares if you do not do edging on regular basis. While mowing your lawn if you find grasses or weeds growing over the edge lines then it’s time to edge your lawn. But sometimes it is tough to manage time for frequent edging. So if you decide to edge once a year, it should be at the end of June. April to May is the growing season for grasses and plants. So if you edge your lawn at the end of June, you can get rid of the overgrown grasses and weeds and your edging will last for a longer period as grasses or weeds grow less from July to December.

But if you have time for edging twice a year, it should be the beginning of June and the end of August. And you can get crisp edges around the year.

 

 

If you want a lawn that looks fantastic you should keep mowing regularly. You also need to reach the places and trim the grasses where the mower cannot reach. Clean lines between your lawn and walkways or garden beds will give a professional look that is possible with an edger or more precisely walk-behind trimmers.