How to Edge Your Lawn

You have seen those perfectly edged lawns, and now you want one. The only question is how to get that perfect edge that you have seen all over the place, and what equipment you need to achieve that edge.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• hand operated shears
• electric and gas-powered trimmer
• edger designed for edging
• permanent edger material: plastic, wood, decorative concrete and/or metal

1. Lay out a line. Stakes and strings are probably the best tools if you're making a straight line. A garden hose is probably the best if you are trying to edge on a curve.
2. Cut the turf about two inches wide and about five inches deep. These numbers will obviously vary with the specific edging project.
3. Add some sand at the bottom of the trench, and then set the edging into the trench evenly.
4. Fill sand into the bottom of the trench to achieve your desired height for your edging, and then fill in both sides with topsoil.
5. Walk along the edging to firm down the soil around the edging. This will help to keep the edging in place.

Tips & Warnings

• electric and gas-powered trimmers are better for edging. The hand operated scissors-like trimmers are not good for larger areas.
• electric and gas-powered trimmers are acceptable for edging and not the hand operated scissors-like trimmers
• Preformed edging can also help to reduce damage caused to your lawn by foot traffic, car tires, etc.
• Flush edging is actually sunk into the ground with only the very top of it showing above the ground's surface. These edging are very good for making clear division borders, but they will not be so effective at drawing attention away from the borders. The plastic rolls of flush edging are very easy to work with, relatively inexpensive, and rather easy to install making them a good choice for flush edging, but they more than likely will need to be reinforced occasionally as the ground slowly moves.
• The ideal way to edge is to buy an edger designed for edging. There are different kinds of edgers, but the most popular ones seem to be the rotary edger and the turf edger. Both cut vertically, since they are both designed to edge lawns. It is also a good idea to edge and trim your lawn before you mow your lawn. This will enable the mower to pick up the clippings left over by the edger and/or trimmer.
• Aboveground edging: wood may rot and smell, but wood is light and easy to work with. Bricks and cement are much heavier and much more difficult to work with, but they are much more durable than wood, and typically will last for a much longer time. Ties and stones are durable and relatively easy to work with making them a good choice for aboveground edging. However, they are hard to use on slopes or curves and are therefore not so nice if you want a uniform presentation.