Step1
When some basic principles of bed maintenance are understood, you will begin to understand the importance of a proper edge. It will not only change the entire appearance of your landscape but make the maintenance easier for you in the future.
Proper edging not only seperates and defines bed and turf lines, but also allows your plants to grow and mature to their natural size.
Too often, plants are allowed to grow out over bed lines where they begin to shade and affect turf quality. In these situations, the plants will need continuous pruning to be kept off the turf. This type of pruning usually disfigures the natural shape and flowering patterns of plants, reducing them to an average dull shrub.
Follow these simple tips and change your curb appeal for good.
Step2
How do you get started?
Keep it simple
If you have straight lines, try your best to make the edge as straight as possible. If you want to incorporate curves into your bed designs, make sure they are long and slow not short and quick. Do this by stretching out your curves like the picture above. Short and quick curves cause mowing difficulties, scalped grass and extra time in the future.
Design beds to leave 1 foot space between plants and grass.
This allows plants an opportunity to grow a little without the need to be continuously cut back and kept inside bed lines.
Combine larger Evergreens trees, if growing together, into one big bed
Eliminates all grass underneath trees and allows for ease of mowing. Spray paint a line around outside branches of all trees and kill all grass inside line with roundup. Be careful not to walk thru sprayed area. Roundup will stick too your shoes and kill your good turf.
Make mulch edge on single pine trees wider than lower branches.
Allows for easy mowing around trees and keeps you from breaking branches as mower goes under tree to cut grass. Increase edge as tree continues to grow.
Make perfect circles for tree ring edges
Tie string to trunk, extend proper distance, walk around and paint circle. Tree edges should never be smaller than 18” out from trunk. On 1"-2" caliper trees, edge should be 18" out from trunk. Every inch larger in caliper size, edge should go 6" wider. 3" caliper tree should have a 24" wide and so on. On trees with trunks 2-3 feet wide, do not make a small tree rings around them. Either make a big bed, about 6 feet wide or do not mulch at all. Small rings look funny on big trees.
Always round off corners
Make round corners in planting beds, never square. End in straight line when ending into sidewalk or side of building.
Wrap edges around corners of buildings
Finish edge from front of building around corner to 8’-10’ down side, never right at the corner. Simply gives finished look to corner.
Step3
Proper tips and techniques
● Use a long or short handled shovel with a 6”-8” wide square edge.
I prefer long handle, reduces bending.
# Always use spray paint to draw your lines before edging, they are
easier to follow. Use darker color paint, it doesn’t stand out in the
grass as much if you happen to make a mistake. It will eventually
grow out.
● Edges should be 3” deep before mulching, 1” after mulch. Always keep
at least one inch on your edge after you mulch. It keeps the sharp
finished look.
● Edging motion: hold shovel out to right or left of body, with the
shovel edge straight. Raise up and drive straight down into ground.
Pry soil into the bed by leaning shovel back or pick up and deposit
in a wheel barrow. Use short chopping strokes to help straighten
lines or fix mis fires.
# The edge should be straight up and down making a 90 degree angle at
the grass line. The soil in the planting bed should go up at a 45
degree angle from the bottom of the edge, up into the bed.
# Where mulch beds run along sidewalks or driveways simply angle and
run shovel edge along the driveway/sidewalk edge and this will
sharpen the look. Try to dig deep enough to again leave one inch after
finished mulching. Simply smooth soil before mulching.
● Use edging excess to fill holes or low spots in turf or landscape. I
usually get close to a yard of soil every year that I use around my
garden. It's free soil, use it wisely.
Take your time and do it right.
All the best,
Todd
Visit: www.landscapeproblemsolver.com for more free tips and advice
Make your curves long and slow and leave a little space on the edge to allow your plants to grow.
Authority 
Comments
Sadiej said
on 4/15/2008 I usually lay out a garden hose that I can "play" with until I get my shape right. Then, I go along it with an edger (it has a long handle and a blade in the shape of a half-moon).
To neatly cut a circle, I will tie one end of my string (twine) to the tree (or whatever I am trying to go around) and the other end to the handle of my edger. After edging, cut perpendicular to your edge so you have about one foot chunks of sod. Pick up the sod with a pitchfork. The nice thing about this is that if you don't like the shape, you can put the sod chunks back, tamp them down with your foot, and start over! If you want to keep the dirt for your bed, just flip the sod chunks over and pummel the dirt with a hand trowel to break it up. Flip the sod chunk back over, grasp the grass like hair and shake vigorously.
Happy Gardening!