Edging Your Lawn

Everyone wants to have a great looking lawn, and this can be done by working hard and giving it the proper care. However, even if you give your lawn everything it needs to grow strong and healthy, it will not look good unless you keep it in its place. Just like hair on your head that is not trimmed often enough and using the right methods, a lawn that is not properly kept will make it look shaggy and unpresentable.

While most people will mow their lawns on a regular basis, and many will trim the lawn with a weed eater in areas the lawn mower cannot reach, not as many people think to edge their lawns. Edging your lawn is when you go to the edge of your lawn, right where it meets up with the side walk and driveway, and cut the grass so it will not grow over onto the cement. This keeps the lawn in its place. It also makes the lawn look much better. Even if you do not do everything you can to care for your lawn, mowing, trimming and edging the lawn will make it look well kept.

When edging your lawn, you need to use the right tools. If you have a small lawn and do not want to spend too much money, you can use your trimmer as an edger, though with inconsistent results. Some trimmers actually have an edging option, but I have yet to find one that works particularly well.

Your best option is to buy a dedicated edger. These machines look a lot like a trimmer, but they have a blade that goes right up next to the cement. As you push it along the edge of your lawn, it cuts the growing grass and digs about an inch into the dirt. Both gas and electric models exist, so choose whichever one you prefer.

Finally, keep in mind that edging is a lot of work the first time you do it—particularly if the grass has heavily grown over the cement. It can take more time than you would like to spend on your lawn. Once you get through the first time, make sure to do it as often as you mow. It will be much easier every other time you do it, and only take a couple extra minutes after mowing, depending on the size of your lawn. The extra work you put into it will have great results.