It’s been a long haul from day one to now but the results in our lawns and gardens are starting to show through. All that raking and mulching, seeding, weeding, spraying herbicides and even fertilizers has paid off in a big way. Now we have a welcome lawn care problem, overgrowth.
While that lawn may look lush and healthy, maintaining order and a clean designed look is paramount to a beautiful yard. Simple edging and trimming will keep your grass from eating your sidewalk and pathways.
Edging Grass and Lawns
Just like hair, grass will continue to grow and run wild unless properly managed. Healthy grass beds will inevitably spill over onto sidewalks consuming usable space. Traditionally flat shovels or edgers have been used to trim excess growth.
Simply take the shovel or edger and slide it in along the perimeter of the sidewalk slab, cutting away all the extra grass covering parts of the walkway. Some edgers use a wheel system where the blade wheel is inserted on the grass line and rolled along, cutting off excess. While it does save time it exerts less downwards pressure making it less than idea for dense soil and lawns.
Note: It’s a good idea to shake out the small piece of sod, leaving as much earth as possible in your lawn. Taking too much can create a dirt gap between your lawn and walkway after only a few seasons. Keep the cuts tight and you will be fine.
Trimming by hand isn’t the only way to clean up your lawn. There are machine options to take the grunt work out of the equation.
Edging Machines and Sod Cutters
For those of us with a huge yard or looking to save time a sod cutter or blade edger may be exactly what the landscaper ordered. The machines and attachments provide a professional cut with self-tracking devices that allow the machine to stay tight to walkways.
These machines definitely save time and with our rental options it’s even affordable for landscapers and homeowners to do it all themselves.
Trimming
A lot of our advice comes in the form of preventative care. We all know the saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” and it’s no different for overgrowth. Placing trim along the edge of your property and along paths will slow down and even stop grass progression as well as providing a border to your space.
Edging, although less frequent, will still need to happen from time to time. Simply pull up or remove the trim and edge the affected area, remembering to shake out our sod pieces for the soil trapped inside.
Note: These techniques are not used solely for edging and lawn trimming but can be applied directly to garden bed design. Simply decide on a shape for your bed and cut the line from side to side. After setting the perimeter line cut a series of parallel lines up and down the body of sod in the center. Roll the lines of sod and remove from the bed area.
Trimming and edging goes a long way in keeping your green space professional and inviting. If you found this information helpful jump back to the start of our series with spring lawn care basics and do it right from the beginning.
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