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The Right Way to Cut Open and Closed Lawn Edges

The Right Way to Cut Open and Closed Lawn Edges

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You want to be able to do your best to cut your lawn the right way so that it can look beautiful. Anyone who is into making their lawn look as nice as possible can tell you that it isn’t enough to just cut the grass.

It’s possible to cut the grass and do it in a sloppy fashion that will make your lawn edges look bad. Uneven lawn edges will be visually jarring and they can completely throw off the aesthetic appeal of the lawn.

Sadly, many people don’t have the time to cut their lawns as meticulously as they would like to. You might not even understand how to go about cutting lawn edges to get the optimal results.

Read on to learn more about how to cut lawn edges so that everything will look pristine. Getting these tips might help you to have a better time cutting the lawn, and it’ll certainly help your lawn to look its best.

About Cutting Lawn Edges

The first thing to understand is that cutting lawn edges will involve more than just mowing the lawn. Cutting the edge of your lawn is something that you do after you have finished mowing.

You can think of it as the finishing touch on the lawn that helps it to look as good as it possibly can. Mowing your lawn in a sloppy fashion and not ensuring that you have done things well can make things harder, but cutting the lawn edge is still a separate task.

Mowing the lawn first is necessary because you need to expose the curve in the grass. It makes it so that you can follow things when you’re trimming the edges.

Another thing to remember when you’re cutting the lawn edges is to try to avoid hardscape features. This means you should shy away from sidewalks and other areas that have concrete features when you’re using your edger because you don’t want to ruin it.

Most people are going to use a power edger to get this job done. It’s going to be able to do a good job, but it isn’t something that you’re going to get done quickly no matter what tool you’re using.

Essentially, edging the lawn is a task that can be very time-consuming. You can’t try to rush the process either or you’re more likely to do a bad job and make things uneven.

You need to move along the lawn cutting the edge by following a particular path and trimming between the grass and the surface that it’s growing on. When you have to get sections of the lawn that are near sidewalks or other concrete features, you’re going to want to approach things very particularly.

Try to walk on the sidewalk and face the lawn so that your power edger won’t touch the concrete. Do your best to stay on an even surface as you slowly walk and get the edge of the lawn that is near the concrete feature.

Sometimes it Might Be Necessary to Use Manual Trimmers

There are going to be parts of your lawn that will be hard to get. Sometimes you might reach a portion of the lawn where you can’t easily use a power edger or a weed whacker.

In this situation, it might be easier to just try to use a manual trimmer to cut the lawn edge so that you can do a good job. This is especially recommended when you’re doing the lawn edge near a flower bed.

Most people would be apoplectic if they ruined their flowers or precious plants with a power edger. If you get too close to the flowers or plants with the power edger, then they’re going to get ruined.

You’ll be able to play things safe by using a manual trimmer to get this job done, though. Simply grab your trimmer and get down so that you can cut the edge in manually.

This will take a lot longer than using a power edger, but it’s also easier to avoid making mistakes. Cutting around plants, flowers, and other obstacles will be substantially safer when you utilize manual trimmers.

Some people will still dare to use a power edger near flower beds and other such features. If you have a lot of experience and you’re confident that you won’t make a mistake, then you can go for it.

Just remember that erring on the side of caution isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes experienced individuals can make mistakes, and it’s up to you to decide how to best proceed.

Open Edges vs. Closed Edges

Now that you know a lot more about the basics of getting your lawn edged, it’s time to talk about open edges and closed edges. Basically, there are two types of edges that your lawn can have.

Edges that are exposed on one side (such as the ones near trees and shrubs) are open edges. Closed edges are near a surface that appears when a lawn edge ends such as patios, driveways, and other types of concrete features.

You’re going to need to approach each of these edges with a different philosophy. Keep reading to learn a bit about how to get open edges and closed edges just right.

Open Edges

One of the most important things to remember with open edges is that you can’t stand on them while cutting. Stand a bit away from the edge and cut using a trimmer or an edger of some sort.

Many will find it easier to use something such as a manual trimmer to get the open edges. This is especially true if the open edge is close to a flower bed or some type of shrub, but you can decide what’s best.

The most precise cuts will come from a manual tool when you’re doing open edges. Do your best to cut the edges somewhere between a 20- and 40-degree angle to get optimal results.

Closed Edges

Closed edges shouldn’t be too hard to do, but you will need to be careful near the concrete surfaces. You want to stand in a good position so that you can cut the edge without causing your trimmer or edger to make contact with the concrete in any way.

Once you’ve cut your edge properly, it’ll even be possible to mow the lawn near the closed edge without problems. The edge of the lawn and the edge should be the same length.

If the lawn is a little lower, then adjusting your blade can help you to avoid any issues. So long as you’re approaching closed edges carefully, you should be able to avoid damaging any of your tools.

Choosing an Edge Trimmer

Choosing an edge trimmer is something that you should put some thought into. There are different options on the market, and it can actually be beneficial to have more than one tool.

Keep reading to go over a bit about each edge trimming tool so that you can make an ultimate decision. Some people might gravitate toward using one tool or another but knowing more about how each of the tools functions will help you to figure out what you would like best.

Walking Gas Edgers

Walking gas edgers are designed so that you can walk behind them and slowly edge the lawn. These work very nicely, but they’re also going to be somewhat costly.

Out of the normal options that you would consider to get the job done, the walking gas edger is the most powerful. These tools work excellently for edging lawns that are thicker, and they should do well even if you have a particularly dense type of grass.

The downside to this is that you’re going to have to work harder to maintain this tool. It’s something that will need to be cleaned and cared for if you wish to keep it in good working order.

That shouldn’t be a big deal if you’re used to caring for equipment such as this, but it’s still worth mentioning. You’ll also notice that this lawn edger is the loudest type of edger that you can purchase.

If you want to finish edging your lawn without making a lot of noise, then you’ll want to stay far away from walk-behind gas edgers. If you need the power of a gas edger such as this, then you’re going to have to put up with a bit of noise.

Overall, this type of edger is going to be worth the investment for many people. In some ways, being able to edge the lawn with a walk-behind edger such as this will be more convenient.

Note that the blades need to be changed on this at the beginning of the season. If you live in an area that stays warmer and you have to use the edger more often, then you should change the blade every six months.

Electric Lawn Edgers

Electric lawn edgers are the most common type of edger that you will see people using. Most of these are going to be substantially lighter than the gas edger options mentioned above.

For the most part, these will operate the same way as the walking gas edgers. You’ll be walking behind these and edging the lawn slowly.

The biggest difference is that an electric lawn edger doesn’t quite have the same power as a gas tool. However, an electric lawn edger is going to be perfect for managing small and medium-sized lawns or garden areas.

Some might find them to be more convenient to use because of the fact that they’re lighter. If you have a tough time moving the larger walk-behind gas lawn edgers, then you might want to consider going with an electric lawn edger.

It’s nice that electric edgers aren’t quite as noisy as the gas-powered ones, too. This doesn’t mean that they don’t produce noise at all, but it’s certainly less of a factor.

Cordless Lawn Edgers

Cordless lawn edgers run on batteries and most of them will make use of a built-in lithium-ion battery. Because of this, you need to carefully consider how long the battery can operate when choosing to buy one of these.

For instance, you wouldn’t want to buy a cordless lawn edger if you wouldn’t be able to get your lawn edging job done in one charge. For the most part, modern cordless lawn edgers have good battery life and can handle a lot of work before running out of juice.

If you buy a good model with a lithium-ion battery, then you’ll be able to recharge the battery with ease when you’re done with your job. Overall, these cordless lawn edgers are nice, but they’re best for smaller lawns.

If your lawn is several acres, then you’re probably not going to want to use a cordless lawn edger. Anyone with a smaller property or garden area will like using something such as this, though.

It’s also worth noting that you hold these edgers in your hands to get the job done. This is certainly different than the walk-behind models above, but some people prefer these even if they lack the power of the other power edging options.

Manual Lawn Edgers

Manual lawn edgers are going to be important to own for several reasons. You should have a lawn edger that you can use even if you don’t have access to power.

Also, these can be better for edging certain parts of your lawn where it’s hard to use your big power edger. Sometimes it’s safer to use a manual edger near your flowers and plants, too.

One of the best edgers that you can buy is known as a half-moon edger. It has a simple, intuitive design that will allow you to get the crisp edges that you’re going for.

You use the half-moon edger sort of similarly to a shovel or spade to get the edges of the lawn just right. Firmly press your foot on one side of the edger to get it into the ground before pressing on the other side to rotate the blade to the side.

It works really well, and you’re going to be able to get reliable results using this manual edger. It’s recommended to get one of these when you can, and it’s nice to know that they aren’t all that expensive when compared to power edgers.

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