Edging
Edging is one of the most important things you do to maintain a beautiful yard. Edge cutting can be time-consuming, but it’s well worth your efforts to keep your lawn looking nice and straight. When you manually edge, your goal should be to cut about 1/4 inch off the top of the grass blade’s sides. This step will help control grass growth. In other words, a thicker turf!
Before you begin edging, you should remove any mulch or rocks from around the edge of your lawn so that the wheels of your edger have an easier time rolling over the seams between grass, mulch, or rock. Also, make sure to sharpen your blade before starting since you will need a clean-cut for this job!
Here’s a tip: if you edge once a week, it will take you less than an hour to complete. If you don’t care at all about how straight lines look in your yard compared to others, then go ahead and skip out on this step. But for those who want their yards looking sharp at all times, we recommend spending more time on this step to have the best results.
Types Of Edging
Manual. The manual option, as its name implies, requires you to stand at one end of your lawn with a tool that will push down those pesky plants trying to jump onto your perfectly groomed grass patch. This involves more physical effort on your part since you'll have to be constantly moving back and forth along the perimeter of your lawn, making this type not very environmentally friendly either.
Automatic. An automatic edger is powered by electricity or gas, so all you need to do is hang out nearby while it does its job for you. It's a bit more expensive, but it certainly is worth the investment. If you have a large lawn, it will make your life easier because once you set it up, it allows you to do all kinds of other yard chores without going back and forth between them.
The constant pressure applied by an automatic lawn edger allows for a clean cut that makes your grass look well-groomed and tidy. Setting up an automatic lawn edger includes setting the blades’ depth, so they don’t scrape away at your ground or damage any sprinklers or wiring underground. After all, these tools aren’t exactly cheap, so you want to use them for several years without worrying about getting a new one.
Understanding Edging
Edging lawn is a practice where the edges of turf are trimmed to a straight line with a blade. Edges that have been neatly trimmed contrast sharply with ragged or poorly maintained edges, and neat edging implies that other areas of the lawn are well-maintained.
Traditionally, edging is performed with two people – one drives the mower, while the other uses an edger that produces a very tight edge, requiring little trimming or edging once it has been achieved. It can also be carried out by operating the lawnmower in reverse to cut backward over previously cut lines, creating a sharp-edged border where two different types of turf meet. This method requires more time but allows only one person to shape an edge without assistance.
What You Get From Professional Edging Services
Can you edge your lawn at the right height? Do you have experience using power tools? Will you do it correctly without damaging other parts of the yard or injuring yourself? Are you familiar with using a lawnmower safely and correctly?
If your answer is “no,” then we have something to talk about. As a homeowner, one can often find it difficult to own a professional level of competence in all tasks related to home-ownership, including lawn maintenance. Why not hire an edging service today and see if they are right for you? Here at Long Beach Landscaping & Lawn Care, we’ve got your back!
Here are some reasons why hiring professional landscaping services is your best option:
1. Training And Experience
Landscaping is a skilled profession. Professional landscapers have the training, knowledge, and experience to perform quality work in a timely manner without sacrificing their own health or making costly mistakes.
2. Specialized Equipment
Edging lawns requires special equipment that most homeowners probably don’t have access to, such as power edgers, string trimmers, and step ladders, not to mention real-world experience using these tools for this specific purpose.
3. High-Quality Services
Lawns are an investment for any homeowner seeking to increase property value by adding curb appeal to their home exterior. This makes it worth spending money on high-quality services performed by professionals who will deliver results that help you improve the overall look and stability of your yard and your house.
4. Consistent Maintenance
Many homeowners lack the motivation to edge their lawns consistently. To ensure that your yard stays beautiful, hiring someone who will do this task for you is crucial.
5. Insurance
A professional landscaping service has insurance that covers personal injuries and property damages that may accidentally occur during their work on your lawn. On the other hand, a homeowner does not have this coverage.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
About once every two to three months. Some people like to do it in the spring, in autumn along with regular mowing, and others like to do it in the summer months when they are giving their lawn special care. It all depends on your preference. If you have grasses that get very tall, you might want to cut them periodically throughout the season, so they don’t grow too high by edging them.
You should regularly sharpen your edging blades every 20-30 minutes, depending on how much you use them and what type of job you are doing. You can also tell if they need sharpening when you notice an increase in both vibration and noise and decreased performance and motor capability. If this happens, it is time for some blade care.
Most lawn mowers have adjustable plates or knobs near where you attach the height-of-cut string trimmer attachment. You should raise this height just enough to cut off any noticeable vertical lines from having just edged your lawn, usually about 1/8 of an inch. If there are clumps of grass all along the edge of your sidewalk, you should raise the height a bit more so that it is even. After this, go around your whole lawn and give it one quick sweep to remove any excess material from edging and make everything look crisp and neat.
