Trimming lawn edges like a pro: Tips & tricks for the perfect edges
A well-tended lawn is the poster child of every garden. But for it to really come into its own, it often requires more than just regular mowing. The lawn edges play an important role here, as they cleanly define the transition between the lawn and beds or paths. But if you don't work with precision here, you risk unsightly clutter. But don't worry! With a few simple tips and tricks, cutting the lawn edges is easy – and the results will be inspiring! In this blog post you will learn everything you need to know about cutting lawn edges – from choosing the right tool to the optimal technique.
Why you should trim your lawn edges
Essentially, there is one simple reason to trim your lawn edges: it looks good. Lawn edges give the garden a neat and tidy appearance. By cutting and trimming the edges separately, a clear separation is created between the lawn and other areas such as beds, paths or patios. This creates a clean and aesthetic appearance that enhances the entire garden.
Clean edges on beds or bed borders also help to protect the fruit or vegetables from overgrowth from the lawn. The grass would extract the valuable nutrients from the soil that other plants growing there need. This can also help the lawn itself to grow healthily. Clean edges prevent weeds from growing in quickly from other parts of the garden and spreading uncontrollably.
How often and when should you trim lawn edges?
A perfect lawn edge makes mowing easier. Professional gardeners recommend cutting and trimming the edges before mowing the lawn, as the cuttings can then be picked up with the lawn mower. This significantly cuts down your workload. It also means that plants and objects along the edge will not be accidentally damaged during mowing. Essentially, you should always cut the edges together with the main lawn area. If you trim the grass at the edge shorter than the rest of your lawn, you can extend the edge trimming to every other time you mow the lawn.
If you have a robotic mower at home, the frequency of edge trimming depends on the general growth of your lawn. You'll probably need to trim the edges weekly, depending on what's aesthetically acceptable to you. However, pay attention to how you laid the boundary wire for your robotic mower. If you have buried it in the ground, you can safely go over the edge with a lawn trimmer. If the wire is just lying on the ground, it is best not to trim with a scythe with a sharp metal blade; otherwise, you may accidentally cut the wire.
You can use these devices
A conventional lawn mower is often not enough for a perfect lawn edge. However, some mowers are equipped with a special lawn comb that combs the blades of grass growing at the edge to its cutting edge and then mows them. As a general rule, you will need a garden device that can effortlessly cut or mow to the edge of the lawn or into a corner without harming other plants. In addition to a lawnmower, you can use the following devices to cut the edges:
Lawn edge trimmer
As the name suggests, a lawn edge cutter does just that: it cuts the lawn edges. Our Einhell cordless lawn edge trimmer is equipped with a double-sided metal blade that "digs" into the earth up to 45 mm deep, cutting out the grass at its roots. With the help of its rollers, you can stay on track while cutting and your edges will be precise. This results in similarly clean lawn edges as when cutting off the so-called English lawn edge. For this type of lawn boundary, a half-moon lawn edger is used to prise out the lawn together with the soil perpendicular to the adjacent bed. You should go over these edges again every few weeks to keep them in shape.
TIP
If you need a quick groove in the ground, for example to install the wire for your FREELEXO robot lawnmower, you can also use the Einhell cordless lawn edge cutter.
Lawn trimmers or scythes
A lawn trimmer or a motor scythes can also be converted into a lawn edge trimmer. With the Einhell cordless lawn trimmer GE-CT 18/28 Li, you can rotate the motor head up to 180° so that you can cut your lawn edges cleanly and easily. Its thread spool with a cutting width of 28 cm is perfect for edges that adjoin something hard such as edging stones or paving stones, as the flexible nylon thread is very robust. Our brushcutters can also be used to trim lawn edges. They are designed for large lawns and can therefore cut exceptionally tall grass at wide edges. However, please be aware that the sharp 3-tooth metal blade should ideally be replaced by the supplied thread spool before trimming on edges. Otherwise, it could be severely damaged and would then have to be replaced completely. The thread would only tear and can then be quickly adjusted via the automatic jogging system.
TIP
Only have a small garden? Then our 2-in-1 cordless lawn trimmer GE-CT 18/28 Li TC will make all the difference. A lawn trimmer that can be easily converted into a small city mower with its trimmer cart.
Grass- and bush shear
Our cordless grass trimmer shears, such as the Einhell cordless grass- and bush shear GE-CG 18/100 Li T, are partly equipped with a removable telescopic handle so that you do not have to bend when cutting lawn edges. In addition, they can be converted into shrub shears thanks to tool-free blade changing. The laser-cut and diamond-ground edge makes it easy to cut clean lawn edges. Even larger areas can be transformed into well-kept lawn edges, as the attached wheels help guide the cordless garden shears. A narrow cutting width of 100 mm also ensures that even smaller areas and corners can be easily cleared of tall grass.
Making lawn edge maintenance easy
By installing barriers such as lawn edging stones, plastic edging or metal edging along the desired lawn edge, you can limit how much your lawn grows outwards These barriers prevent the lawn from spreading into neighboring areas, making lawn edge maintenance easy. However, the grass will still grow in these places and the edge of your grass area will need to be trimmed regularly.
Here, lawn edges can occur everywhere:
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Paths
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Solid borders
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Garden sheds
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Garden furniture
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Swings or climbing frames for children
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Trampolines
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Wherever your cordless lawnmower has no chance of reaching the grass.
In this article you will learn all about:
Lisa Hegewald, as an online editor at Einhell, deals with almost all texts related to tools, gardening equipment, and accessories. Through collaboration with Einhell product managers and practical product training, she consistently expands her knowledge. Her must-have product is the cordless coffee machine because nothing works without caffeine, whether on the construction site or in the office.