How to edge a lawn cleanly

A well-edged lawn looks more maintained than an unedged lawn mowed at the same height. The visual boundary between lawn and pavement or lawn and bed creates definition that mowing alone doesn't achieve. Edging also prevents grass from slowly colonizing adjacent beds and hardscaping -- a maintenance.

A well-edged lawn looks more maintained than an unedged lawn mowed at the same height. The visual boundary between lawn and pavement or lawn and bed creates definition that mowing alone doesn't achieve. Edging also prevents grass from slowly colonizing adjacent beds and hardscaping — a maintenance debt that, if left too long, requires significant effort to correct.

Tools for edging

Rotary (blade) edger

Per Penn State Extension, a rotary edger — either a stand-up manual wheel edger or a powered rotary edger — creates a vertical cut along paved surfaces and defined bed edges. The vertical blade slices through grass and thatch at the pavement line, creating a sharp, clean edge.

Best for:

• Long straight edges along sidewalks and driveways
• Redefining overgrown bed edges
• Initial edge creation

String trimmer (line trimmer)

A string trimmer held vertically with the line spinning parallel to the pavement creates an edging cut. It works well for curved edges, around obstacles, and for quick maintenance between blade-edging sessions.

Per NC State TurfFiles, string trimmer edging is slightly less precise than blade edging but faster for irregular edges. The limitation is that it can create a beveled edge (widening over time) if the trimmer is not held strictly vertical.

Half-moon or spade edger

A manual half-moon edger creates clean new bed edges in soil but is labor-intensive for long runs. It is the best tool for establishing a new bed edge where no defined line currently exists.