How to Use a Lawn Edger

Choosing the Best Edger for Your Type of Lawn

Purchase an electric stick edger for a simple, straightforward model. Electrically powered stick edgers are the most popular type for a reason: they are relatively lightweight and well suited for clearing up the edges around average-sized lawns, gardens, and flower beds. Some electrical edgers do need to be physically plugged into an outlet (so plan to invest in extension cords), but others are powered by a small rechargeable battery. Electrical edgers are also a budget-friendly option. You can find them at hardware stores or home-improvement stores, and they typically cost as little as $30–40 USD.

Opt for a gas-powered stick edger to clear heavier brush. As you’d expect, gas-powered stick edgers are much heavier and louder than their electric counterparts. However, they are also quite a bit more powerful. If your lawn is covered in weeds, hedges, and other rough brambles—or if you just have a very large lawn to clean up—you may need the power of a gas edger to get the job done. Gas edgers come with either 2- or 4-cylinder motors; the larger 4-cylinder motors run cleaner than the smaller engines but weigh more and are more pricey. You can find gas edgers at hardware stores for around $150–180 USD.

Use a manual blade edger if you have a small lawn to edge. A manual lawn edger comprises a wooden or metal pole with a semi-circular blade at the end. If you have a small lawn or are planning to edge around 1 or 2 small flower beds, a manual edger is the practical choice. Manual edgers come with either a flat blade, which are ideal for cutting along lawn edges, or blades with scoop-cut edges, which are great for edging around delicate flower beds. Manual edgers are the cheapest, since they have no motor and require no fuel. You can find manual edgers at home-improvement or hardware stores for around $20 USD. You’ll get quite a workout using a manual edger, too, which could be a positive or negative thing depending on the region you live in and the season in which you’re edging the lawn.

Choose a walk-behind wheeled edger if you have a large lawn. If you have a huge expanse of grass that you want to trim up, a large walk-behind edger is your best bet. These tools—which you’ll use just like a lawnmower—are a good choice for edging around large trees and substantial flower beds. Walk-behind wheeled edgers are also great for trimming the grass along a long stretch of sidewalk. Keep in mind that wheeled edgers only work on flat ground. If you have a sloped or rolling backyard, avoid using a walk-behind edger. These large edgers can cost as much as $400 USD. If the large price tag deters you, consider renting one from your local hardware or landscape-supply store.

Clearing Your Lawn and Marking a Path

Wear protective clothing and ear plugs to keep yourself safe. Before you start working on the lawn, put on a pair of long pants and heavy boots or shoes. These will protect you in case you accidentally hit your leg or foot with the edger. Also put in a pair of protective earplugs or wear sound-blocking earmuffs to block the loud sounds of the edger if you’re using a gas-powered model. Also wear protective goggles or eyewear, to keep your eyes safe from any flying debris the edger may kick up. If you don’t already have a pair of protective goggles or ear plugs, purchase them at a local hardware store.

Mow the entire lawn before you start trimming the edges. Mowing your lawn before cleaning up the edges will save you time and effort in the long run. If you trim the edges of your lawn first and mow second, you could end up with edges dramatically longer or shorter than the majority of the lawn. This would give your lawn an unfinished, sloppy look. Cleaning up the edges after you mow also gives you the opportunity to trim any patchy spots you may have missed while mowing.

Mark out the path you’ll cut along with a rope or hose. Take a 20–30 feet (6.1–9.1 m) long piece of rope or section of hose and lay it out along the path you’ll be edging. Leave a space of about ⁄2 inch (1.3 cm) between your marker and the edge of the sidewalk or flower bed. When you’re trimming the grass, you’ll aim the edger’s blade for that patch of exposed grass. Marking out the path will help keep you on track while you cut trim the edges. Once you’ve edged the lawn 3 or 4 times and have gotten some experience, you won’t need to mark the path.

Remove large roots and other obstacles from the path you’ll edge. Before you begin to edge around your lawn or flower bed, take a walk along the path your just marked and pull up any rocks, stones, or other firm obstacles. A rock could easily dent or damage the blade of your edger, so make sure the path is clear before you start trimming the grass. If you’re edging along a well-manicured yard, there probably won’t be stray rocks. However, there could be rocks if you’re trimming near a sidewalk or vegetable patch. Also make sure you aren’t going to be digging where there are power or water lines or where there needs to be manhole access to sewer pipes.

Edging Your Lawn

Position the edge of your tool right against the cement. You want the edger to always be within about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of the edge of the lawn, flower bed, or vegetable patch you’re edging around. If you veer off course while you’re edging and come more than 1 inch (2.5 cm) away, you’ll end up cutting a eyesore of a line through the grass. This is where your marking will come in handy. Follow the guide closely and you’ll cut right along the edge of the lawn!

Press the blade down with your foot for a manual edger. If you’re using a manual edger, use your leg strength to push the blade down into the soil. Hold the stick firmly and set your foot on the edger tool. Push down with your foot to cut through the soil, and rock the blade gently to cut through the turf. It’s also helpful to pry the cut area open slightly by twisting the blade a little to the right and left. This lets you see the line you just cut. Then, pick up the blade and move it a few inches, and make your next incision.

Turn on the engine and walk slowly forward with a motorized edger. If you’re using a gas or electric edging tool, turn on the engine to activate the cutting blades. Walk slowly forward as the tool cuts into the ground, and make sure to cut along the exact path that you marked out earlier. Engage your core muscles as you push to maintain control over the edger. It’s important to walk slowly, especially the first few times you use a lawn edger. The faster you walk, the more likely you are to inadvertently wobble or go off course.

Cut about 2 in (5.1 cm) deep to maintain an even cut. When you’re new to landscape edging, aiming for a 2 in (5.1 cm) deep channel is a good rule of thumb. A line of this depth will be deep enough to control the spread of grass roots, but not deep enough to be easily visible and disrupt the appearance of the lawn. Most motorized lawn edging tools will have a knob or switch you can adjust to change the depth to which the blade cuts. If you’re using a manual edger, of course, you can cut deeper than this. There’s not much reason to dig a deeper line, though; you’re only trying to clear grass away from the edge of the yard, not dig a trench.

Clear away cut grass and check that you’re edging straight. Every 5–6 feet (1.5–1.8 m), take a quick break to brush the trimmings off of the line you just cut. Once the line is clearly visible, check to make sure that the line is straight and that you haven’t deviated at all from the path you marked out earlier. If you’re edging through heavy brush or undergrowth, you could use a strong rake to clear a lot of debris off at once.

Trim back the grass on the edges of the lawn with hand shears. Once you’ve cut along the entire edge of the lawn or flower bed, all that you need to do is to trim up any long, unkempt grass blades. Go along the route that you just edged, and use a pair of hand shears to cut back the grass so it fades into the lawn. This will give the edge a natural, groomed look. If you don’t have a pair of hand shears, you could also use an electric weed whacker or lawn trimmer.