Edging and trimming are the final touches to a well groomed yard. It’s comparable to trimming around the ears and sideburns followed by shaving your neck during a haircut. My sister use to cut my hair all through elementary and high school. Once she was half way through my hair cut and her boyfriend walked in and proposed. She was so excited, I walked around for an hour with an unfinished haircut waiting for her to calm down. It looked terrible. Your lawn shouldn’t have to wait for those final touches either. Your lawn will have that curb side appeal when edged and trimmed regularly. 

Trimming the perimeter of your lawn with a string trimmer is not as easy to do as you would think. Walking forward in a clockwise direction around your yard with the trimmer head off to your left side is the safest and quickest way to trim. First, you will be able to see objects in front of you that are potentially a trip hazard. Second, if you trim weekly, you take “just a little off the top” as you glide around the yard with the trimmer head level and at the same height your mower is set. I recommend trimming first so any leaves or debris kicked out into the lawn can be mulched or bagged by the mower.

Edging along the sidewalk and driveway boundary with a power edger will turn heads. Many hack jobs occur when people use string trimmers to edge. Hiring a lawn service or investing in an edger that uses a metal blade adds only minutes to your lawn grooming time but the look is well worth it. Edging every few weeks makes clean up a simple task. Simply blow the debris back onto the lawn before mowing. Safety goggles and earplugs are required as with any small engine because you will fling small rocks back at you. The one hazard to watch for are sprinkler heads place right next to the concrete. Moving sprinkler heads in an inch from the edge solves this problem.

Getting “your ears lowered” regularly cleans up your look but edging and trimming your lawn will get neighbors to stop and look. Be ready to share your edger with them because they will want their lawns to look as “clean cut” as yours.