Cutting Lawn Edges

What an informative, descriptive and well written piece!

Bravo Mr Shiney and thank you for the presentation, the photos and the time you put in to making such a cracking post

 

I fully agree with the comment about the half moon cutter. Over here, we rarely use one. In its place, we have ones like the one in this photo...

 

I use the half moon , don't seem to have problem with it . Although @Sandy Ground the Swedish battle axe above does look right for the job Never seen that shape of tool over here though ?

 

@shiney - that is a magnificent piece of edging with some seriously great instructions. Credit it where it is due mate

 

Some good and very descriptive advice there Shiney.

Best I don't show you any photos of the edging Mrs Trunky did around our garden last week. When she offered to do some, I told her to make sure she used a string line on the straight edges - what I didn't reckon on was our two cats attacking the string while the job was in progress and Mrs Trunky's unerring lack of ability to get anything straight.

I decided not to question the quality of the workmanship though, after nearly 30 years of marriage I'm not that daft.

 

@HarryS and others. The battle axe in the photo is made by Fiskars. Are their tools available over there? If not, perhaps the good folks at Clarington Forge could make and market them?

 

Thanks sooo much @shiney And thanks for adding the the photos etc. Really appreciate it-I want to do a good job on them as it really makes a difference to the look of the garden.

 

A brilliant tutorial Shiney.................
There are some on u-tube ,but not as good as yours.
......................

 

Fiskars are available here , I have a pair of secateurs - good tool
Does look just the thing for Clarington Forge Bulldog tools to make !

 

Of course, if Bulldog did make them, the quality would be better, and they might even give away a bag of Uncle Joes as a promotional offer!

 

I have to say (better late than never) that no matter which way you look at it, edging work is a pain in the neck, in the back, in the knees, in the wrists, in the shoulders, in the eyes, and just about everywhere else!

After years of suffering, I bit the bullet and got some metal edging and ... never looked back. You can be as fussy as you like, the result is neater, easier; no more horizontal work because the mower quite happily goes over it, all there is left to do is some easy, smooth, vertical work where the mower has missed a few overhanging strands.

 

The edging would also work if you have the kind of sandy soil that won't hold a cut edge but crumbles away as soon as it dries out.
I have an edging of block pavers bedded in cement so it's 8" or so wide, just enough for plants to soften the edges without shading out the grass. For myself I don't really like the look of a gully of bare soil between lawn and plants, possibly because my soil is a light sandy colour with pebbles not a smooth even dark rich brown, so it doesn't set off the plants so well. And any bare soil seems to breed weeds.