As any gardener will tell you the edges of your lawn are just as important as anything that goes on anywhere else on your lawn. The edges are the one element of your lawn that will show themselves to be untidy or out of alignment at a faster rate so keeping them neat and tidy is a must.
For the most part this is something that is done using a pair of garden shears, a spade, and a board for measuring and may well involve the gardener having to replace damaged parts of the edges using sods of grass – or turf – from other areas of the lawn.
Repairing a Damaged Edge
To repair a damaged edge you should have – as your tools for the job – a spade, a flat board, some plastic sheeting and a half moon edger and some grass seed.
The most effective way to replace a damaged edge is to cut a section of turf or grass from a healthy part of the lawn, preferably not too visible or likely to be damaged just as the edge has.
It is recommended that you cut a square of turf or grass about two inches in depth using the board as a means of measuring it out accurately and using your half moon edger – or spade – dig out the square of existing grass or turf and move it to where it needs to replace already damaged lawn. Once done then use your board to cut out the affected lawn edge. Again cut out a piece of turf or grass around the damaged area – and again roughly two inches in depth – and insert the section you have removed from a healthy part of the lawn.
Upon completing this part of the task it will be necessary to plant seed in the section you have just removed and then water thoroughly – using a sprinkler fitted watering can or hose with a sprinkler fitting. It is best not to water using direct force as this will only serve to waterlog that section and also wash away the grass seed. Then place your plastic sheeting over the area you have just reseeded and secure with some pegs. Leave overnight and remove the next day to allow help with germination.
Back to your damaged edge; once you have replaced it there are still some things that you need to do. One of them is a process we have looked at in other articles called top-dressing. Using this proceed sprinkle soil over the join and brush it through the grass so that it fills in the join and then if necessary sprinkle some new grass seed, water and cover with sheeting overnight.
Bearing in mind that we have taken a section of turf or grass from elsewhere in the garden where it might have been flourishing well it may be necessary to trim the new edge using your half moon edger and also feed to ensure that this grass continues to flourish and bed itself in.
For those edges that are not damaged and are simply overgrown then the garden shears come into their own.
A little time spent going around the edges of your lawn with the shears will keep the grass in line with the rest of the lawn but it is advisable not to try and use a lawnmower to trim the edges as this can result in burning or scalping – the process whereby the blades of the mower tear out chunks of grass – or turf – and soil and leave damaged edges that then require replacing using the procedure detailed above.
Always remember also that once the edges have been trimmed and tidied up to bring them into alignment with the rest of the lawn that the lawn as a whole can benefit from a long watering either in the early morning or late evening when temperatures have dropped sufficiently so as to reduce evaporation.