English lawn edges look very elegant and ensure a well-groomed appearance. We will show you how to create them and what alternatives there are.
Flower beds and trees or shrubs look especially great when surrounded by a manicured lawn. However, untidy lawn edges give a unkempt impression and do not allow the beautiful planting to come into its own. In addition, mowing the lawn can damage your plants if the lawn is not far enough away from them. This is exactly why it is so important that you create clear structures in your garden and clearly set your lawn apart from the plants and beds with clean lawn edges. The English lawn edge looks particularly beautiful.
English lawn edging - work that pays off
The English lawn edge clearly represents an exclusive garden design that requires a lot of work. The lack of additional demarcations is characteristic of this lawn edge. However, this gives the lawn the opportunity to quickly spread again. So you have to trim the English lawn edge regularly to maintain the perfect look.
Put or cut lawn edges?
There are two techniques to create a lawn edge - cutting and stabbing. Both provide convincing results and should be used every four to six weeks during the growth phase.
Put the edge of the lawn
You can use either a spade or an edger to cut the lawn edge. Whichever tool you choose, always make sure you're working with a sharp tool.
The edging cutter is ideal for creating a lawn edge. It resembles a spade, but has a very sharp, usually crescent-shaped blade, which makes it easier to penetrate the turf. With a few slight lever movements, you loosen the excess grass and get smooth edges. You can then simply collect the cut lawn and dispose of it in the compost or use it to fill gaps in the lawn.
We have for youdifferent lawn edgers tested. Our recommendations for you:
If you don't have an edge cutter, you can alternatively use a spade. With this, the cutting of the lawn edge works in principle in exactly the same way. But make sure that it has a longer and also slightly curved blade. On the one hand, this does not give you a smooth edge and, on the other hand, there is a risk that you dig too deep and accidentally injure or even pull out the root balls of ornamental plants.
Tip:
For long beds, for example, you can stretch a string and pierce along it. This gives you a clean and straight lawn edge, even over longer sections.
You can also use a bread knife if you only want to edge lawns in small areas. However, make sure that you use appropriate sharpness here as well, to make your work easier.
Cut lawn edge
Edging trimmers can be moved either manually or via a motor. The manually powered lawn edgers usually consist of one or more rollers or wheels connected to a round cutting blade. Use a handle to guide it along the edge of the lawn and the blade cuts through the turf. After that, you just need to remove the cut off lawns.
The manually operated lawn edger is very easy to use. However, it is even easier with a motor-driven cutter. This is almost reminiscent of a lawnmower. In principle, however, it works in the same way as the hand-operated lawn edge trimmer. However, different knives can be used here, as the following video shows:
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Alternatives to the English lawn edge
It doesn't always have to be the English lawn edge. There are also some alternatives that also ensure a well-groomed appearance, but which require significantly less maintenance.
Lawn edge stones and Co.
This includes, for example, the lawn edging stones, small granite paving stones, bricks or clinker that you use between the lawn edge and the bed. Regular digging is still necessary here, so that you always have a clean lawn edge
Hint:
Granite small pavers,Bricks or clinker should be laid in at least two rows in an offset manner so that the lawn cannot easily spread through the joints into the bed.
Metal and plastic lawn edging
There are other alternatives to English lawn edging that are installed vertically into the ground to prevent the lawn from spreading. These are lawn edges made of metal or rubber or plastic. Both options are great for keeping grass out of the bed.
Hint:
Such lawn edges do not allow lawn mowing up to the edge. This means you have to rework with a trimmer or something similar.