How to Get clean Manicured Flower Beds for Free

One of the important wow factors in landscaping has nothing to do with the actual flowers! It's that beautiful clean-edge line on the flower BED! Some people choose to add stone, timber, or pavers to edge their beds, but here's how you can get the look of gorgeous manicured flower beds for FREE!

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A natural or live edge around your flower beds gives a nice clean look and will save you so much time and money versus installing a decorative edge. First of all, the only thing you need is your own arm power and a half moon edger or spade. There's no need buy expensive trim supplies and taking the tedious time to make sure it's all level.

We actually have some paver border beds in our backyard, and while they look beautiful, they were a PAIN to install and have gotten wonky and uneven over the past few years. We installed them for an important reason though and that is the only reason they exist. Our lawn angles down and we wanted to create a flat barrier between our grass and mulch so that the lawn mower wheels wouldn't get stick in a deep rut on an angle.

Why is edging so important?

Edging creates a small trench barrier between your lawn and the flower bed. It prevents most weeds and grass from creeping into your flower bed, which leads to prettier beds and healthier plants!

This trench also makes mulching MUCH easier by prevent mulch from entering the lawn. So it keeps the good stuff in and the bad stuff out!

how to properly edge your flower beds for a gorgeous, clean line.

The beauty of a half moon edger blade is that is has a lip on the top to prevent the tool from cutting deeper than 4 inches. You will have a consistent cut line the entire length of your beds. Start by piercing the grass about an inch or two from the outer edge of the flower bed. Push down with your foot until the lip meets the grass and push the blade away from you to make the cut. Continue this process the whole way around the edge, pushing the unwanted grass clumps away from you.

NOTE: if you use a long handle spade, make sure you do not cut your edge too deep! An trench that is too deep will cause your lawn mower to lean and scalp your grass around the edge.

At the end, pick up your grass clumps to either compost or throw away and pulls any remaining rogue grass from your flower beds.

You can go back through and "shave" your cut line to make it smoother with your edging tool by pushing soil into the trench.

How do I maintain my Newly edged beds?

Its best to edge your beds about once a month during growing season, but at least edge your beds once in the spring. Instead of taking your lawn mower directly up to the edge of the grass, use a string mower or weed whacker to trim the grass edge. Seeing that nice clean crisp grass line is SO satisfying!!!

Don't miss my other helpful posts for DIY spring landscaping below!

How to split perennial plants in the spring

my spring garden prep routine

gardening essentials for beginners and beyond

how to get a legendary landscape