Edging a bed - it's the little things that make a difference

This bed has been annoying me for weeks: 

Just look a that horrible ragged edge!

So this week, I took out my border spade and re-cut a gently curved edge to it.

This took about two minutes: I did it by eye, but if you feel that you are not very good at judging curved lines, then you can use a length of hosepipe to mark out where you want the edge to be.

Hosepipe has the advantage of making a strong, gentle curve, so it's much better than, for example, string.

But I've done it so often that I can do it by eye: and once it's done, you can always tidy up the edge afterwards, if it's a wee bit ragged.

This bed was very easy to re-edge, because I could see where the edge of the lawn used to be. 

In some cases, you might have to make a decision as to where it "ought" to be: if you are not sure, then look at either end of the bed, and see if there are any features or edges which the lawn "ought" to line up with.

In this case, there were some slabs to the left, so I started the edge level with the edge of the slabs: and to the right, I made sure to leave a strip that was wide enough for the mower (the grass slopes down to the path, the angle is slightly deceptive), as there is nothing more annoying for whoever does the mowing, than to be faced with a tiny little bit of grass which is narrower than the mower.

 

Having cut the edge with the spade, all I had to do was hand-dig out the clumps of coarse non-lawn grass, odd weeds, and bits of moss that were the wrong side of the line, and hey presto!

Nice neat edge.

Suddenly the whole area looks kempt again. (As opposed to unkempt, of course.)

Doesn't that look better? 

Total time taken: ooh, say ten minutes. Improvement to that area? Immense!

So go on, get out there into your garden, and take a look around - there might be a similar job waiting to be done: small, but giving an instant result!

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