How to Install Plastic Lawn Edging Colorado

Steps

1. Use a sod-cutting spade or tree-planter's dibble to cut the lawn in the desired shape of your flower bed. It is most effective to make the cuts straight downwards (vertical), as this will provide the proper angle for the lawn edging. Push your spade down below the level of the grass roots (at least 10 inches). Now, lever the handle of your spade downward to lift up the sod you wish to remove. This completely loosens all of the grass roots.
2. Remove the sods: Cut the sod into pieces. Turn the sods upside down and hit the soil-laden roots with the flat part of your spade to loosen the soil. Don't cut the roots with the edge of your spade as this will create root cuttings that will grow if left in your flower bed. Shake out this soil into your flower bed. Toss the sods in your compost upside down where they can decompose, if you so desire.
3. Dig a trench at the edge of your line: The trench should be as deep as your plastic lawn edging PLUS 2.5 cm. For example, if you are using 4-inch deep lawn edging, the trench will be 5 inches deep on the grass side.
4. Unroll your plastic lawn edging and cut to the desired length. The edging will have a natural curl from being wound into a circle for packaging. Unroll the circle so that the outside of the curl faces your flower bed.
5. Go against the curl of the edging, slide it into the trench, placing it on the grass side of the trench so that the top of the edging is just level with the base of the growing grass. The top of the edging DOES NOT stick above the lawn; it will be almost buried and just visible after you back fill your trench!
6. Use soil (back fill your trench) to hold the edging in place as you work in sections along the length of your flower bed.
7. If your desired edge line is wavy, you may need lawn edging stakes to hold the edging in a curve. These are installed horizontally at the base of the lawn edging by hammering them through the edging, just above the reinforcement strip into the soil under the lawn. They are *not* placed vertically.
8. Tamp down the backfill immediately adjacent to the edging using your foot sideways (compact the soil). The level of the soil should come up to, but not above, the top of the edging. Adjust the soil height as needed and tamp again.
9. Know that if the grass tries to invade from the top, just pull it up. When you mow the lawn, you can run one wheel on the soil, right over the edging and have no trimming to do.

Tips

• You can mark the line you want to cut by laying your garden hose in the shape you want and leaving it there for a few hours. The hose will leave a small indentation in the grass which you can see after lifting the hose. If you don't quite like this cutting line, you can repeat the process or modify the line as you cut into the grass.
• The purpose of plastic lawn edging is to keep the grass from growing into your flower beds. Grass grows from the roots which can survive as deep as 5 or 6 inches below the ground. Plastic lawn edging needs to be laid deep enough to prevent the deepest roots from growing underneath the edging - NOT to provide a surface for your electric weed-whacker (nor for holding the soil in!)

Warnings

• The wiggly corrugated lawn edging is practically useless. Use the edging that has the tube at the top and reinforcing strips at the bottom and middle.
• If you want to raise the level of your flower bed, leave at least 6 inches between the edging and the raised soil.

Things You'll Need

• plastic lawn edging at least 4 inches in height
• small trowel
• a sharp spade or tree-planter's dibble
• Also handy: a wheel-barrow, knee pads, a compost for sods
• Lawn edging stakes for curved edges (optional)

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