Mortgage free in Forever Home :-)

KajiKita

Border after:

The bit where it goes in again to the left in the image about halfway down is awkward, as it is the end of the bark path. That will take some thought and unpicking. The section beyond that, I have been meaning to put a proper edge to for quite a long time now, so it’s really good to finally get that moving 😊

KK

Bananabreadyum

Wowers that edge looks fab. I love how a crisp edge completly changes a boarder. 😍😍
DH cuts the grass here but never does the edges, so unless I follow on behind the edges rarely get done!
And thank you for your kind words 💕

Watty1

How do you put in such a crisp edge?  

It looks great, and am now wanting to try this!

KajiKita

Thanks @Bananabreadyum, and no problem 😉 

Watty1 said:

How do you put in such a crisp edge?  

It looks great, and am now wanting to try this!

I don’t do what the experts say and use a board as I find it too slippery and likely to twist an ankle on, I do it by eye with a narrow border spade. Get an idea where you want the line to be and then insert spade vertically cutting through grass and ‘wildflower’ 😉 roots, tilting back the spade to make a slit. If I am removing quite a depth front to back of ’turf’ (today I was removing from between an inch and a foot in depth), then make side cuts, at right angles to the edge you’ve cut, to make what you are trying to remove easier to handle. Shake off what soil you can and then remove to wheelbarrow or bucket etc. 

Periodically, look up at where you are heading to either stop or join up to and course correct if you are going a bit shallow or deep with the cut line. 

I don’t use a hose either, which is often recommended as a datum, as,I find it moves around too much as I am levering, digging, etc etc

Now, the real trick is to go back over the cleared area and: 
- lightly fork it over, pulling out all grass and other roots that you don’t want. It’s surprising quite how much ‘interloper’ you find at this stage.
- create a kind of ✔️ shape profile between the cut edge and the border. The cut edge is vertical, the bed side of the ‘tick’ is sloping. Use your spade or hand towel to do this and gently pat the loose soil into place (I channel sandcastle building at this point! 😉😂). 

This ‘air gap’ between the cut edge and the border means that:
- you can trim the cut edges quickly and easily with long handled clippers
- you can see when interlopers are trying to bridge the gap between the lawn’s cut edge and the border and remove them before they get too entrenched
- there is less likelihood of interloper activity in the first place as the air gap means in effect that the grass etc gets air pruned at the roots and finds it harder to spread. 

I don’t do this everywhere in my garden - in the wilder areas it would look quite odd, but anywhere I am trying to keep segregation between border and lawn, grass out of my perennials, I do this 😊

KK

KajiKita

@Watty1, this might also be useful:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/lawns/how-to-maintain-lawn-edges

KK

Watty1

Both really helpful, yours and the RHS.  If next weekend is dry, and, there is nothing more immediate to do I will be having a go

KajiKita

Watty1 said:

Both really helpful, yours and the RHS.  If next weekend is dry, and, there is nothing more immediate to do I will be having a go

Glad I could help 😊 I know the RHS site says not to do it when the ground is wet, but to me it’s a do any time job. But I am on very free draining soil here 😊

KK

debtfreewannabe321

It looks great! 🤩

skint_spice

Am I too late to request a cloned Mr KK? Cat is sort of dilute tortie but she’s the softest cat ever and will bop you but never claw so that should get me a few points…

ladybird1106

Hmmm no cat here, but I do have a miss giddychops who is an elderly dog who thinks she’s a puppy. Mr KK clone could come and share his knowledge and skills with my OH on a one off visit.🤣.
love 🐞