Lawn edging around raised beds

[Susan BBPM]

I have a few raised beds of flowers on my front lawn. They are made out of 2 x 4 inch wood. It looks amazing when the lawn is neatly trimmed but strimming around those beds is driving me insane! The cord on the strimmer snaps every two minutes requiring me to rewind the spool. I thought it might be my strimmer at fault but I'm now on my third and still the same problem.

So, any ideas for a neat way to finish those edges? I don't mind going around the edges with long handled edging tools. But clipping the grass right up to the edge of the beds just doesn't work.

I have thought about killing about 2 inches of grass around the wooden edges of the bed. But what's the neatest way to achieve this? I'm not keen on using weedkiller.

 

[Tetters]

That job's not hard. You only need a straight edge and an edging tool and you can cut a strip around each bed

If you plant low growing sedums or similar around the beds, they will look good as well as saving some work.

 

[Sean Regan]

I wouldn't want to increase the work load.
Strimmer cords come in different thicknesses, try the next size up. I did that because one side of my lawn butts up to a crazy York stone path, so it's hard on strimmer cords.

 

[Susan BBPM]

That job's not hard. You only need a straight edge and an edging tool and you can cut a strip around each bed View attachment 95155 If you plant low growing sedums or similar around the beds, they will look good as well as saving some work.

Do you mean planting sedum in the 'ditch'? Could you then just mow over it to avoid trimming the edges?

Or do you mean plant the sedum in the beds?

 

[Susan BBPM]

I wouldn't want to increase the work load.
Strimmer cords come in different thicknesses, try the next size up. I did that because one side of my lawn butts up to a crazy York stone path, so it's hard on strimmer cords.

We tried that and it helps, but still it breaks at least two or three times and each time it breaks the thicker cord uncoils like a spring!! The air is blue any time hubby or I are strimming!!

 

[Sean Regan]

Well, you could adapt what I've done.

I set block paving bricks in a fine concrete mix along one side of my lawn, about fifteen years ago (these are they, last year). They are level with the lawn. I just run my Flymo over them, so no edging.

You could lay bricks level with the lawn along the bottom of your planters and do the same.

 

[Tetters]

This sedum is one of my favourites. It is small, low growing, and makes a seamless carpet without ever looking untidy.
If you take the turf off in a strip around the bed, shake off the soil, and there will just be a little shallow piece of ground to plant in. As it's just a fraction lower than the mower, you can cut with the mower right over the edge of the grass.
I see some people will use ground cover membrane and put stones over the top, but I would always prefer to use plants. Your sedums when not in flower will just look green - like the rest of the lawn.

 

[Susan BBPM]

Thanks both! This is the ideal - being able to run the lawn mower over the top.

We have similar problems on a larger scale at the back. Although it doesn't need to be quite so neat at the back.

We have some areas of wildflower meadow and some garden beds at the bottom of the garden - big sweeping curves. What we've done there is plant white clover and other low level wildflowers around the borders. We mow the borders every 4 or so grass cuts - the rest of the time we let the clover etc grow to make a fluffy border. It works really well.

The other problem area is where we fenced off veg garden to keep our 4 Beagles out. If the grass grows under the wire fencing it's a nightmare to pull it all out. But how to keep that area clear? We have a lot of creeping buttercup in the law (which I love) but we don't want that getting into the veg garden. I'm thinking now we'll cut a ditch around that area, then either fill in with some cobble type stones or low lying flowers. I'm very happy to have clover spreading into flower and veg beds so maybe just clover in the ditch. That will be happy to have the lawn mower giving it a haircut every so often.