[PicturePerfectLawns]

Quick question for you guys that have been doing this for a while. Some of you might have seen some of my post, but if not, I'm a solo operator that went into business as a side job to substitute and add income. I started with a few neighborhood lawns and decided to make it official this year. Day after day since I got started I'm running into the same issue. It would make my life much easier if some experienced and caring helpful guys would chime in with some quick tips on edging for me.

The issue I'm having is every time I edge I'm dirtying up the sidewalk and it's taking too long to get it looking nice again without having to spend 30 minutes cleaning the sidewalk. We just got a rain several days ago, I would think 3 days later and the soil would be dried out. BUT, if I edge with the edger, it's throwing up Mud. IF, I edge with the trimmer, which I'm pretty good at, I'm throwing grass on the sidewalk staining the sidewalk. It's kind of a lose, lose situation. I do spend the extra time to clean up the sidewalks nice, especially that I have good customers that don't mind me using the water hose, but what can I do to prevent this? I have the wheel off of the edger, could this be causing me to go too deep, thus throwing up Mud? If so, I might try and put it back on tomorrow. For the trimmer, how much line are you guys putting out when edging? Also, when edging with the trimmer I'm running into issues with line breakage. I've tried using three different types of line Echo, Tough Stuff Heavy Duty, and Stens. Any advice on line breakage when edging from the Pro's?

 

[M&L]

Quick question for you guys that have been doing this for a while. Some of you might have seen some of my post, but if not, I'm a solo operator that went into business as a side job to substitute and add income. I started with a few neighborhood lawns and decided to make it official this year. Day after day since I got started I'm running into the same issue. It would make my life much easier if some experienced and caring helpful guys would chime in with some quick tips on edging for me.

The issue I'm having is every time I edge I'm dirtying up the sidewalk and it's taking too long to get it looking nice again without having to spend 30 minutes cleaning the sidewalk. We just got a rain several days ago, I would think 3 days later and the soil would be dried out. BUT, if I edge with the edger, it's throwing up Mud. IF, I edge with the trimmer, which I'm pretty good at, I'm throwing grass on the sidewalk staining the sidewalk. It's kind of a lose, lose situation. I do spend the extra time to clean up the sidewalks nice, especially that I have good customers that don't mind me using the water hose, but what can I do to prevent this? I have the wheel off of the edger, could this be causing me to go too deep, thus throwing up Mud? If so, I might try and put it back on tomorrow. For the trimmer, how much line are you guys putting out when edging? Also, when edging with the trimmer I'm running into issues with line breakage. I've tried using three different types of line Echo, Tough Stuff Heavy Duty, and Stens. Any advice on line breakage when edging from the Pro's?

I don't egde when its wet, and I let my clients know this upfront.
I cut the dirt fairly deep with a walk behind edger, then just clean up the grass for a few weeks with a string trimmer. The longer the line, the more parallel to the ground your clipings fly. I've had good luck with Husqvarna line, and I like that if a piece of it gets left on a property, it goes un noticed because its a medium grey color instead of find me orange. Just cut with the tip of the line. Your trimmer won't bog as much, the line will last way longer and you'll get a cleaner cut.
If staining is an issue, there are ways to minimize the amount of grass you have to edge. Either use the side of your trimmer that will blow the clippings back on to the lawn or mow the peremeter before you edge it.
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[Snyder's Lawn Inc]

Like M&L said don't edge when it is wet It can be hard on the edger mostly on stick edgers

I always edge first before anything happens Most of the time the mower will blow what dirt there is on the walk off and once you finish mowing /trim grab blower do the clean up step Move next job

 

[PicturePerfectLawns]

I appreciate you guys advice. One thing that comes to mind, I don't think I'm having the problem so much with lawns that I've already got the edge under control, but it seems more so with the ones that I'm cutting fresh edges.

 

[redmax fan]

- dont edge too deep , just worry about edging grass not digging into dirt very far . when it dries up edge deeper for a longer lasting / neater looking edge

- dont edge nice lawns with whip as over time you'll be cutting grass back further away from concrete than you do with the edger because edger always stays in place where as whip wanders out away from concrete

- after edging take whip moving to your left while standing on concrete and go along entire edge with string skimming surface of concrete in order to whip / clean dirt / mud off of it . then blow

 

[ducnut]

Put the wheel back on your stick edger. Set it very shallow, as you don't need to be down more than an inch to keep the machine guided. It's far faster than a string trimmer, does a much cleaner job, and will cost less money to operate. The blades are like $2 and I can get 6 months out of one. Once the initial groove is cut in, a stick edger will cut as fast as you can walk. I edge my properties with every cut, so I keep the groove cleaned out. If you do that, there won't be much dirt to be thrown onto the concrete.

 

[CreativeLawncareSolutions]

Put the wheel back on your stick edger. Set it very shallow, as you don't need to be down more than an inch to keep the machine guided. It's far faster than a string trimmer, does a much cleaner job, and will cost less money to operate. The blades are like $2 and I can get 6 months out of one. Once the initial groove is cut in, a stick edger will cut as fast as you can walk. I edge my properties with every cut, so I keep the groove cleaned out. If you do that, there won't be much dirt to be thrown onto the concrete.

This right here.

Also, you're probably being a bit anal about it. I couldn't even tell you what my own sidewalk looks like.

 

[Caddyshack Lawn Care]

It's obvious that most of us do things differently in this regard. I just don't use an edger when the ground is wet. Like you said, it leaves mud along the edge. When the ground is wet I revert to turning the string trimmer sideways, careful to keep the string right along the pavement so it doesn't cut into the lawn. Yes, it leaves the pavement green for a day or so but there's really nothing you can do about it and customers understand.

Also, when the grass is wet you'll find that it sticks to the pavement and even the best blower won't get it all. For particular (i.e. picky) customers I blow and then quickly run a broom over the it, then blow again. It gets almost all of the grass off.

 

[Uturf]

Your edging too deep. Put the wheel back on, it will help your blades last longer too. Trench it when its dry and when its wet stay shallow. Always use a stick edger, any home owner can line trim...

 

[larryinalabama]

Edge directly against the concrete, and haul azz, Im not kidding. You may have to drop the edger lower and run it on the wheel, and haul azz.

 

[KS_Grasscutter]

I wonder if you are over doing the cleanup. We just use the backpack blower. Sometimes in wet conditions a little mud is left behind but nothing real noticeable.
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[PicturePerfectLawns]

Thanks for all the comments, tips, and help. I had it much, much easier today. Problem was it just too wet the other day. It was dried up and I had no problem what so ever. Also, I found it much better raising the edger up a little instead of digging deep trenches. I think that helps tremendous. I think I'm going to put the wheel back on tomorrow and see how that goes. It might work, might not, but I'm going to try. I got so use to edging without it. You guys were right though, I was defiantly edging too deeply, especially for when it was wet.