A 6 Step Guide for How to Edge With a Weed Eater

Learning how to edge with your weed eater is an important skill to master. It will give your customers a far more professional cut.

Important!

Make sure you know how to properly and safely use your weed eater before trying to edge with it. For more information, check out my article on weed eater safety.

How to Edge with a Weed Eater

1. Start the unit.

2. Flip your weed eater over (180 degrees) so the guard is facing up. Make sure the trimmer string is at a 90 degree angle to the edge of the grass.

3. Carefully and methodically run your weed eater along the edge of the grass. Lots of grass and dirt will probably fly up. That's normal, although you have to be sure that your aren't scalping the edge of the grass or making cuts into the side of it-- just make sure it looks pretty. If you are edging on the grass that separates a sidewalk from a road, remember to cut both sides of the grass.

4. Edging can be hard on the trimmer. If the grass is especially unruly, you may have to pull the string out several times before you are finished edging. However, don't let this discourage you-- after edging once, maintaining the edge is simple and doesn't take much effort.

5. I can't emphasize enough that you should be VERY CAREFUL while edging. When you edge, you are setting out to make your customers' lawn look nicer. However, if you screw up and run the weed eater all over, making ugly cuts and scalping grass all over their yard, it makes the lawn look very UN professional.

6. Afterward, there will be lots of dirt and grass lying on the sidewalk. You will need to clean this up. A few methods for cleanup that I would suggest are:

• Using a blower is the easiest option. It also creates the most visually appealing effect. However, if you don't need one for the yard or don't want to bring it on the job, there are a couple of other options as well.
• Running your lawn mower over the sidewalk works relatively well, and it isn't too hard, either. However, there will be a few scraps left on the sidewalk, so it's not as nice as using a blower.
• I have never tried this method, but according to Nick Tart's book about running a teen lawn business, you can use your weed eater as a mini blower. This method apparently works with small debris, so I'm pretty sure you can use it for after-edging cleanup.

Edging your customers' lawns gives a more professional feel to their yards, as well as making them just plain look nicer, overall.

Feel free to charge extra for edging. It is another service that you can add to your portfolio. Your customers' lawns could really benefit from edging.

To conclude, you don't need an expensive "edger" to give your customers' lawns a clean look. Your weed eater will work just fine.

Labels: services, Spring/Summer