Start off the spring season reworking garden bed edges
The edges of my garden beds never look right, and I would like some suggestions on how to do better before I start working on them this spring.
— Sandeep Patel, Chicago
Most garden beds tend to have irregular edges without any rhythm. Reworking the bed edges so that the curves are smooth and flowing will improve the overall appearance of your garden and be much easier to mow along.
Many gardeners and commercial landscape firms edge garden beds as part of the spring clean-up routine. I like to use a pliable garden hose or rope to lay out new bed lines
— it is easy to review and modify how the new bed lines will look by moving a rope or hose to change the lines.
Try to make gradual curves with the size determined by the scale of your garden. Err on the side of fewer curves versus more curves. Cool weather days will make some hoses very hard to work with, as they will be difficult to bend into a gentle curve. Not all garden hoses will work either, as some are too stiff to form into good curves.
The types of rope that arborists use for climbing trees work very well for delineating bed edges, as they are easy to use to form curves and can be purchased in long lengths. They should not be used for climbing trees if used for gardening practices other than climbing.
Once the rope or hose is in place marking the edges you want to create, you can either paint the edge with marking paint (special paint for marking the ground) or use a spade to cut the edge, using the rope or hose as a guide. Use the bedside edge of the rope or hose as a guide for your spade. If you have a steady hand, you may be able to mark a bed line freehand with the paint.
A sharp, flat spade will work best to edge the beds; you will not get a good bed line using a spade with a curved blade. A dull spade will make cutting through any grass difficult. I prefer to make the edge around 2 inches deep, at a slight angle away from the turf area.
Take your time to follow the rope, hose or paint line you are using as a guide to keep the new edge consistent. Be sure to remove all clumps of grass from the bed to avoid having it get established in your beds and becoming a persistent weed problem.
Any clods of soil should be broken up and spread around the bed or completely removed. Generally, you will not need to remove all of the soil, unless you are more dramatically expanding the bed with sections of sod being removed. A weed whip can be used to maintain a crisp edge over the course of the growing season.
Use twine attached to the trunk of a tree to provide a guide in order to create an even circle around the trunk — the longer the length of twine, the bigger the tree ring will be, so adjust according to your needs.
As you circle the trunk with the twine, you will be able to mark a uniform circle around the tree with marking paint. You can also tie the twine around the handle of the spade as a guide to maintain a good circle as you are edging.
As you cut the edge around the tree, avoid creating a “volcano effect” around it by piling soil and mulch up around the base of the tree. You will likely need to remove the sod clumps to avoid this when edging tree rings.