Edging Carriage Roads
It’s always important to keep up with lawn maintenance chores, especially during this time of year when everything is growing so quickly.
Here at my farm, my outdoor grounds crew is busy edging the carriage roads, so they look crisp and clean. Edging roads, lawns, and around garden beds can be done manually with a variety of spades, but depending on the size of the space, it can become very time-consuming. Rotary edgers, powered by gasoline, electricity, or portable battery reduce the time it takes to complete this job. These machines feature a spinning blade that cuts through the turf as the edger is pushed along the road where it meets the grass border. For this chore, we used our Troy-Bilt TBE550 Lawn Edger. It works really well for creating that beautiful, smooth edge.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- I have four miles of gravel-covered carriage road at my farm. Every spring, we all notice how much the grass has grown into the gravel making it difficult to see the exact edge where the carriage road meets the lawn.
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- Our Troy-Bilt TBE550 Lawn and Driveway Edger is a single purpose machine used for making good, crisp lines along the edges of garden beds, driveways, and lawns.
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- The covered nine-inch triple edge blade is self-sharpening and has three different bevel options for trimming. The machine is also very easy to maneuver and guide.
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- Pete and Fernando use bright colored twine and long nails to mark the straight edge of the lawn where the edger will go. The twine is saved and used over and over for making straight lines for a variety of projects.
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- Once taut, it is easy to see the guiding string for the edger.
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- It’s always important to wear long pants and closed shoes to avoid injury from any flying debris. Edgers can cause small stones to fly up to nearly 10-feet. Pete also wheres eye protection while using this machine. As it is running, Pete listens to the edger to guide the speed. The machine works harder when cutting through the turf and is generally quieter when it finishes.
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- In this section, one can see where the edger has passed and made a clean line through the turf.
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- Once a section has been edged, Pete pulls away the unwanted vegetation between the cut edging line and the lawn using a paddle hoe. The hoe has a six-inch blade on a 52-inch wooden handle attached with a goose-neck for good alignment.
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- Look how much is pulled away. Pete stops often to check his work. The carriage roads are all about 12-feet wide, which is what it should be after any overgrowth is removed.
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- This area is alongside my pergola. It looks so different after it is edged.
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- Fernando follows behind ad uses a soft rake to gather all the debris into one place.
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- And then picks up the debris by hand. He is putting it into one of my Martha Stewart 48-gallon Multi-Purpose Re-Usable Heavy Duty Garden Tote Bag available on Amazon.
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- Here’s a finished edge – it looks so straight and clean.
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- Next, Fernando brings a small load of gravel to the site.
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- I like to use native washed stone in a blend of gray tones. This gravel is used all over the farm.
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- The gravel is dropped in small sections along the road for easy spreading. Pete uses a a landscape rake to spread and level the gravel.
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- This razor-back aluminum landscape rake has a wide head and teeth to level gravel quickly and smoothly. These landscape rakes are easy to find at home improvement shops and some gardening centers.
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- Gravel roads are attractive, easy to maintain, and accumulate less pollutants over time. It’s important to edge and shape the roads regularly, so they drain properly and look tidy.
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- This day was cool with little wind, so flying dust from the gravel was minimal.
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- After a few hours, this section of carriage road looks completely different with its new edge and surface layer of gravel. There’s a lot more road to edge – keep up the good work, Pete and Fernando!
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