How to Edge Lawn

Crisp lawn edges transform the look of a garden more than almost any other quick task. Well-defined borders make a scrubby lawn look intentional and reduce the time you spend weeding, because grass has a clear line it is not supposed to cross. The job requires just two basic tools and roughly half an hour for a typical suburban garden.

Tools and Materials

You will need:

• Half-moon edging iron (also called a half-moon edger or edging knife), a flat, D-shaped blade on a long handle for cutting a new edge or refreshing a line that has spread. Wickes sells its own carbon steel half-moon edger at £12.¹ A Roughneck edging iron with a serrated blade is £27 there.²
• Long-handled edging shears, scissor-action blades angled horizontally so you can trim overhanging grass without bending. Wickes’s own edging shears are £18.³
• Garden twine and two canes, for setting a straight reference line on borders that run in a straight run.
• Flat board or plank, to stand on while using the half-moon, protecting the lawn and keeping the cut consistent.
• Wheelbarrow or trug, to collect removed turf.

Optional but useful: a rotary lawn edger (rolling disc on a long handle) for straight hard edges alongside paths, and plastic or metal lawn edging strip to hold a defined line long-term (prices below).

When to Edge

In the UK, lawns may need mowing weekly or fortnightly between March and October, so that is when edges grow out fastest.⁴ Edge on two timescales:

• Re-cut the line with the half-moon about once a year. Redefining lawn edges is a good job for the quieter months from late autumn to early spring, as long as the soil is not frozen or waterlogged.⁵
• Trim the overhang with edging shears after each mow. In the main growing season that may be as often as once a week.⁵

Avoid edging during drought: the soil cracks and the cut edge crumbles. Damp but not waterlogged soil gives the cleanest cut.

How to Edge a Lawn: Step-by-Step

1. Mark the Line

For a curved border alongside a bed, use a garden hose laid on the grass to define the desired curve before you cut.⁶ Step back and assess from several angles: broad, sweeping curves look better and are easier to maintain than tight or intricate ones.⁶ For straight edges alongside a path or fence, stretch twine tightly between two canes pushed into the ground.⁶

2. Cut the Edge with the Half-Moon Iron

Stand on the plank next to the border to avoid compacting soil.⁵ Place the flat face of the half-moon blade against the twine or just inside the hose. Push straight down with your foot on the shoulder of the blade, a single vertical cut, 50–75 mm deep, is enough. Move the plank along and repeat, overlapping each cut by a centimetre or two.

The half-moon does not slice like a spade; it stamps down vertically. The goal is a clean, near-vertical face on the lawn side. If the existing edge has crept outward over years, you may need two passes, one to define the new line, one to remove the excess turf.

3. Remove the Surplus Turf

Use a border fork or your hands to lift the cut strips of turf. Surplus grass can be composted or used to fill bare patches elsewhere. Clear the debris from the bed so you can see the edge clearly. Aim to leave a drop of about 75 mm from lawn to border, which helps keep plants off the grass and grass out of the border.⁵

4. Trim Overhanging Grass with Edging Shears

The half-moon sets the vertical face; the edging shears address the horizontal overhang, grass that has grown over the edge but not yet spread beyond it. Hold the shears upright with the blades beside the lawn edge, keeping the handle attached to the lower blade steady and moving the upper one.⁵ Work along the edge in small sideways steps, collecting the clippings. A steady pace and light grip reduce fatigue.

5. Ongoing Maintenance

Once a clean edge is established, maintaining it is quick. Trim the overhang with edging shears (or a battery-powered line trimmer with a rotatable head) after each mow, and keep the half-moon for the yearly re-cut: taking a fresh sliver every few weeks slowly shrinks the lawn.

Curved Edges vs. Straight Edges

Should You Fit Permanent Edging Strip?

Lawn edging strip, set just below the turf surface, holds the shape of the edge, makes edge trimming easier and slows grass spreading into beds.⁶ Metal strip (usually galvanised or powder-coated steel, sometimes corten) lasts for many years. Plastic strip is cheaper but more prone to lifting in frost and becoming brittle in sunlight.

All these prices are from Wickes and include VAT. A 5m roll of Apollo galvanised lawn edging is £15, or £3 a metre.⁷

An Apollo slot-together metal edging kit that covers 2.64m is £18, about £6.80 a metre.⁸

A 10m roll of plastic lawn edging 10cm deep is £8, or 80p a metre.⁹

Both are installed by cutting a narrow slot with a spade, pushing the strip into the slot flush with the turf, and backfilling.

Common Mistakes

Cutting at an angle, the half-moon should be pushed straight down, not angled inward. An angled cut undercuts the lawn and makes the edge collapse.

Removing too much, a new edge should only remove what is genuinely outside the desired line. Edging too aggressively year after year shrinks the lawn.

Skipping the shears, the half-moon sets the line; the shears finish the job. Omitting shears leaves a ragged, overgrown appearance even on a freshly cut edge.

Edging wet clay soil, heavy, wet clay smears rather than cuts cleanly. Wait until the surface has dried slightly after rain.

When to Hire a Gardener

For a complex or large garden, a one-off professional tidy with edging is priced per job, depending on size and condition and on whether clearance and disposal are included. Ongoing maintenance covering mowing, edging and basic weeding is usually priced per visit or by the hour, so get the price and the length of a visit in writing before you agree. If your borders are extensively overgrown and the lawn edge has not been defined for several years, a professional with a half-moon can re-establish the line in a fraction of the time a first-timer would take.

Quick Reference: Edging Costs

The tools and the edging strip are priced, each against the Wickes page that lists it, in the sections above. As a second merchant on the shears, Screwfix listed Spear & Jackson Razorsharp telescopic edging shears at £29.99 in September 2026.¹⁰

Edging is one of the highest-impact, lowest-cost things you can do to improve a garden’s appearance. Once the line is established, a few minutes with shears after each mow is enough to keep it sharp all season.