How to Install Edgers Yourself

Edgers protect your garden, flower beds and other landscaped areas and allow you to maintain your yard efficiently without the worry of damaging plants with mower blades or trimmer strings. Edgers also can help deter animals and small children from entering into landscaped beds. Many edgers such as wire, metal, wood or plastic fencing simply push into the ground around beds. Cement edgers are slightly more difficult to install but you can do it yourself for an attractive and lasting edging solution.

Landscaping spray paint
Shovel
Precast concrete edgers
Level
Rubber mallet
Tamper
Garden rake

Instructions

- 1
  Spray a perimeter around the bed where you plant to install the edgers with landscaping spray paint. The perimeter be the width of the edgers that you plan to use.
- 2
  Dig a trench in the area between the edge of the garden bed and the painted perimeter using a shovel. Shovel down to a depth so that approximately 1 to 2 inches of the edger will be left exposed. Place the dirt on the outside edge of the dug-out trench.
- 3
  Lay the edgers down into the trench end to end around the perimeter of the bed. Place a level on top of each edger after you set it into place. Adjust the edgers for level by tapping them with a rubber mallet.
- 4
  Fill in around the edgers with the dirt removed from the trench. Tamp the dirt down by striking it with a tamper in an even up and down motion.
- 5
  Rake over the tamped soil with a garden rake to smooth out the surface.

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