While a lawnmower is essential to caring for your lawn, a trimmer or edger is also important. The reason for this is that many lawnmowers cannot reach areas of your grass next to walls, patios, or trees. To make your lawn look neat and tidy, use an edger to finish the job.

It can be hard to choose a type of trimmer or edger. Edgers have a traditional design with dual blades and a long wooden handle. Although they work quite well for the job, they have an old-fashioned design. They require no gas, and are lightweight. You'll need to keep the blades clean and sharp, but they can do your edging in just a few minutes.

On the downside, they require a lot of effort for you to push them along. If you'll end up with an aching back or sore wrists, this type of edger may not be right for you. If this is the case, try upgrading to an electric trimmer.

Electric trimmers are actually quite inexpensive. Plus, they are easy to use. They remove the longer grass by slicing it off by a quickly-moving plastic string. The string is easy to replace and costs only a few dollars. It will last at least several weeks, if not months, depending on how much you use the trimmer.

Electric trimmers have several other features that manual edgers do not have. You can use them at different angles and in tight areas that even manual edgers cannot reach. For example, if you have grass growing next to a shed or other building, it can be difficult to use your manual edger to cut this grass, but an electric trimmer will work. The same goes for grass around a large rock, or a lawn bordered by a scalloped edge. Electric trimmers will not damage the bricks, and will easily remove the grass.

A third style of edger to consider uses a small gasoline-powered motor. Unlike an electric edger, there is no cord in the pathways to get in the way, so you can take them far into the yard even to the areas near your brick patio, where there's no outlet nearby. Using a gasoline-powered edger eliminates the need for a long extension cord snaking through your yard. Plus, they typically have more power, so they can handle thick brush or weeds better than electric edgers. However, gas-powered trimmers are noisier and heavier than electric models, and many of them are more expensive than either the .

As you can see, there are many choices in lawn edgers and trimmers. The model you choose should depend on your preferences as well as your budget. A manual model is well-suited to a small yard without a lot of obstacles, while an electric trimmer is a good choice for medium-sized yards. Gasoline trimmers are a good choice for larger yards with obstacles to cut around. Because edgers are an investment, be sure to choose wisely, and pick a high-quality model that will last for years.