Edging- Idaho Style

Many posts back I asked How on Earth you make a bed look like this one. Not so much the peonies but the edge itself. Clean and neat. I have done everything but this until just recently. Several people commented on how to get this done. Anna from from Flower Garden Girl blog suggested cutting in strait down from the lawn side and angling the cut towards that cut from the bed side. I drew you a picture to illustrate what I think she meant by that. And no, when I say I drew you a picture, I am not being a smart alleck. I really did draw you a picture with the paint program on my computer. Someone really ought to come up with a better program for all my garden drawings, that program is junk. But for today's lesson it will suffice.

The dark black lines indicate the angles of the shovel or edger you use to cut into this area. I did this on several of my beds so far and it works like a dream. It looks nice and clean and I can't wait to see how it holds up and how often I will have to redo it. I also plan to back fill the area a little with my super fine bark mulch just to give it a completed look. I did some research today on edgers themselves. Flowrgirl1 from Live To Garden suggested a tool she found at Kmart several years back. It is a half-moon shaped edger with a T-bar handle that she says works very well. The one she uses is made my Martha Stewart. I also found a huge assortment of them on Amazon and the one I think I will order has a foot shaped top that you step on with your whole foot and not just your toes.Kind of like taking a big step with a built in spine on the sole. It seems less likely I will hurt myself with that kind than the traditional. You can also cut your main edge with a power edger and go back for your second, angled cut with a shovel. I used a shovel for the whole thing. It worked fine. I still have the island bed to do but the rain won't seem to let up long enough to get that done. Maybe tomorrow morning.

This is similar to what I mean by a step-on edger. This one was sold by Gardener's Supply but is no longer available. Don't know why but I like the idea. I will have to go in search of just the right one and let you all know what I find.

This one is an example of a Half-Moon shaped edger. I thing it looks wide enough to do the job without breaking the arch of your foot if your lawn is like mine. Very dense and hard to dig in. This one has a round handle as opposed to a T-bar handle but it ought to work the same way. Funny how garden tools are finally starting to be designed with ergonomics in mind. Took them long enough.

That'll Teach 'Em!

I just had to share this. I found it on Craigslist and couldn't quit laughing. I am not one that advocates child abuse in anyway but this one might just work. I can totally relate to this guy's plight as having a 13 year old will test anyone's patience. He may have just found the perfect "listening" tool or tools depending on how you look at it. So here it is...... Please don't hate me if you think this is cruel, I just thought it was funny.

Hello,

This may sound strange but it's been brewing in my head for a long time. Like many of you that have children, mine don't always listen. I'm starting to get really tired of this and have an idea for how I'd like to help motivate a bit of change around my house. I'm looking for a stack of bricks (50-100), preferably regular house bricks as my children are 11-5 in age and can't pick up the big ones.

My idea is that I'd have a stack of them at one end of my yard and when they haven't done what I've asked (like hang up their clothes for the 4th time that day) then they can move the brick stack from one side of the yard to the back of the yard. Nothing horrible, but it'll be nice and boring and hopefully it will teach them that picking up their clothes is so much easier than moving bricks :)

If you'd like to help out with this little project of mine, please let me know. I'll be happy to come pick them up and I'll pay you $10 to take them off your hands. I live in Boise and will travel anywhere in the valley.

Thanks!
Mike

Well, what did you think? Mean as heck or just the perfect plan? I personally think it could go both ways but it is creative as most of today's children don't seem to know the true meaning of hard work in relation to the luxuries they have on a daily basis. Mine included as evidenced by the recent loss of her cell phone usage for a week. Maybe I will try bricks when the texts exceed 5,000 per month. That would likely go over like a ton of bricks....... Get it?