No matter how small or large your garden is, you may find that one of the most efficient ways to keep it manicured is to use a quality lawn edger.
Like how a frame enhances the photo or artwork enclosed in it, an evenly trimmed yard perimeter levels up the overall look of your green space. You'll have a cleanly crisp sidewalk, garden, walkway, or driveway edges denote a well-tended property.
In your quest to gather all the tools and equipment your property needs, it’s important to go over some of the best garden edger tools. We’ve rounded up five that could very well elevate the look of not just your yard but also your home.
Best Garden Edger Reviews
1. Black & Decker 2-in-1 String Edger
This plug-and-go string trimmer by B&D not only serves as an edger but also works as a trench digger. Powered by a 12-amp electrical engine that gives off no emissions, this tool helps install fences and outdoor lighting or plant trees and bushes.
Product Highlights
You can set the Black and Decker String Edger to one of three depth modes for cutting, with the maximum being as deep as 3.75 inches. Its built-in cord system has an additional safety feature, which holds the extension cord in place, so no one trips over it.
It weighs 12.4 pounds and has an edging guide for keeping cuts clean, especially when working on patios, driveways, and walkways.
The tool tracks well around tight landscape edges and straightaways along paved curves. It shouldn’t have trouble slicing through thicker vegetation and stubborn surface roots to create a clean edge, but it may be too small to handle clay for edge renovation.
The Good
The tool’s standout feature is its powerful electric motor, which allows it to perform various yard activities efficiently.
The Bad
While the tool allows you to create neatly trimmed edges, it doesn’t produce anything special with them. It is best used for maintenance.
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Cons
2. Bully Tools Round Lawn Edger
The Round Lawn Edger by Bully Tools is proof that sometimes you only need an affordable manual lawn edger as opposed to a heavy-duty tool to get things done.
The edger’s 12-gauge steel blade may take a bit more effort to drive into your turf. However, the tool makes up for that with an operation that requires no gas, no extension cords, and has a specialty with small yards.
Product Highlights
It comes in at under just four pounds and extends to a length of about 38 inches. The t-style handle provides excellent control and ensures even force distribution across the blade’s bottom.
The edger is made entirely of thick steel, with padded handles to prevent the user’s hands from slipping or sliding. It has the classic half-moon design of a traditional edger, but it provides more than just traditional functions.
Aside from being excellent at trimming, it’s also fantastic at trenching and giving natural definition to garden bed edges.
It’s far from being the fastest or the best tool for creating edges along pavements, but it delivers superbly on maintenance. Pair it with a swift electric edger to acquire a complete garden manicuring package.
The Good
It does not require a power or gas source to run. Need we say more?
The Bad
The blade tends to dull quickly, and you need to sharpen it more frequently.
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Cons
3. McLane Gas Powered Lawn Edger
This gas-powered lawn trimmer can churn out up to 3.5Hp, courtesy of its 127-cc engine. That said, all this comes at the expense of portability, as the tool weighs a whopping 66 pounds. And, yes, that can tire down some users quickly.
Product Highlights
You worry less about the machine’s weight thanks to the seven-inch wheels attached to it. It helps support and balance and ensures you get the edging done fairly quickly.
Padded handlebars extend from the tool’s frame, allowing users to push and maneuver the edger as they would a lawn mower. Its cutting blade has a depth of about four-and-a-half inches when used for edging, but it can also be positioned horizontally as a trimmer.
When used as the latter, it lets you take care of more than a yard of maintenance with just one tool.
Of the five on our list, the McLane gas-powered edger is the most powerful by a mile. It also allows for more adjustments than the four other edgers.
It articulates around bed lines superbly, tracks along pavements well, and slices through heavy clay quite effortlessly. For yard edging of any nature, this tool is the complete package.
The Good
The McLane edger is a powerful gas lawn edger with high torque and fast blade speed.
The Bad
The machine’s heavyweight and bulky build could be a deal-breaker to some users.
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4. Greenworks Pro Brushless Edger
At just shy of over 12 pounds, the Greenworks Pro Brushless Edger is easy to carry, control, and maneuver. It comes with an adjustable auxiliary handle that you can move up and down the tool’s shaft, depending on what suits you.
Product Highlights
The tool has a trigger lock to prevent accidental start-ups, which can be dangerous when you have kids around. It handles most edging tasks exceptionally well thanks to an eight-inch rectangular blade with a maximum depth of four inches for cutting.
The edger is cordless and runs on the included lithium-ion battery with 80 volts that should last for about an hour before it needs recharging. There is no spare battery, but it does come with a charger and battery life indicator for monitoring battery life.
What’s particularly impressive about this tool is the gas-like power the Greenworks battery provides. The 80-volt battery is responsible for this tool’s higher price, but it’s not your only option if you wish to remain emission-free.
There are others in the Greenworks accessory line-up to pair this edger with that allow you to operate cordlessly.
The Good
The Greenworks Pro Brushless Edger holds the power of a gas-like edger with the mobility of a battery-powered or cordless unit. You can’t have a better combination.
The Bad
The machine’s 80-volt lithium-ion battery is pricey and something you must replace in four to seven years.
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5. WORX Electric Lawn Edger
The good thing about using a corded lawn edger is that you won’t have to worry about needing to refuel or running out of battery when working on a large property. Your coverage may be limited to the extension cord, but you can always buy a longer one when you need it.
Trust us! When you have the WORX Electric Lawn Edger, you won’t mind. The tool’s 12-amp electric engine and lightweight but powerful design should compensate for all the deficiencies of a corded edger.
Product Highlights
Are you worried about extension cord length? This WORX tool offers two package options that each come with a 100-foot extension cord to see you through most large-property-edging sessions.
It has large blades shaped like stars that can cut through roots, dirt, and sod at various cutting depths up to a maximum of three-and-three-quarter inches. It weighs no more than 14 pounds.
The tool has one wheel in the front and a pair in the rear to provide better balance and control. It also has an auxiliary handle that adjusts easily to suit the user’s specific needs.
This unit weighs less than any of the other field-tested corded models, and trenches beds relatively better than most of them. That said, it isn’t built for extensive bed renovation, despite the controls and handles being fit for extensive use.
The Good
The tool’s maximum depth mode is ideal for maintaining the bed edges of landscapes.
The Bad
It’s great for maintenance but not so great for forming new edges.
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Cons
How to Choose the Best Garden Edger
In the face of a wide range of precisely calibrated edgers, choosing the right one for your yard can be tough. Here are a few things to consider when doing so:
Power
Deciding on the ideal lawn edger for your property means understanding the kind of power these tools hold. Electric and gas options are almost similar in power output, but manual edgers depend on the user’s power.
- Electric and Battery-Powered Edgers
These variants rely on electric engines powered by your home’s electrical system or a built-in battery. Power is measured in voltage or amps in these devices, with higher figures equating to more power.
- Gas Edgers
In these lawn edgers, power is based on the engine size (measured in cubic centimeters or cc) or horsepower (Hp). In most cases, the higher the value attached to these metrics, the more powerful the machine is. This is significant because it determines the cost and efficiency of the unit.
Blade
A basic, no-frills blade should handle simple yard work fine, but what if you need to do complex trimming around different yard structures and landscapes? You may need an edger with a blade that you can use in multiple positions. Here’s what you can choose from:
- Flat Rectangular With Plain Edges
These are the most common types of blades meant for basic edging tasks. They're ideal for lawns that don’t have much going on in design and landscape. Pick a straightforward blade for a straightforward yard.
- Flat Rectangular With Edges That Scoop Out
These blades allow you to cut around more delicate landscaping designs, like flower beds, which could potentially get ruined with rough cutting using plain blades. They’re also ideal for handling uneven grass and hard surfaces.
- Star-Shaped Blades
When you need to cut lawns with fixed boundaries, these blades have got you covered. They should be able to cut precisely and efficiently even with a wall or sturdy fence close by.
FAQs About Garden Edgers
1. How deep should you edge your yard?
Edging at an average depth of two to four inches should be enough to manage the spread of grass roots and keep grass from infiltrating walkways or patio gaps.
2. Should you edge after every mowing session?
That would depend on the kind of grass you have. Some types of grass are fast-spreading and need to be checked after every mowing session.
Most yards won’t need to be edged after mowing, but they will likely require it after every two to three mowing sessions.
3. Does edging come before or after mowing?
Either way works; it’s entirely up to you. Should you decide to edge first, mowing right after should clean up the excess clippings.
If it’s the other way around, you can create a straighter and more consistent edge after mowing.
4. What is an easy edger for beginners?
In our list, the Bully Tools Lawn Edger grabs the award for easiest edger to use. You just need to line the edger up and push down on it with your foot to drive through the turf.
5. What is the best way to edge my lawn?
The best way to edge your lawn is to use the most suitable lawn edger for your needs. You may choose a gas-powered, battery-powered, corded electric, or manual lawn edger to take care of your property.
What Garden Edger Should You Bring Home?
The size and design of your garden and your needs should decide that for you. That said, you should find the Black & Decker 2-in-1 String Edger helpful in any scenario.
It’s compact and lightweight, has an adjustable handle height, and is built with a powerful 12-amp motor that lets you do various yard activities outside of edging and trimming.