Homeowners work hard to make sure their yard looks as nice as their home. They often spend precious nights and weekends picking out the right landscaping and taking care of their lawn. When you have dedicated hours trying to keep everything looking nice and tidy, it is so frustrating when grass suddenly pops up in your flower beds.
If you are having this problem, there are several methods you can try to get rid of grass in your flower beds.
Pulling Grass
This is the most obvious method that you can do by yourself and with no or few tools. Homeowners often put on garden gloves when pulling grass and other weeds to help make sure they get a good grip on the plants. If you choose this route, keep in mind that it is important to pull out not only the grass but also its root system. Otherwise, it is likely this will be an ongoing problem, and grass will show up in your flower beds again very soon.
Using Herbicides
Hardware stores sell a variety of products to kill unwanted grass, such as chemical sprays to spot treat troublesome weeds. There are also several home remedies that people use to try to kill grass, including vinegar. It is important to use caution with any of these methods and products. When you use a weed killer, you might end up killing the flowers, vegetables or other plants you were trying to protect.
Many products that are designed to kill grass are also harmful to other types of landscaping. It is often difficult for homeowners to know which product is the right one for their yard and how to use them without accidentally damaging other surrounding plants. And, even if you select the right products, there’s the question of how long the herbicides will last before you have to apply more.
Installing Barriers
One way to lessen the chance of grass growing in your flower bed is to install barriers between your lawn and your flower bed. This will not entirely prevent grass seeds from messing up your landscaping because grass seeds can travel through the air, but it can help keep weeds at bay.
An effective type of barrier is steel edging. To use this type of divider, leave one inch above the ground and pound the edging into the ground deep enough to help prevent grass from growing under it. Some other barriers that can be effective and attractive include bricks or pavers. To use these, place them into the ground along the edge of your flower bed.
Once you have installed a barrier, you can also try spreading mulch around your flowers. A thick layer of mulch can help kill off grass by preventing it from getting the sunlight that it needs to grow.
Using Landscape Fabric
Landscape fabric is another method of controlling what grows in your flower beds. With this method, you lay down fabric and then make holes in the fabric where you want to plant your flowers. After planting your flowers, you lay down mulch to cover the fabric. This method makes it so that grass can’t root in your flower beds.
Edging Your Lawn
By regularly edging your lawn, you can ensure that grass doesn’t grow into your flower beds. That said, this method is a bit more labor-intensive because you need to edge regularly to ensure that your grass doesn’t grow into your flower beds.
You might also consider hiring a landscaper to help take care of your flower beds. Taking care of landscaping often becomes an ongoing task. While you might have your yard looking great one day, a new patch of grass might appear in your flower bed the next. A pro can help save you time and stress by tackling this project for you.
A lawn service can do the hard work of eliminating weeds, plus they can recommend steps to help prevent this problem in the future. This might include installing barriers or other interventions, which they can put in and maintain year after year. They can also help with tasks such as planting evergreen shrubs. A landscaping professional can also give you the information you need to choose a basic or comprehensive lawn service package that fits your budget and your family’s needs.
As we mentioned, landscape fabric and edging your lawn are two ways you can keep grass out of your flower beds. That said, not everyone knows how to perform these tasks. Keep reading to learn how to use landscape fabric and how to edge your grass.
How To Use Landscape Fabric
Hardware stores and local garden shops typically sell landscape fabric on rolls. It comes in different thicknesses, materials and sizes. If you are planting flowers that will continue to grow each year, then it is best to use a thicker fabric that will last longer than a season.
If you decide to go with this approach, the first step is to gather your tools and materials. In addition to landscape fabric, you will also need:
- gardening gloves,
- a spade or shovel,
- scissors,
- landscape pins,
- a hammer and
- mulch.
Prepare Your Flower Bed
Once you have your tools ready, the first step is to prepare the flower bed. To do this, use a spade or other gardening tool to scrape away grass and weeds in the area where you would like to plant. The next step is to lay heavy landscaping fabric in the area. Arrange it so that the fuzzy side is down, and make sure the fabric covers the full area.
Plant Your Flowers
Next, cut a small “x” in the fabric. This is where you will plant the flowers or other plants you would like to protect. It’s important that the hole is small, so the fabric fits snugly around your flowers. This helps prevent the possibility that grass will be able to sneak up through the hole. Then, dig a hole in the ground under this space in the fabric. Plant your flowers in the ground and pull the flaps of fabric back around the plant.
Secure the Fabric
To secure the fabric to the ground, push landscape pins through the fabric, using a pin every three inches. Hammer the pins into the ground and then cut away any excess fabric. Lastly, cover the fabric with a layer of mulch that is about three inches deep.
As you are probably now realizing, keeping your landscaping looking nice and tidy takes a lot of time that you might not have to spare. If you hire a professional service, you can have someone to manage all your yard care for you, so you can focus on the things that are most important to you. Your lawn care specialists can also help with landscaping spring cleanup, so your yard is ready for growing season.
How To Edge Your Lawn
Edging is a great way to keep your lawn looking great and tidy. It is also a useful method to help keep grass out of flower beds by creating an edge between your lawn and your flower bed. To get started, gather the tools and materials that you will need for the project. In addition to an edger, other tools and materials you will need include:
- a lawn mower,
- weed killer,
- gloves,
- eye protection,
- face mask and
- other protective clothing, such as a long-sleeved shirt, pants and boots.
The first step is to mow your lawn, removing just about the top third of the grass. This will help keep your grass healthy without removing too much of the leaf blade at one time. If this is the first time that you are edging near your flower bed, then it is helpful to lay out a rope or hose along the line that you would like to edge. This will help you create a clean line and a beautiful boundary between your flower beds and your grass.
Next, using your edging tool, slowly edge along the border of your yard. Start with grass that has grown into the area of your flower bed. If you have a straight edge on your flower bed, then you will want to start at one end. But, if your flower bed is curved, then you might find it easier to start at the center of the curve and work outward. Work carefully to make sure you do not hit other plants or barriers around your flower bed like bricks or pavers.
The most efficient and least labor-intensive way to edge your lawn is to use a cordless, electric or gas trimmer or hedger. However, you can also use a manual hedger to cut into the soil and cleanly cut away grass from your flower bed. It works in much the same way as a power edger, but you will need to manually push the tool into the ground.
After you finish edging, it is important to clean the area to help prevent grass from growing in your flower bed in the future. When you edge, grass clippings and seeds can be transported in the air or into your flower bed. If you do not take care to clear these grass clippings, then grass seeds can get embedded in the soil and create more problems in the future. Additionally, clean and dry your tools before you store them. This helps prolong the life of your tools and will make it easier to start your project the next time you want to edge.
While edging is a great way to keep your lawn looking great, it can take a lot of your time. A trusted lawn professional can do all this hard work for you, so you do not have to deal with it. A lawn servvice can help you keep grass out of your flower beds, plus they can manage all your landscaping needs. Beyond edging, experienced lawn specialists can also take care of mowing, fertilizing, raking and many other lawn services.
ABC Can Keep Your Yard Tidy and Neat
As a homeowner, there are so many things you have to stay on top of, and the laundry list of tasks never seems to get any shorter. ABC Home & Commercial Services can make it so you have one less thing to worry about. We can take on all your lawn care needs without you having to lift a finger. Our pros can do it all, even recommending drought-tolerant plants, so your plants stay healthy through our dry periods.