Do you find lawn maintenance difficult? If you have a lawn, you already know how challenging it gets when it is left untouched for few weeks. Luckily, choosing the right tools for lawn maintenance will make lawn care a fun activity. Two of the most popular tools include Edger and String Trimmer.
An Edger helps create edgy lines on the perimeter of the lawn. On the other hand, String Trimmer is for trimming tall grasses and remove weeds. Both of the tools reach areas around where a lawnmower fails to reach. Each of them has a specific job to ensure a tidy lawn.
However, the tools may not work the same for every lawn owner. Both the devices have to be used according to the lawn requirements. Thus, it is worth giving a read about Edger vs. String Trimmer to decide why you should get both.
Differences Between An Edger And A String Trimmer
A lawn edger is a tool designed to form new boundary lines in lawns or yards, while a string trimmer helps maintain the existing boundary lines.
Lawn edgers are for creating perimeters for the lawn. Sometimes, the perimeters or the edges are already created but the growth of grass and weeds extends the lawn. Using lawn edgers on such yards defines the boundaries and gives it a neat look.
In contrast, string trimmers are not for trimming the edges of lawns. Unlike lawn edgers, it trims tall grasses and removes weed evenly inside its boundaries. It also works like a mini lawnmower that can reach any area around garden beds without entering their zone or ruining the plants.
It is possible to use both of the tools one after another in the same area as they have their differences. For instance, after the edgers create divisions or boundaries, you can use a string trimmer for trimming the grass on the edges.
When it is Edger vs. String Trimmer, edgers always come first. It is because an edger is a more stable device than a string trimmer. Initially, using the edger will be recommended. A string trimmer can trim grass and remove weeds easily when the edges of the lawn are neat.
Lastly, there’s a notable difference in their mechanism. Edgers consist of a blade that cuts through grasses. It can either be a vertical spinning blade or a rotating blade. Strig trimmers, on the other hand, trim grass using a flexible monofilament line. Unlike edgers, they operate by spinning lines rapidly.
Why Should You Get An Edger?
An Edger is a must when the grass and weed of your lawn overhang over the sidewalks or driveways. It is for creating neat edges of the lawn, helping it define the edges.
A lawn edger, also recognized as the edge trimmer, trims the edges of the lawn. It is a necessity when you want to make your lawn edges look neat.
Grasses on the edges tend to extend outwards towards sideways, which only makes the lawn look messy. The edges do not only include the sideways, they also include divisions between the lawns, pathways, flowerbeds, and driveways. Lawn edgers come in handy when cleaning such a mess with its vertical or rotating spinning blade.
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly tool that trims the lawn edges, manual lawn edgers are for you. Purchasing a manual lawn edger instead of a motorized lawn edger can make lawn maintenance cheap. Ames True Temper sells manuals lawn edgers with dual wheels, which aid a faster process when manually trimming edges.
On the other hand, if you have a large lawn area, purchase a motorized lawn edger. Gas-powered lawn edgers are for bushy lawn edges with thick grasses. Some gas-powered edgers come with four wheels, they are powerful lawn edgers that trim edges straightly.
If you want to edge faster in a relatively small lawn, electric-powered lawn edgers are recommendable. Handling it is easier than gas-powered edgers as they’re more lightweight. They also produce less noise, so loud noises shouldn’t be a problem when using this one.
Why Should You Get a String Trimmer?
A string trimmer helps trim tall grasses and remove weeds from the lawn. It reaches areas around obstacles like shrubs, making it easier to maintain a lawn with many shrubs.
Due to its rotating head, string trimmers are efficient at trimming grasses and remove weeds. It can come in handy when you have a lawn with grasses growing too long in a short time. It is also lightweight, which means that it does not require much effort to get a weed-free lawn with trimmed grass.
Its head rotates to spin a line rapidly to cut through grasses. Its flexibility allows it to reach every corner of the lawn where a lawnmower cannot reach. It can reach places around fences, walls, steps, trees, bushes, shrubs, houses to trim grass equally throughout the lawn. It is almost impossible to reach such spots without a string trimmer.
Your lawn may consist of several flowerbeds. It may prove to be difficult trimming grasses in such areas, but with a string trimmer, it is no big deal. For its narrow cutting width feature, it can also trim grasses on unleveled surfaces of the lawn.
It is worth noting that efficient string trimmers are affordable. It is similar to a lawnmower as it has its features. But string trimmers are much cheaper than land mowers. It is more sustainable when your lawn area is relatively small and does not require a lawnmower to make it look neat.
It does not only work effectively in small lawn areas. If you have a large lawn, gas-powered string trimmers can help trim the areas faster with their wide cutting swath. It is possible to cover a large lawn area with such a wide bottom. In addition, they also have a longer run time. It only makes lawn care easy.
Why Should You Get Both the Edger and String Trimmer?
As mentioned earlier, edgers operate on lawn edges while a string trimmer takes care of the whole lawn. Purchasing only an edger will not trim tall and thick grasses as it doesn’t consist of sharp blades that cut through thick grass. In such a case, string trimmers can be very helpful.
Some people may use a string trimmer on the edges, but it does not function as an edger. Using a trimmer on the edges will not give your lawn edges a sharp look. It may trim the grass that overhangs, but only a lawn edger can give you a perfect crisp edge. Lawn edges do not need a haircut; they need to stay within their perimeter. But yes, the whole yard would need a haircut.
At the end of the day, lawns or yards need both sharp edges and trimmed thick grass, thus it is necessary to purchase both an edger and a string trimmer.
As you can see, weighing up the uses of Edger vs. String Trimmer results in an equal need for both of the tools. They have different purposes for making your lawn look neat. They only require a little effort when in use. But, if you really had to choose one for whatever reason, I’d say go with the edger as it plays a bigger role in lawn care. And after reading this, I hope that there stands no confusion when distinguishing edgers and string trimmers. Thank you for having the patience to read till the end. Wishing you a good time taking care of your lawn.
