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Daily gardening tip · Southern hemisphere · Wednesday 26 August 2026 · late winter

Cut clean edges on your lawn

Cutting sharp borders around your lawn now prevents grass from invading your garden beds when spring warmth arrives.

Cut clean edges on your lawn
30 minuteseasylawn
  1. Lay a long garden hose or string along the lawn edge to act as a straight or curved guide.
  2. Stand on the lawn facing the garden bed.
  3. Push a sharp, flat spade or edging tool straight down into the turf along your guide line.
  4. Rock the tool gently forward and backward, then pull it out.
  5. Lift out the cut grass clumps and shake the loose soil back into your garden bed.
A garden in late winter

Why it works

During late winter, lawn grass is semi-dormant and its roots are easy to slice. Creating a clean, physical gap now stops running grass varieties from creeping into your prepared garden beds during their rapid spring growth spurt.

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Written for the southern hemisphere. Gardening north of the equator? See the northern edition

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