We all dream of a lush, green, and beautiful lawn but lawn maintenance comes with its own language and grammar. There are certain tools that need to be used in certain ways to maintain a beautiful looking lawn. Many beginners do not know what to use for what purpose.

A common concern in many lawn owners is how they are going to manage the boundaries of the lawn and how they are going to keep it looking crisp and clean. The answers are a string trimmer and an edger.

These are tools that help you create a polished and sophisticated look for your lawn throughout the year. But, if you are not familiar with these products, do not worry. This article is just right for you because we are going to discuss these two devices and their uses in detail.

We have many such articles over on our website, so without any further delay, let us get started.

What is a string trimmer?

What is a string trimmer is a very common question asked amongst beginners who are just starting with their lawn care. It is possible that you have seen a string trimmer (or a brush trimmer) being used many times, but do not really know the exact purpose of it.

String trimmers are also known as weed eaters. It is a simple tool that is motorized and has a string on the end of the shaft. It is a handheld device and it is very lightweight and easy to maneuver.

It has a round head with sharp blades that moves horizontally to take off extra parts of the grass and weed. Different kinds of string trimmers can cut through different kinds of plants. These devices can be gasoline-powered or electric powered.

Usually, the gasoline powered devices are going to be much more hefty and sturdy in comparison to the electrical ones. It is going to cut through a plant that will be heavier. The electric string trimmer can be both corded and cordless.

If you have a bigger lawn or a larger property to cover cordless devices might not be the best for you because they run out of charge really quickly.

What is an edger?

An edger is what gets your lawn that clean beautiful finish. This is the device used to create clean borders between your lawn and the connecting sidewalk. It is also called an edge trimmer. It is only used to create sharp boundary lines. It can also be used to create separation between different flower beds in your garden.

Grass tends to grow in every direction. You cannot direct in which direction your lawn will grow but you want to separate your lawn from the sidewalks so it doesn’t look overgrown and bushy. That’s where the edger comes in.

An edge trimmer can be manual or motorized. Motorized edgers are much easier to use and move around where manual ones will be much cheaper in comparison.

What is the difference?

The definition of the two devices pretty much tells you the differences between them but we will discuss it further.

An edge trimmer is a motorized or manual device that uses a rotating blade to create a crisp line along the borders of your lawn. It often has guiding wheels so you can easily rotate around the boundary. It is meant to give a clean crisp look to your lawn.

A string trimmer is a good companion device. It is much lighter and easy to use. It takes care of the overgrowth of the weed and grass. It cuts in difficult places where your regular lawnmowers cannot go — around corners, near buildings, and definitely around sidewalks.

Which one do you need?

As you can probably tell from the definition and discussion that these two devices are very different but they have correlating goals.

Lawn maintenance is not a one-stop solution. There are many steps to it and many different techniques. A lot of different small procedures combined are a great maintenance routine. So, only mowing the top grass is not going to be your solution for a clean beautiful looking lawn.

You will also need to create beautiful hedgers and flower beds and beautiful side boundaries.

The edger will give you a very beautiful boundary to work with. And the string trimmer will keep that boundary in shape. It is often the first step to mowing your lawn. It is often the first step to get you started on that beautiful lawn makeover.

An edger alone is not enough for a clean lawn. It will only give you a clean boundary but it will not maintain it. So, you will have to wait till the whole boundary overgrows on the sidewalk before you can turn it into shape again. And that is not very fruitful.

Using any of these devices separately is not going to give you a top of the class result. These are very good partners. They work very well paired together. So, we recommend using both for different purposes. 

Use the edger to trim down your boundaries and make it clean and use the string trimmer to maintain that line throughout the season. It will make your work much hassle-free and keep peace of mind.

Conclusion

If you have read this far, thank you so much for coming along. We have tried our best to discuss the differences and the fundamental qualities of two very essential devices in lawn maintenance. 

We hope this article was helpful to you and with your new understanding of edgers and string trimmers, you can now embark on a new journey of making your lawn look polished and professionally maintained. Good luck!