Edging a Sidewalk – Stihl FC56C-E

Now that we don’t live on an acreage and have a more manageable amount of space to maintain, Nick is taking a huge interest in keeping our curb appeal… well, appealing. I’ve been doing my part in the flower gardens, but today we’re going to talk about the lawn.

We’ve been fertilizing and watering our lawn, but I haven’t been ready to give Nick the green light on weed-killers… because our kids play in the yard, and I’m not a fan of mysterious chemicals. If you have any safe product recommendations that work, I’m all ears. Until then, please ignore our creeping charlie and occasional dandelion in our landscaping posts.

*This post is sponsored by our friends at STIHL. Thank you for supporting the fabulous brands that make Reality Daydream possible!*

One thing I never considered being a necessity to a well-manicured lawn is a crisp sidewalk line. It’s one of those things you don’t notice until you SEE SOMEONE’S PERFECTLY EDGED SIDEWALK… and you just know.

And now that I’ve seen how amazing it can look, consider me sold. I’ll never look at a regular scurvy sidewalk the same way. Evah.

But before we demonstrate this magic, let’s talk about PPE. And this is the part where I hand things over to Nick. Because he knows ALL THE THINGS.

What is PPE you ask? It stands for Personal Protective Equipment!

STIHL recommends that you wear boots, jeans, work gloves, safety glasses, a brush shield and ear muffs. It is important to remember that the safety instructions are established for a reason! This is not a time to cut corners, friends.

We started by checking the gas and filling it up with STIHL’s premium MotoMix Fuel. This is essentially a 50:1 mixture of a Premium, Non-Ethylene blended gas and a STIHL 2 stroke oil.

We did this on the concrete, because if we would have spilled any on the grass, it would have killed it.

To start this STIHL edger we primed the engine (depressing the bulb four to five times), turned the choke on (orange lever depress and slide to the top). Then with a firm grip on the handle and the other on the starter cord, we pulled the starter cord until the engine started.

It will likely start and then die. At this point we will move the choke lever down one notch from the top, then repeat the process with a firm grip at the base of the handle and start the engine.

For the first 10-15 tanks of gas, we want to make sure that we don’t rev up the engine to full throttle. This is because it takes a while for the new engine to break in.

That being said let’s start Edging!

I think you’ll find that edging a sidewalk is surprisingly simple and therapeutic. You want to get the blade spinning at a decent speed prior to engaging it into the grass and dirt.

You want to set the blade so that it is engaging the dirt no more than a 1/4″. You should be able to accomplish this easily while maintaining a comfortably ergonomic body position. If this is not the case you may need to refer to the Owners Manual on how to set the position of the wheel.

Our sidewalks likely hadn’t been trimmed EVER. That being said, years of debris sitting at the edge of the sidewalk, became excellent compost and therefore a perfect breeding ground for grass and weeds. The first cut with the edger, will likely be the most labor intensive, because we have to reestablish the edge and get rid of all the excess dirt. Not hard work, just time consuming. Sequential edging will be so much easier, I promise!

Not only does this look amazing, It reestablishes full usability of our sidewalk!

It’s amazing how simply edging your sidewalks and driveway can make such a dramatic difference in your curb appeal! You don’t really realize how disheveled everything looks until you see how it looks crisp, clean, and perfectly manicured.

I’ll warn you though, it’s a little addicting. Your neighbors will be really grateful when you JUST CAN’T HELP but edge their sidewalks too. 😉

~Nick (and Bethany!)