Edging the Beds: A Review and Giveaway!

Many of you know that I'm part of the Troy-Bilt Saturday 6 Team, now in its second year. As a part of that team, I get to test and review some Troy-Bilt garden equipment of my choice. Even before I became of part of this team, I was a fan of Troy-Bilt and did some testing and reviewing of products that they provided for me free of charge, in exchange for any suggestions I might have as an actual consumer of their products.

A few years ago, some other garden bloggers and I tested a string trimmer and our experiences and comments led to a redesign of the product in an effort to improve it. Now that is how a testing and review program should work. Everyone wins: Troy-Bilt, me, and the consumer.

TB554 Triple Blade Gas Lawn Edger

One of the products I received this year was the TB554 Triple Blade Gas Lawn Edger. I chose this edger because of its beveling capabilities. I've always admired the sharp knife-edged borders I've seen when touring other gardens and wanted that for my own garden beds. I believe the beveling helps keep the grass from moving in on the garden quite so quickly, because I can cut the roots back a bit, under the grass edge, rather than just making a straight perpendicular cut.

My first concern with this edger is one that I always have with products that have a pull-start. Will I have enough strength to pull it quickly enough to get it started? With some products, I simply do not, and I need my husband to do it for me. With the edger, I could do it myself. Yay!

Push the button three times to prime the engine before pull-starting.

I set the blade at the sharpest angle (three available) it would allow and at the deepest level (six available). I started it up and away I went.

As with any type of equipment like this, running it at full speed made it easier to cut through the turf. Earlier in the summer, when we had no rain and the ground was so hard (we've got heavy clay soil here), it wasn't quite so easy to do the edging. Not impossible, but with just a little rain to soften things up a bit, it was so much easier, so I waited to do the edging until after we'd gotten some rain.

I found that the best way to get a nice edge on a bed that badly needed it was to run the edger twice. Set the bevel, run it along the line where you want your edge, then run it again along the existing edge. This created a loosened wedge of grass and dirt that I then simply pulled away and discarded, leaving me with that nice edge I wanted.

Adjustable curb wheel

Another feature that this edger has is the adjustable curb wheel, making it easier to edge along a curb. We don't have curbs, so we didn't adjust this wheel, but it's easy enough to do. In fact, my husband and I both found everything about the edger pretty easy to do and we got the look we wanted with it.

Would we recommend the TB554 Edger? Absolutely, with no hesitation. You can read more details about the edger here.

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Now, the best part for you! Troy-Bilt is providing an edger just like the one they sent to me, to one of my readers! All you have to do is:

1. Leave a comment here, telling me if you do anything special to edge your garden beds.

AND

2. Fill out the Rafflecopter form with your contact information.

The giveaway will end on Wednesday, September 19th, at midnight EDT.  HEY! That's my birthday! How cool is that? Troy-Bilt gives YOU an edger for MY birthday! They're awesome that way. Now go enter...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*The products that I've tested for Troy-Bilt® have been provided to me free of charge. The Saturday 6 partnership that I have with Troy-Bilt® includes monetary compensation. Any opinions expressed by me regarding Troy-Bilt® products or events are my own.