Proper execution for trimming and edging

At KJK Lawn Care in Omaha, Nebraska, owner Josiah Cherry starts all his new crew members out on trimmers and edgers before they jump to any other piece of equipment. While mowing might be easier than trimming or edging, Cherry says he wants his new crew members to learn to use trimmers and edgers from the get-go.

“It’s a lot easier to pick up a mower or learn how to put lines in, but you could very easily mess up on edging and trimming,” he says.

Cherry doesn’t have new crew members learn this out in the field. Instead, he says he takes them to a training lot at KJK Lawn Care’s office, so they can develop this skill. Once they’re ready, he says the crew members are then tested by a crew leader before they start performing the work in the field.

However, it’s important to regularly train all crew members to sharpen their skills with trimmers and edgers. Bryan Shedd, recurring team coordinator at Belknap Landscape in New Hampshire, advises companies to host training day events throughout the year for different pieces of equipment to fine-tune skills. 

“At the beginning of the season we have a safety day,” he says. “Then we also have a mowing field day to train on mowers all the way down to string trimmers.”

Safety tips. When using trimmers and edgers, eye and ear protection is critical. Andrew Morse, recurring department head for maintenance at Belknap Landscape, says he requires crew members have both eye and ear protection.

“All that debris is flying around, so hearing and eye protection are a must,” Morse says. “We also suggest wearing boots because rocks are flying around and will hit your feet mostly.”

To perform jobs safely, Cherry advises keeping safety guards on. He preaches this to his crew members often.

“This is a big thing for us,” he says. “Leaving guards on is key. Some guys don’t like it because you can’t run a longer string, but this helps you to not throw debris around and it extends the life of the trimmer.”

Maintenance tips. On top of execution and safety, contractors should aim to maintain their trimmers and edgers to last a few years. Morse says Belknap tries to keep its trimmers and edgers each for three to six years. Some best practices Morse recommends include changing blades on them each year and placing trimmers and edgers on racks when transporting them to various jobsites.

“We try our best not to put them in the back of a pickup truck since other stuff can fall on them,” he says. “Even the racks we like to keep away from everything else.”

Also, as a company located in the Northeast, Belknap will winterize its trimmers and edgers.

“We run them out of gas at the end of the season, so they aren’t damaged by the cold,” Morse says.