I always keep 3 inches of mulch to keep weeds out. What kind of grass do you have? St augustine is easy to remove. Just yank out runners. Bermuda grass is another story. Much more difficult to keep out because they spread runners underground.

You can see that i used border stones to keep mulch in and keeping grass out. Made my life MUCH easier.

While previous owner did landscape, they left a strip of empty area like ditch to separate lawn from flow bed which is also has flake type separate stone.

How did you handle the other side of the grass at your house corner? They won't invade into your flow bed only due to mulch?

Lol. I use stick edger for that to propagate Sapphire and Floratam St augustine grass from that area after they've sent runners onto the mulch with the roots that I can easily pull out and plant them somewhere or give them away to whoever wants them. Needless to say my stick edger broke so I don't know. It's expensive to get a good one that would last for a long time. My neighbor has one so I suppose I can borrow once in a while.

Anyway without stick edger, it's impossible to use string trimmer without making a huge mess. That's where stone borders comes and I have them everywhere. That strip of grass was by accident. It was raining so much in 2007 and that bed was full of rich soil, the grass filled in rapidly before I could do anything. Later on, I realized how much less mess it stayed whenever it rained heavily while there's no rain gutters so I kept it there.

Gotta to admit that stick edger is way better than string trimmer when it comes to edging grass off driveway,curb and sidewalk. Much cleaner, faster and straighter....

All of my beds have a small 6-8" "trench" dug between the edge of the bed edging (whatever is there - stone, brick or vinyl edging) and the grass. This keeps grass TOTALLY away from the bed altogether and looks very crisp and nice too. It is a little bit of work in the beginning but you will be extremely happy later that you did it. The grass just doesn't grow down into this little groove and you can mow along it without touching your edging or any plants that may grow over the edge of the bed. It's not deep, maybe just a couple of inches lower than the bed itself. Basically it is removing the sod and then going along the edge of the grass with a shovel or spade and giving the edge a sharp clean edge.

You will see this done in a lot of public landscapes. I would post a picture if I knew how! I'm going to have to figure that one out..........

Yeah, "trench" is what I have in my yard. I am just wondering how to keep weeds and grass from the trench? Do you lay mulch over the trench?

No, I don't lay mulch in the trench; mine is just bare soil. You do have to occasionally go along with some roundup or the weedeater. I also, once in a while go along the grass edge with a flat edged shovel and "cut" the grass to keep it (the edge) sharp and neat. It's not really much work, maintenance-wise, at all and has become just part of the maintenance of the bed and yard. For me, it is an occasional duty, not something I have to work on all the time and since I really like the way it looks, I don't mind. Except maybe when I have a new large size bed and have to dig my little trench :)

I am just curious how come barely any weed or grass grow in your trench. The previous owner grows bermuda at some places. they just run everywhere and really difficult to remove. I hope there is a better way to kill them.

If you're dealing with Bermuda grass you're going to have to play dirty. Do a search for Bermuda grass, you'll find tons of hints and tips.

A month ago, I pulled all the weeds off the trench. Now, they all come back. What should I do to keep them off the trench.

Weedeating the trench helps when you do your weekly or whatever mowing and I also apply Roundup occasionally. There is also another product (I've forgotten what it's called but it is located with the Roundup products in the stores) that will keep stuff from growing back for an extended period of time.

Here is a picture of a section of the separation area between the St. Augustine and the bed. You can see some small sprigs of grass in it. I haven't used the Roundup lately but only weedeating and it is pretty manageable.

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You will always have stuff trying to sprout in this area; it's nature's way of not leaving bare dirt! However, I have found it to be fairly easy to keep "clean". If it gets too bad - out comes the Roundup!

Lynn

What is "weedeating"?

I use my string trimmer (aka weedeater - but mine is a Black and Decker) to create a trench or scalped area about three to four inches wide between the lawn and garden edging. It makes mowing easier and keeps grass from growing into the flower beds.