If you are going to remove the tulips and then plant other flowers wait to mulch until all those plants are in. all of that digging may move the mulch into the soil where it becomes a soil amendment inst5ead of a mulch.

I have used both a half moon edger and a spade to edge and the spade worked better for me. It depends on what you might be used to and what you find easiest to use.

kimmq is kimmsr

What kimmq said, but I would try to convince you to move toward a more perennial system that doesn't require yanking bulbs and planting annuals every year, and allows the soil to build without disturbance.

Whatever edging blade you have/decide to use, I HIGHLY recommend you sharpen it to a razor edge. This will make your job MUCH easier.

cheers.

It depends on where in the world dan is whether pulling the tulips out is necessary or not. Generally from Zone 8 warmer the bulbs need to be prechilled before planting and need to be dug up after blooming so they can be chilled and replanted.

kimmq is kimmsr

Yeah, you're right on that. I would add that the heart of my comment centered on holistically building the garden system. Healthier, more diverse, more advanced ecosystems directly result from a reduction in disturbance. And the biggie: it saves the gardener alot of labor too. You know though, folks gotta have their tropical tulips, and of course their willing to work for them...

Just proselytizing my agenda ;)

I use a spade to edge the allotment paths but if I had a lawn and flower beds I'd get an edger. It's straight whereas a spade is slightly curved. Also the half moon goes into the ground more easily.