My next door neighbor is in Europe for 2 weeks. We have identical yards about 5000 sq ft. He has 8 flower beds, and has never edged his sidewalks and curb. I have 4 flower beds and I edge my sidewalks every cut with a trimmer. It takes me about 45 minutes to cut mine, 30 minutes if I really push my self. Both lawns have a 30 degree slope in the back half of the backyard.
I figure I should be done in 1 and 1/2 hours. No even close, took me over 2 hours. Cutting the edges was way more work than I planned. I have a homelite with a pretty small tank, first time I ever ran out of gas with a full tank. Part of that excessive gas use was the choke was partially on and I did not realize it. His lawn is very thick and cutting those edges proved very challenging. I got it done and it looks really good, I took my time so I would keep the gap from side walk to grass the same on both sides. Then I had to deal with all the flower beds as well as the house perimeter. Needless to say I was not ready to run the trimmer as long as I did. Mowing was not too much of an issue until I had to tackle the slope. I always cut mine at an angle. My self propel goes right up the slope with very little effort on my part. The issue I had doing both hills was the 40 times I had to up and down in 90 degree heat. When I finished I had a hard time walking up my deck as it felt like my legs were made of lead. Now that I have done both the next time I should gain some efficiency especially edging. Grant it I am out of shape for sure but I have much more respect for guys that do this every day.
I figure I should be done in 1 and 1/2 hours. No even close, took me over 2 hours. Cutting the edges was way more work than I planned. I have a homelite with a pretty small tank, first time I ever ran out of gas with a full tank. Part of that excessive gas use was the choke was partially on and I did not realize it. His lawn is very thick and cutting those edges proved very challenging. I got it done and it looks really good, I took my time so I would keep the gap from side walk to grass the same on both sides. Then I had to deal with all the flower beds as well as the house perimeter. Needless to say I was not ready to run the trimmer as long as I did. Mowing was not too much of an issue until I had to tackle the slope. I always cut mine at an angle. My self propel goes right up the slope with very little effort on my part. The issue I had doing both hills was the 40 times I had to up and down in 90 degree heat. When I finished I had a hard time walking up my deck as it felt like my legs were made of lead. Now that I have done both the next time I should gain some efficiency especially edging. Grant it I am out of shape for sure but I have much more respect for guys that do this every day.