Most people with gardens also have lawns.  While gardens require time and attention, lawns typically require more time, energy, and money.  Sadly, when a garden is overlooked for a week, it will generally do just fine but if you forget to cut or water the lawn, it shows.

Since typically a garden will have a nice, clean line between the flowers and plants and the lawn, a common problem is the lawn begins to grow into the space of the garden, creating a messy, uncontrolled appearance.  The grass will soon begin to invade the flowerbeds and reach a point where it can no longer be mowed, meaning that you are now pulling not just weeds but also grass from the garden.

If you have this problem, you can dig small trenches that run the perimeter of the flowerbed.  These trenches do not have to be very large to be effective, generally about two inches deep and two inches wide.  With this solution, the grass will stay on the lawn where it should be and the garden is left alone.

In addition to the trench, there are other viable options such as edging the flowerbed with a mowing strip, which is flat so the grass can easily be cut with the lawnmower yet wide enough so that the garden stays separated.  These mowing strips can consist of a number of things to include stones, bricks, or fine gravel.  The key is to ensure the lawnmower can cut all the grass without damaging your precious flowers and plants.

Groundcovers are also very beneficial in that they can serve as an edging between the grass of the lawn and the flowers of the garden.  You can actually allow them to grow dense enough so they lay over onto the grass.  In this case, you would simply push the covering aside when you mow and the move it back after you are done.  Groundcovers are very low maintenance.  If you have areas around the garden where grass will not grow, groundcovers are great options here as well.  To give you an idea of some excellent choices for groundcovers, consider the following:

• Sweet Woodruff – This groundcover is great in that it is green throughout the year.  Then during the springtime, small, white flowers cover it.  It has a nice texture as well and grows well in the shade.

• Hostas – Also an excellent coverage for shady areas of the garden, hostas are hardy and spread quickly.  The only thing you need to accept with hostas is that slugs will notoriously eat the leaves, giving the plant a lacy appearance.  You can choose the hostas species that has thick, waxy leaves, which slugs generally leave alone.

• Ferns – Finally, ferns are always good groundcovers.  Although they like shade best, they do tolerate the sun as long as it is no more than four hours a day.  You can choose ferns in a number of color variations, some that produce flowers.