How to keep your neighbor's grass out of your garden

If you're having trouble with your neighbor's grass growing through the fence and into your garden, here's a great way to fix it!

Not everyone has grass right up to their fence line. And we are one of those people.

We have mulched areas along the fence on both sides of our backyard and our neighbors have grass on that side. Their grass is continuously growing under the fence and into our mulched beds.

We got tired of pulling it over and over, so we decided to finally put an end to it once and for all.

How to block neighbor's grass from growing under the fence

This method for blocking your neighbor's grass from growing into your yard from under the fence is non-invasive into your neighbor's yard. You don't have to get their input or agreement to take this approach.

To do this, you'll need to grab this plastic edge barrier from your local home improvement store (or order it for curbside pickup right now!). You'll also need yard stakes, edger or spade, and a mallet.

Step one: clear out grass

Start by clearing out any of the grass that is coming under the fence. Don't just pull what is in your garden bed, but also make sure you're pulling out the root from the fence line.

If your neighbor is ok with it, it would be even better to go to their side of the fence and cut the grass edge on their side to make it easier to pull out and give that clean line.

Step two: dig small trench

Next, dig a small trench right up against your fence line. My best tip for this is to start by spraying it down with a healthy amount of water.

Then, pull the existing mulch back from the line and use an edger or spade to dig a thin trench up against the fence. I pushed my edger into the dirt and then pulled back toward me to create that trench.

Once you have a good trench, spray it down with water again to give you a good area to work with for the edging.

Step three: install edging barrier

Roll out an edging barrier that will reach the full length of your garden and stretch it out along your fence line. My biggest tip with this is to install it with the rolled curve pointing into the fence so that it doesn't curt out into your garden. You want to work it into your fence.

Start on the end and try to push down the barrier into the trench from end to end. Before making it permanent, try to get it in all the way from end to end.

When your edging comes up against one of your fence posts, use a box cutter to cut a small slit in the edging on each side of it so that it can still fit under the fence where you need it.

Once you have it in the trench from end to end, curve the top down under the horizontal board of your fence if needed. If you aren't able to push it all the way down into the dirt, it's better to push it down under that board if you can to keep more weeds out.

Then, every few feet, use a mallet and drive a stake down into the ground right up against the barrier to keep it solidly in place.

Step four: add dirt or mulch

Once the barrier is fully in place, push back any dirt that you moved over to create the trench. Then, you can mulch or place pine straw or whatever you have in your garden. This will basically make the barrier invisible!

In conclusion...

Keeping your neighbor's grass from growing under the fence and into your garden isn't difficult! It can easily be taken care of without having to bother your neighbor.

Grab a roll of edging and place it in the ground up against the fence on your side and you'll keep the grass out easily!