How do I separate two lawns?

Question

I live in the Seattle area. My neighbor has a very nice lawn -- it's unnaturally green, other-worldly thick, and chemical-dependent. I'm going to overseed my lawn with a nice mix of microclover, rye and fescue for what I hope is a lawn that doesn't require poisons and a lot of watering to maintain, and that keeps the weeds in check.

My question is: How do i best separate my lawn from hers so that I don't screw up what she's spent a lot of time and money on. Are there lawn barriers that I can hammer into the ground pretty deep?

nothing that will keep seeds from travelling over, but she'll have some preemergent going, so... — J. Musser, Apr 10 '15 at 04:03
An invisible glass wall - get a mime to install and maintain it for you ;^) — Ecnerwal, Apr 11 '15 at 02:10

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 11 '15 at 13:14

Here are some ideas for you, without site pictures it is hard to tell what it appropriate:

dig a shallow trench about six inches deep, backfill two inches with compacted stone dust and top with one row of an interlock paver. Looks good, easy to mow over but won't stop wind borne seeds. Grass stolons will try and work their way through necessitating some edging work
Same idea but build a low dry stone wall or interlock retaining wall. Something a foot high would have to be at least twelve inches wide and a compacted area a foot deep underneath. Should stop more but not all wind borne seeds and keep grass and clover from growing through but takes more work and money. It does provide a microclimate at the base of the wall for perennials
a hedge of an evergreen or deciduous plants will stop grass but require edging twice a year

+1 for shallow trench and paver because it's inconspicuous and short. — Danger14, Apr 12 '15 at 04:01

How do I separate two lawns?

1 Answers1