How To Protect Siding From Weed Eater Damage

There’s nothing worse than installing new siding or refreshing your existing layout with a shiny vinyl coat only to have it damaged by the weed eater. Unfortunately, this issue is quite common and difficult to avoid. However, with the right approach, you can protect your siding from the weed eater without altering your garden’s landscaping. 

How to Protect Siding from Weed Eater Damage

1. Remove stones and pebbles from around the siding. 
2. Use a piece of wood to protect the siding.
3. Reinforce the siding with metal-plated lumber. 
4. Make a border around the siding with mulch beds. 
5. Install a stone or concrete edge around the siding. 
6. Use landscape fabric to create a border. 
7. Be more careful when using the weed eater. 
8. Use herbicide to kill weeds. 
9. Use ceramic tiles.
10. Create a plastic border. 

The rest of this article will dive deeper into how you can protect your siding from the weed eater. I’ll also go into the tips mentioned above in detail. Let’s get started!

1. Remove Stones and Pebbles From Around the Siding 

While most people make a great effort not to damage the siding directly when using a weed eater, the stones and pebbles near the siding usually cause the most damage.

The weed eater can often hurl stones at the siding from a distance, which could even damage your property or hurt someone in the process.

This is why it is necessary to always remove stones and pebbles from around the siding before using a weed eater.

While the weed eater has an outer casing to protect you from such hazards, the other half is open.

Removing the stones from your lawn before using a lawn mower or weed eater protects your siding (and others) from damage. 

You don’t need to spend hours digging up every small stone you find in your yard. Simply go over the general area where you would use the weed eater and remove any large stones or impediments.

Depending on the size of your yard, this should take less than 5-10 minutes. 

Remember to wear safety gloves when picking up objects from your yard. The last thing you want is to get bitten by an insect or cut your hand with a sharp object! 

2. Use a Piece of Wood To Protect the Siding 

If you’re concerned about your weed eater, you can install a “barrier” to protect the siding. If you don’t want to install a permanent barrier, place a piece of wood next to the siding when you’re using the weed eater.

The wood will protect the bottom part of the siding from any hazards that may be approaching it. 

However, while this won’t cost you anything, and you can easily get a piece of wood before you start gardening, it’s not easy to move the wood around the lawn while using the weed eater.

If you want a more permanent solution, you’ll have to install lumber around all of the sidings. 

Therefore, if you’re on a budget and have some spare time on your hands, using a piece of wood to protect the siding is the perfect solution. If not, then there are a few other options that would make your life a lot easier. 

3. Reinforce the Siding With Metal Plated Lumber 

While you can take care to remove stones and pebbles from around the edge of the siding before using a weed eater, there’s always the odd stone that might end up damaging your siding.

One of the best ways to protect your siding is to install metal-plated lumber around it. 

The lumber doesn’t need to be too high, and 1×6 PVC lumber is usually enough to protect the bottom panel of the siding since it’s highly unlikely that the weed eater will cause damage any higher.

Another benefit of using metal plated lumber is that you can be 100 percent sure that there won’t be any damage to your siding once it is installed. 

Unlike other homemade solutions to try and protect your siding, using metal plated lumber allows you to work on your garden stress and hassle-free.

However, the downside of this is that it would cost you more than using normal wooden siding. You can make your own metal-plated wooden barrier, but it’s time-consuming and much easier to get from the store. 

4. Make a Border Around the Siding With Mulch Beds 

Instead of protecting your siding with a wooden barrier, try using a natural one. You can make a border with mulch to keep the distance between the siding and your garden to protect it from the weed eater.

Wooden mulch works best, but you can also use synthetic rubber mulch that won’t need to be replaced often. 

Weeds don’t grow easily in mulch, and the few that do can easily be removed without a weed eater. The mulch border will also enhance your yard and give it a better look than unsightly metal-plated wood.

If you really want to make your garden stand out, plant a few flowers in the mulch. 

However, while this DIY job is really effective in smaller yards, it becomes quite a mission if your yard is on the larger side. While being effective at protecting your siding from the weed eater, the mulch would also get scattered around if it is too close to the equipment.

Additionally, the mulch may hold in moisture and remain damp for much longer and potentially damage your siding. 

5. Install a Stone or Concrete Edge Around the Siding 

Instead of mulch or wood, which may get damaged over time, you can install a stone or concrete border to protect your siding from the weed eater.

Stone borders look great on any garden and blend well with the natural landscape. However, avoid using small stones as they may damage the siding. 

You can also install concrete paving to form a border around the siding. While it’s slightly more expensive than mulch or wood, it’s a more permanent solution and highly effective at protecting the siding.

Concrete is also easier to maintain, and you can use herbicide to kill weeds that may grow around the concrete tiles. This is why it is becoming increasingly popular as a form of siding protection. 

While selecting the stone or concrete edge to install in your yard, be careful to choose something that matches the aesthetics of your garden and home.

By doing this, you’ll ensure that you have something that’s both aesthetically pleasing and protects your siding from any damage. 

6. Use Landscape Fabric To Create a Border 

If you have a problem with weeds growing on the edge of your garden around the siding, the best solution is to create a border around the garden’s edge.

Instead of using temporary materials like mulch, you can install landscape fabric such as synthetic grass. 

Synthetic grass will improve the look of your garden and blend well with the natural landscape. Weeds don’t grow in synthetic fabric, and it doesn’t require any maintenance either.

The only downside is that it will cost you per square foot of grass and thus could end up being quite expensive. Moreover, synthetic landscape fabric won’t last forever and needs to be replaced every few years. 

Another benefit of using landscape fabric like synthetic grass is that you can do anything that you do on normal grass on them, and when you look outside, you probably won’t even notice a barrier there. 

7. Be More Careful When Using the Weed Eater  

Most people understand that using a weed eater is potentially dangerous and, therefore, an activity that requires care and consideration.

However, most of us still don’t learn how to use the equipment correctly, and this is the main cause of damaged siding and injuries. 

The way you use the weed eater can also affect the siding. Avoid weeding too close to the siding and keep the weed eater’s angle facing downwards when you’re near the siding.

Once you get the hang of using the weed eater without having it throw stones all around, you’ll be able to use it everywhere you want without causing any damage. 

Make sure that your weed eater has a cover, and also learn the right way to use it. If you manage to learn this skill, you could save yourself the money and hassle of putting up barriers to protect your siding.

If you aren’t sure of how to use your weed eater correctly, check the user manual or ask an experienced gardener. 

8. Use Herbicide To Kill Weeds 

Installing a border around the siding is effective to an extent, but it won’t protect your siding from the odd stone. Instead of using a weed eater, use herbicide to kill the weeds around the siding. 

While you’ll have to apply the herbicide every time the weeds grow back, you won’t have to worry about the weed eater damaging your siding.

You can also get natural herbicides that aren’t harmful to insects and animals. Although this option may seem more expensive than using your weed eater, it is much cheaper than putting up a barrier in your yard.

However, this option could be more expensive in the long run, as buying herbicides every month or two will add up over time.

Therefore, it depends on whether you prefer not putting up a barrier at all and keeping the same aesthetic appeal, or you prefer using your weed eater over using herbicides. 

9. Use Ceramic Tiles

If you’re looking to add more color to your yard, you could go with the option of creating a barrier between the yard and the siding by installing colorful ceramic tiles around the area most likely to get damaged by the weed eater. 

Not only will you be protecting the siding, but you will also have the opportunity to get creative and make it more aesthetically pleasing than it already was.

The ceramic tiles are not as difficult to put in place as some of the other options mentioned in this guide. Simply apply construction adhesive to the back of the tiles and stick them onto the siding to create a whole new look.

When installing tiles, choose the right size and color tiles to get the desired finish. Moreover, the grout around the tiles will wear off much faster in the garden environment, and you’ll have to repair it more often. However, it’s still cheaper than repairing damaged siding. 

10. Create a Plastic Border

The cheapest way to create a landscape border and edging for your siding is to use commercially available plastic edging. Plastic edging, also known as poly edging, comes in colors ranging mostly from green to brown.

Different plastic edging sizes are available, with the cheapest option being the 3-4 inch high edging. You can also get custom-made plastic borders to fit around the length of your siding. 

Although edging or creating a border is cheap and effective, it is not the best for looks. It will protect a wide variety of items, like protecting plants or flowers from a weed eater.

Even though it comes in different colors and sizes, the finished look does not blend easily with the natural environment. Additionally, plastic gets damaged by the sun’s UV rays and will fade over time. 

Key Takeaways 

While siding is usually durable, it sometimes can get damaged by your weed eater. Weed eaters have a protective covering that will block stones and other objects from flying toward you, but the equipment may still hurl objects towards the siding.

Instead of repairing your siding every time it gets damaged, here are a few things you can do to prevent the issue. 

• Install metal plated lumber around the siding. 
• Use mulch, stones, concrete paving, or synthetic landscaping to protect the siding. 
• Remove stones from around the siding 
• Use herbicide instead of a weed eater. 
• Create a plastic border.