# What type of edging is best?



## Thegardner07

Hi,
I have been trying to put edging in my garden. I found three major types of material in market
1) Metal - Steel/Aluminium,etc
2) Plastic- Composite
3) Rubber.

So can you please suggest pros and cons from your personal experience. Which do you recommend.


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## gm560

Corten steel in my opinion. Strong, will last forever and ages to a nice color. Only downside I would see is if someone fell (kids) on it., it would not be very forgiving. Aluminum would not rust, but I don't think this as an advantage.

I have never seen rubber or plastic that looks good longer than a few months, and that may be generous.


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## Ware

For landscape beds I like the concrete curb edging.


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## SOLARSUPLEX

I purchased aluminum edging from a local garden supply store. They come in 8 ft or 16 ft strips and have a stake every 2 ft. Trench the area, install, backfill either side. They will last FOREVER. I've never seen the plastic ones used in a way that looked good after a season or two.


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## Keepin It Reel

Go natural...looks great and it's free


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## Babaganoosh

Concrete looks good unless you live in a zone that freezes a lot. Frost heave messes them up.


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## Cluelessone

Agree with natural if at all possible. The only reason the front bed has an edge in it right now is I was starting from straight dirt and wanted the visual. As soon as the grass fills in, I'm tearing it out.


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## bernstem

Concrete or stone if possible, but a natural edge with the lawn higher than the garden is my preference. It does require maintenance with a bed redefiner/spade and edger (string or blade), but it isn't too bad once you get it set right. I redefine my edges every couple months and use a bladed edger about once per month.


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## Keepin It Reel

I just did our edging and am in the process of replanting and mulch. To me there is no cleaner look especially once complete.


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## itsmejson

Sorry to bring up an old thread. How do you guys handle the Bermuda that grows in the mulch bed?


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## ENC_Lawn

^^^This...for those that have Bermuda and a natural edge are you edging every 2 day...etc?


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## rotolow

I hit it with a weedeater to try and keep the runners in check. My experience is that Bermuda will go over or under anything you put in it's way given enough time.

Glyphosate the edge to ding it will also slow it down.


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## Shindoman

I used a plastic edging they use for concrete pavers in a small area I have. It works pretty good.


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## Theycallmemrr

ENC_Lawn said:


> ^^^This...for those that have Bermuda and a natural edge are you edging every 2 day...etc?


I hit it with a string trimmer when I cut the grass...about 1x a week or two.


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## ENC_Lawn

@Shindoman Is that just small amounts of mulch in your beds...or bare dirt?

I like the "natural look of those beds".


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## Ortho-Doc

itsmejson said:


> Sorry to bring up an old thread. How do you guys handle the Bermuda that grows in the mulch bed?


Round-up does the trick just be careful around your shrubs.


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## Shindoman

ENC_Lawn said:


> @Shindoman Is that just small amounts of mulch in your beds...or bare dirt?
> 
> I like the "natural look of those beds".


I topdress the beds twice a year with about an inch of a premium garden soil
Sold in bags. 35 to 40 bags does all my beds. At $3 a bag it's so much easier than dealing with getting a load delivered by truck and having to wheel!and shovel it.


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## ENC_Lawn

Shindoman said:


> ENC_Lawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> @Shindoman Is that just small amounts of mulch in your beds...or bare dirt?
> 
> I like the "natural look of those beds".
> 
> 
> 
> I topdress the beds twice a year with about an inch of a premium garden soil
> Sold in bags. 35 to 40 bags does all my beds. At $3 a bag it's so much easier than dealing with getting a load delivered by truck and having to wheel!and shovel it.
Click to expand...

 :thumbup:


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## Mewwwda

bernstem said:


> Concrete or stone if possible, but a natural edge with the lawn higher than the garden is my preference. It does require maintenance with a bed redefiner/spade and edger (string or blade), but it isn't too bad once you get it set right. I redefine my edges every couple months and use a bladed edger about once per month.


Love the look of this. How did you do that? With just a regular edger? @bernstem

Yours looks great [email protected] what exactly do you guys do to get this look?

I mulched mine last year after I reno'd my yard and it didn't take long for the new bermuda to take over the front half of my newly defined bed.


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## White94RX

I use glyphosate (Roundup) to kill weeds in my flower/shrub beds. I'm not worried about it hurting anything since I'm spraying such a small amount, and focusing on one tiny weed or sprig of grass.


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## Keepin It Reel

rotolow said:


> I hit it with a weedeater to try and keep the runners in check. My experience is that Bermuda will go over or under anything you put in it's way given enough time.
> 
> Glyphosate the edge to ding it will also slow it down.


The only issue with this is the glyphosate absorbed tends to affect nearby grass as well leaving a larger dead spot than anticipated.


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## bernstem

@Mewwwda I set the edge in spring with a garden spade. I then maintain it with a bed redifiner every 2-4 weeks. I reel mow the grass so keep the garden side lower than the lawn. Anything that makes it past the maintained edge gets glyphosate. I have never seen any effect on the lawn from killing grass in the garden.


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## LoCutt

Ware said:


> For landscape beds I like the concrete curb edging.


I like the concrete edging, too. I prefer to use a stick edger over a string trimmer because it is much easier (for me) to control. As I've gotten older, the string trimmer head seems to dip into whatever I'm trimming against. If you're using a reel mower, you can't get up as close to edges unless you have the "L" shaped outer edge.

Make your choices based on ease of maintenance... you'll keep it that way easier and longer as you age.


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## ColeLawn

Shindoman said:


> ENC_Lawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> @Shindoman Is that just small amounts of mulch in your beds...or bare dirt?
> 
> I like the "natural look of those beds".
> 
> 
> 
> I topdress the beds twice a year with about an inch of a premium garden soil
> Sold in bags. 35 to 40 bags does all my beds. At $3 a bag it's so much easier than dealing with getting a load delivered by truck and having to wheel!and shovel it.
Click to expand...

Do you know how any cubic yards 35-40 bags of topsoil is?

Edit: To answer my own question, assuming a 0.75 cubic feet bag of top soil, it will take 36 bags of top soil to make 1 cubic yard. At $2.49/bag of Scotts Premium Top Soil, that's ~$90 to have enough soil to top dress ~1k ~1/8" thick. Definitely better than the $25/yard + $85 delivery fees I'm seeing. Now I guess the question becomes, would you recommend buying bulk screened top soil and paying the delivery fee, or will bags of Scotts work for top dressing/soil amendment?

I am going to be doing more top dressing in the fall, so to avoid having a pile of dirt in the driveway and blocking my Evo in the garage all summer, I'd prefer to buy just 1 cubic yard at this time. If I was buying 2 or more yards, bulk delivery is a no brainer.


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## Shindoman

ColeLawn said:


> Shindoman said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ENC_Lawn said:
> 
> 
> 
> @Shindoman Is that just small amounts of mulch in your beds...or bare dirt?
> 
> I like the "natural look of those beds".
> 
> 
> 
> I topdress the beds twice a year with about an inch of a premium garden soil
> Sold in bags. 35 to 40 bags does all my beds. At $3 a bag it's so much easier than dealing with getting a load delivered by truck and having to wheel!and shovel it.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Do you know how any cubic yards 35-40 bags of topsoil is?
> 
> Edit: To answer my own question, assuming a 0.75 cubic feet bag of top soil, it will take 36 bags of top soil to make 1 cubic yard. At $2.49/bag of Scotts Premium Top Soil, that's ~$90 to have enough soil to top dress ~1k ~1/8" thick. Definitely better than the $25/yard + $85 delivery fees I'm seeing. Now I guess the question becomes, would you recommend buying bulk screened top soil and paying the delivery fee, or will bags of Scotts work for top dressing/soil amendment?
> 
> I am going to be doing more top dressing in the fall, so to avoid having a pile of dirt in the driveway and blocking my Evo in the garage all summer, I'd prefer to buy just 1 cubic yard at this time. If I was buying 2 or more yards, bulk delivery is a no brainer.
Click to expand...

The Scott's Premium Top Soil here is 1 cu. ft. So 27 bags needed for a yard. 
I wait for it to go on sale after the spring rush and it's $2.99. I Find it so much easier to store and very easy to spread. Cut the bag open and walk around. No wheelbarrow, no shovel.


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## Shindoman

@ColeLawn if you are using it to topdress your lawn, be sure to get the turf blend. 50/50 soil and sand.


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## 1028mountain

I do it naturally buts it a bitch to maintain at least in my yard. I have to clean up the edges every year, then when it rains mulch runs down and clogs up the edge, moss grows on the edge and my biggest complain is to what to do with all the dirt that is left over from cleaning it up.


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## nnnnnate

I'm all about concrete edging. We paid $3.25 a linear foot to have it done and I'm real happy with it. It does a pretty good job at keeping grass out of the flower beds and makes a real nice transition in my opinion.


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## itsmejson

Shindoman said:


> @ColeLawn if you are using it to topdress your lawn, be sure to get the turf blend. 50/50 soil and sand.


Do you have a link to the blend you mentioned?


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## Shindoman

itsmejson said:


> Shindoman said:
> 
> 
> 
> @ColeLawn if you are using it to topdress your lawn, be sure to get the turf blend. 50/50 soil and sand.
> 
> 
> 
> Do you have a link to the blend you mentioned?
Click to expand...

Sorry, no link that would work for you. I'm in Canada.


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## Shindoman

itsmejson said:


> Shindoman said:
> 
> 
> 
> @ColeLawn if you are using it to topdress your lawn, be sure to get the turf blend. 50/50 soil and sand.
> 
> 
> 
> Do you have a link to the blend you mentioned?
Click to expand...

Sorry, no link that would work for you. I'm in Canada.


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## ColeLawn

Shindoman said:


> itsmejson said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Shindoman said:
> 
> 
> 
> @ColeLawn if you are using it to topdress your lawn, be sure to get the turf blend. 50/50 soil and sand.
> 
> 
> 
> Do you have a link to the blend you mentioned?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Sorry, no link that would work for you. I'm in Canada.
Click to expand...

No worries. I will keep looking. So far the only places I've seen that carry the 50/50 is bulk services. I only need ~1yard this spring so I'm not even sure if I can get a delivery in that quantity.


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## itsmejson

Shindoman said:


> itsmejson said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Shindoman said:
> 
> 
> 
> @ColeLawn if you are using it to topdress your lawn, be sure to get the turf blend. 50/50 soil and sand.
> 
> 
> 
> Do you have a link to the blend you mentioned?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Sorry, no link that would work for you. I'm in Canada.
Click to expand...

Thx no worries. What I've been doing is mixing potting soil and a bag of play sand lol. If I could get it pre made that would have been great.


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## Ngilbe36

itsmejson said:


> Thx no worries. What I've been doing is mixing potting soil and a bag of play sand lol. If I could get it pre made that would have been great.


You are topdressing 3400 sq/ft with bags of potting soil and play sand?


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## itsmejson

Ngilbe36 said:


> itsmejson said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thx no worries. What I've been doing is mixing potting soil and a bag of play sand lol. If I could get it pre made that would have been great.
> 
> 
> 
> You are topdressing 3400 sq/ft with bags of potting soil and play sand?
Click to expand...

No! Lol. I've only done that with a few bare spots.


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## Ngilbe36

itsmejson said:


> Ngilbe36 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> itsmejson said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thx no worries. What I've been doing is mixing potting soil and a bag of play sand lol. If I could get it pre made that would have been great.
> 
> 
> 
> You are topdressing 3400 sq/ft with bags of potting soil and play sand?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> No! Lol. I've only done that with a few bare spots.
Click to expand...

Thank goodness. I was going to say, you are a maniac haha


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## Grass Clippins

I love the natural cut in border look but don't like the maintenance that goes along with them. Plus my soil doesn't seem to hold an edge like others, maybe it's the clay. Last year I cut in deep edges and then added brown col-met steel edging for side wall strength. I tried to get the top of the edging about 1/4" above my soil line to keep them out of sight. Now I just string trim for maintenance. The edging itself it's too expensive but they get you when you buy the longer 12" stakes. I ended up finding that AM Leo has the best price on stakes when they run the free shipping promo. I bought the edging from Lowe's.

The picture below isn't the greatest but it's all I have saved. Had to pull back the pine straw for the photo and I have since pushed the edging down closer to the soil line. This year I'll have to pull back some of the dirt to maintain my 3.5 depth but my sidewalls are solid, which was the goal. This close up photo really shows off the poor cut quality of my string trimmer.


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## JayGo

I prefer a "live" edge myself. The concrete borders look very cool, but seems like every stone/brick border I've seen in my neck of the woods is cracked.

@itsmejson, hey man. Like in the pics above your post, if the edge you make is 3 or 4 inches deep it'll make it tough for turf to grow in. On very rare occasion, I have had a runner creep in, but it's easy to keep turf-free. Honestly, I expected more runners growing in, but that hasn't been the case.


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## itsmejson

JayGo said:


> @itsmejson, hey man. Like in the pics above your post, if the edge you make is 3 or 4 inches deep it'll make it tough for turf to grow in. On very rare occasion, I have had a runner creep in, but it's easy to keep turf-free. Honestly, I expected more runners growing in, but that hasn't been the case.


Awesome appreciate it. I set the edge a few inches yesterday and it came out pretty clean, however I need to get rid of a bunch of old mulch and dirt because it is piled up around the tree and I feel like over time it will just start to roll down and fill in the trench I made when I set the edge.


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## JayGo

Did you end up buying that edger from Home Depot after all? Or are you using something else?


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## itsmejson

JayGo said:


> Did you end up buying that edger from Home Depot after all? Or are you using something else?


I ended up picking of a small spade. And cut in the trenches. I need to put new mulch down. Hopefully those bushes come back after the snow storm lol.


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## bernstem

I like a natural spade cut edge. It is a bit of a pain to establish (though less work than stone, concrete, or plastic/metal). Once set it isn't hard to maintain with a edger and bed redefiner. It is also a great choice if you have a drum mower as you can overlap the mower into the garden and keep the HOC perfect to the lawn edge. It doesn't work nearly as well with a wheeled rotary mower since the wheels will drop into the trough and the mower will scalp the lawn.

I set the edge when establishing the bed. You need to cut it 4-6 inches deeper than the lawn and let the garden bed slope into the trough. Maintenance for me is every couple weeks with a blade edger, and monthly or so with a bed redefiner. If you keep up the maintenance you shouldn't need to reset the edge with a spade. If you neglect the edge, then you will need to reset it with a spade 1-2 times per year.


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## Mewwwda

bernstem said:


> I like a natural spade cut edge. It is a bit of a pain to establish (though less work than stone, concrete, or plastic/metal). Once set it isn't hard to maintain with a edger and bed redefiner. It is also a great choice if you have a drum mower as you can overlap the mower into the garden and keep the HOC perfect to the lawn edge. It doesn't work nearly as well with a wheeled rotary mower since the wheels will drop into the trough and the mower will scalp the lawn.
> 
> I set the edge when establishing the bed. You need to cut it 4-6 inches deeper than the lawn and let the garden bed slope into the trough. Maintenance for me is every couple weeks with a blade edger, and monthly or so with a bed redefiner. If you keep up the maintenance you shouldn't need to reset the edge with a spade. If you neglect the edge, then you will need to reset it with a spade 1-2 times per year.


That looks awesome! Really cool looking pic too


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## JayGo

@itsmejson, yeah man. That's it. Looks great! 👍🏼


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## ColeLawn

I prefer a nice natural, trenched edge, but I might give Bender Board a try this year. Plan is to install it ~0.5" below grade so I can mow right over top of it. This will be a summer/fall project.


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## CoopyHarry

nnnnnate said:


> I'm all about concrete edging. We paid $3.25 a linear foot to have it done and I'm real happy with it. It does a pretty good job at keeping grass out of the flower beds and makes a real nice transition in my opinion.


That looks great Nate !


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## itsmejson

JayGo said:


> @itsmejson, yeah man. That's it. Looks great! 👍🏼


Thank you!


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