# Steel Landscape Edging (COL-MET)



## Ware

I'm copying this conversation over from another thread to elaborate a little. It might be a good discussion to have cataloged in this subforum.



Ware said:


> I reshaped a couple beds to make the reel mowing a little easier...
> 
> 
> 
> I'll be adding a row of shrubs in the second picture. I think I'm also going to replace some I don't care for - like the variegated boxwoods in the first picture.
> 
> Oh, the green edging in the second picture was one of the original beds. I prefer brown, so I've used it for everything I've added. Hoping where these two now join together won't be too noticeable.





tbdh20 said:


> Ware,
> 
> The landscape edging your trying reconfigure looks to be the same I'm trying to install.
> 
> Can I ask about your method... How important is the depth of installation, does it help with bermuda invasion? I'm sure cultural practice/edging is key but is gly involved?





tbdh20 said:


> I had planned on several rounds of gly after green up, before covering it up, Your experience with maintenance on going? I'll take your response privately if you have a chance.. don't want to jamb up this thread.
> 
> Thanks


I have probably installed around 200ft of the COL-MET Powder Coated Landscape Edging. I like to bury it about halfway - I prefer the low-profile look, structural integrity, and I think it helps a little with the bermuda rhizome invasion. It still happens (mostly near the edge), but it isn't widespread or unmanageable. I usually just pull it, or if I have some glypho mixed up I'll spray it and then pull it once it's dead. A spray bottle is handy for this.















To install the edging, I like to use a flat spade shovel in a rocking motion to split the ground first. To get a nice straight line I lay a piece or two of the edging down on the ground, measure off the wall/fence, and use it as a straight edge for the shovel. For the curves I just eyeball it. Once the ground is split, I hammer it in a section at a time. I used a dead blow hammer, but the face of it eventually gets shredded. It still works really well, just don't plan on having a nice looking hammer when you're finished with the job. Hammering it in is a little bit of a balancing act, and it helps to do it when the ground is soft.















It's pretty easy to cut the edging with a sharp hack saw, and I use the wide splicing stakes to dress up some joints and the ends of runs. The 12" stakes are handy if you run into some soft ground or want a little extra support.















If you can, try to always work right to left. This not only allows you situate the stake pockets on the inside of the bed, but you start the run with the top half of the jointed end above ground (no cutting necessary), then at the end of that segment you will hammer the "bottom half" of the jointed end down flush with the ground. To start the next segment, you line up the two "top half" stake pockets with the "bottom half" you just hammered into ground. Hopefully that makes sense.








For a new bed, I install the edging, glypho everything inside of it, and wait a week or two to make sure it's dead. I think that's all. Let me know if you have additional questions. :thumbup:


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## tbdh20

Thanks Ware!

With your new side yard edging, will you wait until the grass is completely awake before planting/mulching the section? My fear is dealing bermuda remnants later in the season.


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## Ware

tbdh20 said:


> Thanks Ware!
> 
> With your new side yard edging, will you wait until the grass is completely awake before planting/mulching the section? My fear is dealing bermuda remnants later in the season.


I'll probably just play it by ear. That's a south facing brick wall, so it will see full green-up first. Hoping to plant the shrubs in early April.


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## Redtenchu

Awesome, I plan to install some this year.

I enjoy the clean look this product gives!


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## gijoe4500

I've got this stuff in my backyard. Didn't bury it at all and I regret that. May get around to it.... one day.


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## Ware

gijoe4500 said:


> I've got this stuff in my backyard. Didn't bury it at all and I regret that. May get around to it.... one day.


I would wait until you get a lot of rain and the ground is really soft, then hammer it in. It will drive in easier than you think.


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## gijoe4500

Not in my yard, unfortunately. It is crazy rocky. Sometimes 1" below the soil, sometimes I get 2 or 3 inches before hitting a rock. But there is always a rock....


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## J_nick

Can you bend it into 90* corners?


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## Ware

J_nick said:


> Can you bend it into 90* corners?


No, but you can buy a corner stake:


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## southernguy311

What is the cost/foot?


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## Ware

southernguy311 said:


> What is the cost/foot?


$1.25 plus any special stakes you may need.


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## ales_gantar

So I went to a friend and a client this morning, who works with tin, to make a prototype of my edge. Edging. Obroba po naše. It is a simple strip of zync plated steel, folded, rolled and welded, to be put around a vine. I think it is going to look good. I like custom stuff. 
I will give an update once I install it. I can't speak about the cost, because we're friends, and we compensated with a cup of coffee but the thinnest plate is 0,55 mm thick and should cost no more then 3€/$ per kg/2lbs, lalala.


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## Mightyquinn

ales_gantar said:


> So I went to a friend and a client this morning, who works with tin, to make a prototype of my edge. Edging. Obroba po naše. It is a simple strip of zync plated steel, folded, rolled and welded, to be put around a vine. I think it is going to look good. I like custom stuff.
> I will give an update once I install it. I can't speak about the cost, because we're friends, and we compensated with a cup of coffee but the thinnest plate is 0,55 mm thick and should cost no more then 3€/$ per kg/2lbs, lalala.


Very Nice Ales Ganter!!! I look forward to seeing it once installed :thumbup:

A cup of coffee will buy you a lot in Slovenia


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## ales_gantar

I say coffee, but it's a friendly favour.
I took a wooden hammer, a board and hammered it in. I have no rocks on this part of the garden, so it was easy. I put some landscaping cloth on the soil inside the ring and put some temporary stones inside. I will replace them with smaller and cleaner ones. And then I leveled the surrounding soil, seeded, fertilized and watered. 🎉


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## GrassDaddy

Looks real nice!


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## ales_gantar

Thanks.
I am planing to install it around all the edges, and put sprinklers in it. Filled with pebbles around trees and mulch around shrubs. I want the shrubs to grow over the edge on the lawn, because I find it more pleasing to my eye. Not sure what the industry (landscape architects) think about it. I want to mow the lawn with my mower and only use edging devices to accent (??) or to bring all the beauty out of an edge if I want to, but not not have to use it if I lack the time. Damn my english.


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## ales_gantar

Taraaa


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## Jrich

Looking at using this metal edging but I am concerned with running the rotary scissors up against it and scratching the metal and it rusting.


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## Ware

Jrich said:


> Looking at using this metal edging but I am concerned with running the rotary scissors up against it and scratching the metal and it rusting.


It works fine with rotary scissors. :thumbup:


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## Nubeelawn

I used this all around the house . Installed myself 4yrs ago and I still have it. Unfortunately,with our freeze/thaw cycle , didn't do well(Minnesota). They are now at a 45deg and where there is slope part of the edging is above the ground .The stakes move too ,not safe if you have kids. Looking to go with concrete curbing next year.


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## Jrich

Ware said:


> Jrich said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looking at using this metal edging but I am concerned with running the rotary scissors up against it and scratching the metal and it rusting.
> 
> 
> 
> It works fine with rotary scissors. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thanks @Ware


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