It’s one of those little details that can make a big impact.
This functional yet aesthetic element can turn a relatively easy garden maintenance chore into a real pain in the buttocks and leave your garden looking ragged around the edge if poorly chosen and installed.
I’m talking about Garden Edging.
The choices are many when contemplating ‘The Great Divide’, and the best laid plans and installation are those who take into consideration : Unity with Architecture & The Environment and Ease of Long term Maintenance.
Functionally edging holds the capacity to define , divide and shape our landscaped spaces as well as prevent one area from overgrowing into another planting area.
It provides definition , assists in circulation patterning and it can set the aesthetic tone of your garden setting.
Edging comes in a wide variety of forms and this is where an informed choice comes in handy.
Commonly used edgings include, treated woods, PVC extruded plastic , bricks, pavers, metal such as steel and aluminum , concrete, stone and rills of pebbles.
Edging can also be accomplished by providing a dug trench that separates one area from another.
Several factors will inform your decision including budget, aesthetic marriage with adjacent architecture and surrounding environment, availability of materials and long term ease of maintenance.
As a landscape installer I have contributed to many good and bad edging installations over the past 30 or so years.
One of my biggest mistakes was the random sized rock and boulder edge set adjacent to grass.
The irregularly shaped rocks even when set several inches down into the ground did nothing to curb the appetite of the running rhizomous growth of the grass growing into the other side of the flower border.
Mowing and edging the edging ( ! ) was a PIA. Even after wielding a gas powered weed eater up against around and in between the crevices of the rocks there was always a bunch of wayward grass blades making the border look messy and unkept.
And the overall look of the curvaceous indigenous rock border looked pathetically ill matched up against my angular suburban home.
I finally had enough of the incessant wandering weed grass , green stained knees and the poor aesthetic marriage choice and divorced the inexpensive rock border.
It was costing me just too much in long term maintenance and laundry bleach.
It was ripped out and replaced with pressure treated wood and PVC extruded bender board and I have been a carefree happy gardener ever since.
