Garden borders and edging are used to set boundaries in the garden and keep each plot defined. Borders can also be used to keep pests out and add a finishing touch to your outdoor space.
Garden edging offers several advantages:
- it allows you to separate and highlight different areas of the garden;
- it can facilitate garden maintenance by stopping the soil in flowerbeds from spilling onto pathways;
- it can make it easier to navigate different areas of the vegetable garden.
Here are a few things to know about metal garden edging:
- it is often referred to as lawn edging as it is primarily used to border lawns;
- it is often chosen for its discreet designs;
- it is easy to install;
- it is usually treated to stand up to the elements;
- decorative metal edging is available to add a little extra something to your lawn.
Garden edging can also be made of natural materials:
- rigid wood edging comes in pre-assembled sections designed to be planted in the ground;
- flexible edging can be made of materials like willow, bamboo or rolls of semi-circular logs;
- woven wicker edging is a great option for decorating lawns, flowerbeds, paths and vegetable gardens;
- coping stones, or paving edging, can be used to keep soil in flowerbeds or borders;
- wood edging is generally heat-treated to help it stand up to humidity and insects.
Stone edging presents a few special characteristics:
- it is usually quite decorative;
- it comes in various materials such as shale or slate;
- the stones can be installed horizontally or vertically;
- it may require some basic bricklaying skills to install.
A few other materials can also be used to make up your garden borders:
- plastic edging is an inexpensive choice and easy to install. It comes in a variety of shapes and colours. In fact, some plastic edging is made to look just like stone coping.
- polyethylene edging is often used to help prevent weed growth. It can come in the form of sheets or corrugated borders.
- PVC edging can come in rolls or panels to be planted in the ground.
In summary, your choice of a garden edging or borders will depend largely on the look you're going for and your budget.
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