Garden edging ideas including lawn edging for your garden

Get some great garden edging ideas for your garden

There are many different areas within a garden where you might require garden edging ideas and there are also various types of garden and lawn edging available.

Depending on which garden edging ideas you choose will determine the type used.

Choosing the right type and design of edging for your garden is important as it will either make or break the visual effect.
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Defining edging can be understandably confusing.

For a start, a fence or a hedge could be described as garden edging. But for the purpose of this article, we are talking about your paths, walls, lawns and borders – But will that make it any easier?

Firstly, take a look at the image top left –  Is it a lawn or a path and what do we call the edging, lawn, path or border edging?

As you can see, it can be mighty confusing but simply, it matters not one jot what you call it – What’s important is your choice of edging.

For those that insist on giving it a title this simple rule applies – If you’re about to lay a path through a lawn then it is considered path edging, whereas if the path is already in place with no edging and you’re creating a new lawn area that abuts the path, then it would be, lawn edging.

The areas of the garden that normally require edging are:-

• Path edging – Path to planting bed, path to lawn
• Lawn edging – Lawn to borders, paths, patios, decking etc
• Object edging – A tree, statue or feature etc

Using Bricks for your Garden Edging

Using brick as edging can offer you multiple advantages. For example, the use of brick often creates an air of quality and permanence. You can also lay brick edging in different patterns to give your garden a different design look. Bricks also come in very many different colours, sizes, densities and texture.

Overall, the advantage of using brick edging is that the bricks will be in the main uniform in size and will not rot or perish. But it is worth considering the brick density as it is this variable that make bricks either hard or soft and soft bricks will tend to crumble and break over time and sometimes from exposure to extreme weather conditions.

The drawbacks to using bricks for your garden and lawn edging are:-

• Can be considered difficult to lay
• More preparation required
• More permanent

Using wood for Garden and Lawn Edging

Using wood for your edging always appears to be the more natural thing to do but rarely does it look good when used to edge a path or lawn.

It always looks like something the builders used for the shuttering and left behind after the construction.

It also has another downside – It rots.

In fairness, if treated properly and maintained correctly it will and should last for years.

The problem today, wood ain’t cheap and although many of you start of with good intentions, do you really want to install something that require a good deal of maintenance.

If you are going to the trouble of installing lawn edging or path edging then the other material choices are better – Just my opinion…

Now, on the other hand, if you’re thinking of an area of garden edging that is on a far bulkier scale then wood garden edging has got to be considered. I’m thinking railway sleepers or any other chunkier pieces of wood, they do look good and with a little careful preparation and a modicum of regular maintenance will last for many a year.

Using Plastic for Garden Edging

Mainly used for path and lawn edging the plastic garden edging also has some advantages.

This plastic garden edging was introduced as a substitute for wood and it’s also relatively inexpensive.

Available in different colours and comes on a roll or as separate boards.

It is readily available and there are various types of designs and styles, corrugated, flat, patterned etc.

For example, you can get coiled coloured (normally green, black or terracotta) rolled edging, inexpensive and easily installed.

The downside of using plastic is that some people find it aesthetically and environmentally unappealing and it does deteriorate over time although there are some UV stabilised plastics available (far more expensive).

Another consideration with plastic, if you do what I call mechanical gardening such as using a bladed strimmer, it is not recommended that you use plastic edging because sure as eggs is eggs, you will at some point catch it with the blades.

Using Aluminium for your Garden and Lawn Edging

Of all the edging materials mentioned, aluminium is considered by many to be the best. Why:-

• It will never rust
• It is lightweight
• It is flexible, it can be shaped in multiple design patterns

Aluminium also has the highest strength to weight ratio making it the ideal choice for a quick, strong, easy to install, easy to shape and form, virtually unbreakable, long lasting solution for most kinds of landscape edging. It’s extremely durable and fits well into most gardening situations including lawns and paths, straight or curved.

Above all make sure if doing this work yourself that you have some good garden tools.

Some great pictorial garden edging ideas from various designers

http://www.houzz.com/garden-edging

More Garden Edging Types – Google Images

Image by: http://www.houzz.com/