Edging is a quintessential element of a well-designed landscape. Most outdoor spaces consist of areas that serve different purposes, such as a patio, lawn, lounging area, and garden; landscape edging helps section off these spaces with a unifying design. Edging can be multipurpose, serving both functional and aesthetic goals, including; enclosing plant beds or filling in gaps around your garden.
Table of Contents
Types of Edging Materials
Brick
A long-lasting material that comes in a variety of styles and achieves a uniform look.
Plastic or Composite
Durable and flexible material but comes in many grades, which affect the quality.
Concrete
It comes available in sections of concrete edging ready to be set in place, or you can make your concrete forms to make a custom design.
Wood
Great for edging designs with straight lines and gives off a more organic look. Good quality doesn’t’ come cheap but is known to last over 10 years.
Stone
The most versatile edging material can be set in mortar for a permanent and refined look or impermanently placed for later adjustment.
Wattle
Edging technique that involves weaving pliable wood best for holding back mulch.
The following edging ideas are sure to present various ways to accentuate your garden, from rustic wood to ornate stones.
9 Modern Garden Edging Ideas
1. Plates and Glass Bottles
All sizes and designs of crockery come into play in this garden edging design. Incorporate the decorous features of fine china or the crystalline quality of wine bottles for a constructivist look. This edging idea is a great way to recycle glass and porcelain, all the while giving your garden a bit of character through a personalized selection of glassware. You can use plates to section off your plants from your lawn or create a border of wine bottles to make space for a mulch pathway.
2. Wooden Planks
This design features wooden panels arranged in a pattern that edges the lawn, whilst creating a raised bed for ornamental plants. The selection of the wood is notable as it brings a rustic element to the layout with its marked texture and slight discoloration. You can trade in the rustic look for a more polished texture and saturated color as modeled by redwood panels. This type of garden edging also requires a bit of lawn shaping to accommodate the placement of wood. Overall, the wooden planks offer a subtle transition between various features in a garden.
3. Contrasting Tiles
Tiles are a timeless design tool. They come in so many sizes, designs, and finishes; the composition possibilities seem endless! This layout features a patio whose paving acts as edging. Notice the smaller tiles that act as the edging between the lawn, flower bed, and larger tiles of the patio; they act as a unifying divider between the three sections. While the choice of tile is tamer, you can adjust the design by using more decorative tiles with a polished finish or more textured stone tiles with a dusty finish.
4. Light It Up
Illuminate your garden with this brilliant edging idea. The fluorescent rope lighting just glows with modernity as it curves with the border of the lawn. Rope lights and LED strips are incredibly versatile and great options for outdoor lighting. These lights are encased in a thick, transparent round plastic tube that is flexible, durable, and heat-resistant. They are also water-resistant, so you can water your garden with them on or around your garden.
Lighting can create ambiance, and some LED light strips come with the option of changing colors, so you can go for bright colors for a fun atmosphere or warmer colors for a relaxed mood. When setting up lighting, you can install them with cable clips which you can nail or you can use hot glue to attach them to a variety of materials such as glass, brick, concrete, or wood.
5. Raised Garden Beds
Use raised beds to edge your garden and add visual interest to your layout. These raised garden beds are framed with composite wood, which encloses sprawling vegetation. The featured gardens have an assortment of vegetables and flowers growing on obelisk trellises and support beams, which give the beds a semblance of uniformity. Another significant aspect of this edging design is that you can choose what plants your raised bed will grow; you can go for an arid theme and grow succulents and cacti or dedicate the beds to colorful hydrangeas for a cheerful, spring-time look.
6. Go Boulder
When it comes to edging with boulders, a good rule of thumb is to go big. Although these large masses of rock may be intimidating to work with, they offer a natural feel to your landscape. Their neutral tone can balance out the saturated greens of a garden and add more interest to the composition of the layout. When incorporating boulders, be sure to group them on gravel so that they hold their position. Not only can boulders edge your garden, but they can also act as a retaining wall for other plants and look great on a sloped landscape.
7. Edging With Hedges
Hedges are a classic plant and a canvas for horticultural creativity. These bundles of closely growing shrubs come in many sizes and leaf patterns and can be pruned to add visual interest to a garden. Edge your garden with an assortment of boxwood shrubs, purple sage hedges, and fuzzy dogwood plants for a rich compilation of color and texture.
8. Edge With Perennials and Annuals
Perennials refer to plants that bloom for one season each year; either summer, fall, or spring. If they are grown in favorable conditions, they can live for a long time and are hardy plants. Annuals are short-lived plants that germinate, flower, set seeds, and die in one season with the ultimate goal of reproducing themselves. As they move forward toward their goal of setting seeds, gardeners can enjoy their profuse flowering.
Garden edging is one way to use these plants to your advantage. By growing a border of perennials or annuals, you can enjoy their full or seasonal blooms bringing color to your garden. In the featured layout, bright impatiens bear red, pink, and white flowers that decorate the perimeter of the lawn and curve along with the walkway, creating an almost fantasy-like feel.
9. Gravel and Stepping Stones
This edging idea is full of natural and rustic elements and is so simple to achieve. The featured lawn is bordered by small slate stones, which are followed by sandy gravel stones. In between the gravel are slate stepping stones, which complete the naturalistic look of the pathway. The addition of small rocks placed around the edging in between plants plays further into the natural theme.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does wood and stone look good together?
Yes, wood and stone look good together in a modern home but only if they’re paired evenly. Too much wood and too little stone will take away the aesthetic stone can bring to your garden. If you’d like to pair wood and stone together, we suggest using wooden stakes and stone to create a rustic, more cottage-like look.
2. Are there other alternatives to lighting up your garden edges?
Yes, absolutely! How about glow-in-the-dark garden edging? They’re perfect for gardens that receive a good amount of sunlight as UV rays from the sun can charge them up for them to glow in the night. Keep in mind, though, glow-in-the-dark products with zinc will glow up to 30 minutes whereas those with strontium aluminate will glow for 12 hours!
3. How to bring a boulder into the garden?
Boulders for garden edging come in many sizes, but it weighs 50 pounds to 250+ pounds! If this is your first time adding boulders to your garden, start with ones that weigh between 50 and 100 pounds. Anything above that requires professional landscaping services.
4. Where to find free rocks for your garden?
You can visit construction sites or help around on someone’s farm to collect small, medium, and big rocks. You can even try speaking to a road construction crew to see if they’ll be okay with you collecting some rocks for your garden. If you strike a deal with road construction crews, remember to stay out of their way and stay a safe distance away from the job site. Distracting them could be a safety hazard for you and them. Be responsible!
In Summary
Edging is an integral part of having a balanced outdoor space. You wouldn’t want your plant beds clashing with your seating area or your lawn growing into your pathway. Hopefully, with these ideas, you can design your garden according to your taste, style, and preference!
