Landscape Maintenance - Edging
About Edging
Introduction
We all aim to have aesthetically pleasing landscapes and continually work to keep them that way. One popular way to embellish your landscape is by using edgings. Edging plays the role of separating lawn from flower beds or other landscape spaces to give a neat, clear definition to your garden space while at the same time adding a nice decorative touch. On the practical side, edgings create a barrier to help keep soil and mulch in the flowerbeds and grass and weeds out.
Applying edging to your landscape results in far less maintenance, labor and spending. It is the only way to assure permanent separation between lawn and flowerbeds with no need for continual reshaping of your landscape design. Repetitive spading of the bed edge by hand or power edges, trimming, and weeding will all become history and at little cost.
From an aesthetic point of view, edging creates fine clean lines in your landscape that give clarity and can create contrast to make your flowers and shrubs stand out, all the more to add value to your home or business. Edging can be adapted to straight or curved areas, whichever the case you can benefit from a cleaner trimming and mowing line.
Edging Materials
There is plenty of choice when it comes to edging materials but it depends on how much time and money you are willing to spend as well as the overall look you would like to have. The following are some edging material options you can choose from:
Wood
For a natural earthy look you can choose from cedar, cypress and redwood which are all rot resistant. If these are too costly then opt for pressure-treated lumber. Landscape timbers and railroad ties are also popular, durable, and inexpensive. The drawback with using wood edging is that it does not work too well with curves. Metal
Metal edging is used mostly by professionals and gives off a commercial appearance. Metal edging may cost more but it practically lasts forever. It is easy to work with and can be bought painted or unpainted depending on your preference. It is advisable to get painted metal edging to help prolong the onset of rust
Plastic
Although plastic edging may not be aesthetically pleasing, it is affordable, simple to install, and can last for decades. Because plastic edging is malleable it is available in rolls and can be used for curved lines in your landscape area. Brick, Cement and Stone
These edging materials may give a more formal appearance and definitely make a powerful statement in your landscape. You can try fieldstone, but the stones need to be mortared together otherwise spreading turf grasses will make their way through the corners and cracks.
Also available are the already made cement borders which come in a number of different colors, shapes, styles, and sizes. If these still don’t work for you, then your next best option are interlocking pavers. This type of edging fits into each other like a jigsaw puzzle eradicating the need for mortar to create a tight fit.
