Edgings for your paths and flowerbeds


Look at the paths and flowerbeds around your garden. Does the lawn spill over gravel or concrete? Do the flowerbeds lack shape?


If you answered yes to either of these questions, you may need to think about putting some edging down. It will give structure to your paths and flowerbeds, and apart from defining separate areas of path, lawn, flowerbeds and perhaps patio as well, it will make the garden look more attractive – but think it out carefully.


There’s a wide range, from extremely plain wood gravel boards and bamboo or log effect edgings to Victorian-style rope or pie-crust edging in stone. There are simple round top stones or more expensive Cornish slate edgings, even intricate wrought iron effect examples usually in resin. Bricks can be laid flat, or diagonally pointing upwards – as long as people are not going to trip over a jagged edge.


Use old house bricks


You can use old house bricks to edge between a path and a lawn instead of special paving bricks, as they won’t be walked on. Dig a shallow trench, lay bed of hardcore with a layer of weak concrete or mortar and lay the bricks 1cm (half an inch) lower than the lawn – so that the lawn mower does not grind on the brick surface.


Lay the bricks close together and tap down sharply with a wooden mallet. Brush with more concrete or mortar into the gaps between the bricks.


Designers will tell you about the importance of edgings not just for decorative effect but to make the areas of a garden flow from one surface to another.


Some surfaces, such as gravel, will spread if not contained. To separate gravel from grass you could use strips of fine cast metal, gravel boards of plain treated wood, or even lay a narrow run of concrete.


Simple edgings can be hidden by the material they contain. They don’t have to stand proud of the surface and it is probably safer that way, although not suitable for gravel.


Brick edging offers definition and style to a path


Steel edging comes either galvanised or epoxy-coated. It can be bent to the shape required to create an intricate design for a knot garden, for instance or a straight edge for a simple path.


If you have an old house and garden, you can find reproduction edgings in Georgian and medieval styles as well as better known Victorian pie-crust style. It may be possible to find antique edging in reclamation centres, but you may not be able to find the amount you need.


Recycled plastic edging once painted offers some flexibility


Whatever you choose, take your time to look around and see the large variety of edgings available, and think about what will match your property best.


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An upstanding edge is usually put down to keep soil in place in a flowerbed. Rope or scalloped edging is quite expensive for a long run, likewise ornate iron work, so perhaps best kept for smaller beds.


It is still possible to find old path edging at salvage and scrap yards


Flat paving stones or bricks can be laid at the edge of grass or beds, keeping the entire surface at the same level to allow plants to spread in a more natural way and not to get in the way of a lawn mower.


Choose from clay bricks, or plain stone edging, concrete or terracotta pie-crust or rope edging. Be careful not to make the garden look over fussy with lots of fancy curbs going in various directions.


The simpler the design the better, either for a large or small garden, perhaps with bricks laid lengthways, or side by side. The contrast of textures, and perhaps colours as many edgings come in different shades, will add to the interest in the garden.


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