SiLOSSiLOS

The line that finishes a bed

About this photo
‹ Back
half-moon edger
1

1The free version: a spade cut

Cut a small cliff between bed and lawn with a sharp spade, about four inches deep and wide, and lift the sod or soil away. It costs nothing but an afternoon, and it looks genuinely good — but it drifts closed and needs re-cutting once or twice a season.

2

2The buy-it-once version: metal

Steel and aluminum edging is the longest-lasting material available, holding a line for decades once it's pinned in. It costs more up front and it's less forgiving of curves than a spade cut, but you only do it once.

3

3The middle ground: brick, stone, wood

Solid materials set into the spade-cut trench (brick on edge, cut stone, timber) hold the line without a re-cut, and double as a mow strip if you set them flush with the lawn so a mower wheel can ride on top of them instead of trimming by hand.

4

4A raised frame is a different answer to the same question

Framing the whole bed up as a raised bed solves the edge and the soil at once: better drainage, warms up earlier in spring, and no line to maintain because the frame is the line. It's a bigger first project than a spade cut.

Explore this area
HomeHouseGardenFarm