Edging for bed

gissa picture-befuddled

My experience of lawn trim -is that it is a pain to install and even more of a pain to keep in place and a pain when mowing

So a bit of a pain

Slates, sleepers, old floorboards to name but three.

The thin plastic lawn edging stuff is less than useful as said. We have concrete edging strips all round our grass, but they are only about 6 inches tall so ypu possibly would need something which went further into the ground.

How much lower is the new area?

We've used railway sleepers to make a mowing strip between the lawn and the beds and also as a retaining wall to get a level veggie plot.   We've used roofing beams to make reaised beds in the veggie patch.   We've used 9" high concrete "log roll" to edge paths in the woodland garden and hold back the soil and plants.

I can recommend them all as edgers but you'd need something stouter than the log rolls to retain soil so I would go for wooden beams screwed to upright posts sunk into the ground so they don't sink away to your neighbour's garden.

We used solid, seasoned wood. I have used log rolls but they do rot quite fast - unless mine were just too cheap!

why not dig a trench and place concrete slabs on there edge butting against each other . Please do not use old railway sleepers as these contain to many contaminants such creosote and diesel fuel oil  .

Derek

They also bleed on your clothes if you are tempted to sit on them. You can buy new, untreated ones, though.

My sleepers were old na dhaven't bled at all.  In fact they've dried to a silvery grey and they had black plastic on teh inside to protect them from moisture in teh soil and prevent any leaching.   The shadier ones are actually growing lichens and mosses.

I've used wooden log rolls as edgers and they do rot very quickly really.   The concrete ones are much better as long as they're supported somehow and are also growing lichens now.

I have used the paviors that you lay on drives, they don't need a deep trench, not cost too much and you can lay them long ways or narrow ways. i just sumk mine onto sharp sand

Use lengths of treated wood screwed (easier than nailing if you have a drill) to stakes (preferably oak). Stakes 2" square by 18" or two feet long depending on your soil and slope. Your lengths of wood can be simply standard fencing rails, 87mm x 37mm, which you can get in 3.6m lengths from your local woodyard or farm supplier, or you can thicker and deeper sections if you like. Fix them so that theeir tops are flush or just above the soil surface. Excuse the mixed measurements!