DIY Garden Bed Edging Ideas

Everyone with green thumbs will tell how therapeutic and enjoyable gardening is. Some will also tell you that it is an absolute stress buster. People get 'garden proud' when they have the perfect rose in bloom or the tress bares the ripest fruit. But taking care of a garden is not easy; it requires a lot of patience and work.

One of the most important factors about gardening is taking care of each and every plant and flower. Other than pesticides, manual garden edging is a must. Think of garden edging like marking a permanent border but only this border is more beneficial than the international ones everyone keeps fighting about! It segregates the flower or herb garden from the lawn or other parts of the garden. There are many ways by which you can form a garden edge. The simplest way is to line up bricks and stones without cementing it to the ground. Another way is to construct a low lining wall. You can also opt for plastic or metal edging that is easy to install and maintain. You also have the option of using a natural garden edge that includes flowers and plants that bloom all year long. You can also choose plants that grow closer to the ground that have a fast growth rate. Concrete garden edging is also a great option. They may be a little expensive but offer more wear and tear than plastic and wooden edging. It is a long term solution and is extremely easy to install. You can make it a DIY project or hire a good contractor to get the job done which is recommended for a better effect. Other benefits of garden edging include:

o It acts as a great root barrier and minimizes the harmful effects of weeds on the flowers and plants that try to gazump the flower space.

o It makes it easy to trim edges and helps in mulch retention.

What's great about a garden edge is that it helps in creating mower's tracks and makes mowing the lawn easier and faster. Bedding material is not cheap, garden edging prevents erosion and preserve the material in the garden. If you are looking to sell your property garden edging will improve the appearance of the property and increase its value as well. Garden edging is available in many different colours and styles. It does a great job of making your garden more appealing and framing it like a beautiful painting.

You have decided to put in a new garden bed over in that section of the yard near the patio, and are not sure of the best way to go about it. What do you do with the grass that is already there? How big should you make it? Will you need to edge it? What about adding soil? Lots of questions! Let's look at this in steps:

Planning the bed: First of all, decide exactly where you want to locate the new planting bed. If it is adjoining a wall, fence or patio, like a border, it should not be any narrower than 40 inches or it will not hold the mature plants. If it is to be an 'island', then give it some good dimension, suited to the yard space you have to work with. Go with one that is at least 10 feet in diameter.
Locating the bed: Mark the exact dimensions of the new bed on the ground or grass. The simplest way to do this is to get a can of marking paint from the hardware store and spray-mark the edges. These cans work when you invert them and are really easy to use. You may have heard people say to lay down a warm garden hose around the dimensions, but you'll find the hose tends to want to go its own way. Believe me, I have tried it, and it's a pain.
Now, you need to get rid of the grass. You don't want it coming up through the soil, and it will if you just put soil on top of it. There are two ways to do this, and you can take your pick. The easiest way is to spray it -- carefully -- with Roundup, and then just let that sit on the grass and do its dirty work over the next 3 days, and pray for no rainfall. It takes that much time for the chemical to be absorbed into the system of the grass. Now you can cut away just the edge turf so you have a clean edge about a foot wide.