Stone is often used in landscape edging as it creates a clear division between two separate entities. Stone can lend a Zen-like calm to your landscaping. Depending upon the rest of your landscaping, you can choose to use either precast stone or natural stone in your edging. Precast stone is usually somewhat symmetrical and neat in appearance while natural stone varies in size and shape. The downside to using stone in your edging is that it is rather expensive to implement.
Plastic is used quite often in edging simply because it is neat, inexpensive and fairly easy to implement. Generally, plastic edging is subtle and used not for its outright aesthetic value but instead to separate different elements in your landscaping. When using plastic, purchase material that is of good quality, however, as poor quality plastic edging can deteriorate over time and negatively affect your landscaping.
For those whose landscaping takes somewhat of a modern slant, metal is an ideal choice for edging material. When properly implemented, steel or aluminum edging will not only look attractive but also will literally last a lifetime. Aluminum is especially easy to install as a result of its flexibility, and the fact that it will not corrode means that your landscaping will not deteriorate no matter what climate you live in.
Brick can be very attractive when used in landscape edging and looks good next to brick homes. Since brick is easy and inexpensive to implement, it is quite commonly used in edging and in a variety of different designs. Brick is formal, stately and subtle all at once and looks nice when coupled with flowerbeds.