Do it Yourself Lawn Edging Ideas

Trench

• The most basic lawn edging is simply a trench in the dirt a few inches deep and a few inches wide. Installation takes nothing more than a shovel and a few hours. The trench provides separation between your lawn and other landscape elements, like flower beds, helping to keep your grass and weeds out of other areas. The trench is also used in conjunction with most other forms of edging.

Formed Stones

• Formed stones include either be bricks or preformed concrete blocks. These bricks are installed in a shallow trench around the segregated area. The bricks are available at most home and garden stores and come in a variety of styles. This type of edging is extremely easy to install and maintain, and can be very attractive.

Plastic Edging

• Plastic edging is one of the few edging options that doesn't require a trench, saving a lot of time on the installation process. The plastic comes in either long rolls or short plastic pieces. To install the edging, just drive the plastic a few inches into the ground. Since the plastic extends a few inches above and below the ground, it is effective at keeping weeds and grasses out of flower beds.

Poured Concrete

• When concrete blocks don't quite create the right look, a long stretch of poured concrete may be preferred. Poured concrete can conform to just about any edge, regardless of how many twists, turns and sharp corners it has. Once a trench is in the ground, you can either pour the concrete into a wood frame and left to set, or use a special machine to form the wet concrete into the shape of one long block. As do-it-yourself tasks go, this is on the more complicated end of the spectrum, but it can be done.

Flagstone

• Small pieces of flagstone provide a natural-looking barrier for any lawn. The stone can go inside of a trench or simply on top of the grass, making the installation of the edging a simple process. Stack the flagstone two to three stones high and mix up the size and shape of the stones to give the edge a more natural look.

Wood

• Wood edging comes in one of two forms, either as long horizontal boards or as numerous short posts installed into the ground. Both types of wood fences get installed into a trench, with the horizontal boards being much easier to install from there. Wood adds a rustic look to the lawn and is exceptional as a way to edge the lawn around paths.

Plants

• A long row of plants can be a beautiful way to edge a lawn. The plants should be short, like alyssum or veronica, and have a distinctive look from the rest of the lawn or flower bed. Plants are simple to install and provide a soft edge to a lawn, instead of the hard edge of most of the other edging options.