Using Edgings In Your Garden
Lee Dobbins

You’ve planted the flowers, put in the shrubs and even added a
bird bath and a few garden decorations, but what’s missing?
Could it be the edging?

Almost as important as the flowers, the edging is like the
frame to your garden. The picture can be interesting and
beautiful, but it needs a frame to really enhance its
appearance. Just like a picture, your garden needs it’s frame
to really bring out the beauty of your living “work of art”.

There are many different types of edgings and you must plan
which one will look best in your garden. One popular type of
edging is to use a low brick or rock wall, cemented together
with mortar. This will create a beautiful and permanent edge to
your garden. Of course, not everyone has the means, money or
desire to do this.

Another lovely way of edging is to simply place bricks around
the borders of your garden. You can put them in a line, stacked
in a double row, set on their edges or tip them diagonally and
lean them against each other.

In a similar fashion, you can use large rocks to edge your
garden. Use rocks that are big enough to make an impact, but
ones that you can easily carry and move yourself. You can
gather the rocks from fields, the woods or friends yards for
free!

In your garden supply store, you will find many manufactured
edgings to suite any style of garden. Miniature fences, fake
rocks, plastic, metal – you name it, they have it. I prefer a
more natural type edging, but if you must buy one of these,
choose a good quality product and not something that looks
cheap and will only last for 1 season.

You can always create a living edging by using a border plant.
Some great border plants include
alpine phlox which is suitable for most climates and can be
divided and planted again and again, gazanias, pansies,
petunias and violas.

If you pick perennial plants, like the alpine phlox or gazania,
then you can divide them and propagate them throughout the
border. This will help reduce costs as you won’t have to keep
buying new plants, but will take longer to establish a full
border.

For large gardens, comfrey can make a good border. It has thick
growth and will prevent grasses from encroaching on the garden.
Also, you can use the leaves for mulch around y our other
plants. When blooming, the tiny flowers will add interest to
your border. Keep in mind, however, that comfrey is not
suitable for small gardens as it can easily overwhelm the other
plants.

One of my favorite ways to edge a garden is to use an herb
border. Even strawberries can be used as a border and their
bright flowers and lush fruits will add quite a bit of interest
to any garden. When preparing meals, simply step out in to the
garden and cut some fresh herbs each evening!

Perhaps the simplest form of edging is to take a shovel and
bevel and edge all around the garden. The can be a nice subtle
way to break up the line between garden and grass. You can rent
a gas powered edging tool if shoveling by hand seems like too
much work. This type of edging will need to be redone each
year.

No matter what option you choose, your gardens will take on
another dimension with it’s framed edging.

About The Author: Lee Dobbins writes for
http://www.backyard-garden-and-patio.com  where you can learn
more about gardens.


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