i think annz has a great idea and the photo is perfect. It sounds like you are trying to plant right up to the edge of your concrete. Give the beds some breathing room at the edges. You would have a little maintenance to kind of rebalance the depth from time to time, but maybe only once a year. Also many other types of mulch stay put better and still break down reasonably quickly if you like it to enrich the soil yearly.

Another option, depending on what your beds are actually like, is to use an evergreen edging plant which helps contain soil and mulch. Here we would use something like liriope, dwarf mondo grass, lambs' ears.

I have to admit that I have not had huge problems keeping the edge around my concrete walks reasonably neat looking with any thing more than an occasional sweeping (though they seldom look as nice as the picture by annz, and I don't have a lot of concrete walk).

I believe that you can achieve very similar results to bend-a-board using some of the composite woods like Trex. At one point there was a thread around here with illustrations of how to install Trex. I think that the company markets a product that is specifically designed to be used as edging, but it is likely you will have the same issue finding that product in stock.

- Brent

I have the same situation with a flower bed (ground level, not mounded) that runs along one side of my concrete driveway. What I did was put 6-8" fieldstones along the edge of the bed and it's done a great job of keeping the mulch in the bed and off the driveway. The stones sit just above the concrete, but you can make the border depth whatever you like. If you go to the quarry and pick the stones yourself, you can pick rocks with colors that compliment your house.

Well, I guess the bulbs are more shallow than they should be - I'm not sure. I replanted a lot of my daffs last year, because I consolidated them into only two beds, and I guess those are about 4 - 6" below. The hyacinths and tete-a-tets in the one bed were inherited from the previous owner. I just planted on hyacinth about 4 inches because it had come uncovered. I'm afraid to plant too deep, and since I don't till, I don't worry about them being too shallow accept for washing up to the surface. Also, my beds are pathetically mulched. One bed had less than an inch of mulch, and the other has maybe a good two inches total. I know it's supposed to be deeper, and there is my problem - the only way to go deeper is to greatly mound and build up the bed. I suppose that's the look the previous homeowner wanted, it's very popular - maybe it's good for drainage or something. I removed all the original hardwood bark mulch that used to be used because I was unhappy with it. Now I'm using the organic-compost type mulch which retains a nicer color, and breaks down adding nutrients to my soil quicker than bark mulch, and it's finer - like large particles of dirt really. I like the look, it's softer. When I removed the bark mulch, the beds had dirt up to about an inch below the cement. So I either mulch skimpy, remove some dirt, or try to put in some kind of edging. I really appreciate everyone's efforts to assist me. As of right now I'm leaning towards the flagstone or a similar approach. I think large flagstones may be too big, but I can probably find smaller flat or not-so-thick stones in a shape that is pleasing and use them around the edge of the beds placed on top to hold the mulch. I know that I could sweep, but I'd be sweeping at least several time a week, and I'm just not going to do that much maintenance - even though sweeping is easy and not hard work.
Thanks again
Sherri

I have the same problem. My front porch concrete slab is about 2 inches higher than the front concrete walk. There is a strip of about 2 feet of soil between the porch and the walk. For many years it had some junipers growing there, so the low soil level was not a problem. Finally took out the old junipers (they had gotten old and ugly), and the resulting soil bed washes out onto the walk. I have been looking for something that would edge the walk, build up the height, and yet not take up too much of the 2 feet of planting area. It has to be attractive, as this is my front door. I was in the local big box home improvemnt store (you know the one I mean)last week. They were getting in shipments of stone items for the spring. One really caught my eye. It is a man made flat stone with all edges smooth except for one edge that is rough. The shape is rectangular, and the stone is only about 1.5 inches thick. This stone is designed for stacking to make a retaining wall. I am going to make a narrow trench along the concret walk, level sand into the trench. Then I will place these stones with the rough edge up at a height that will make it level with the opposite concrete porch slab. I plan to then use metel edging along the inside of the stones to help keep them in place. The edging will be low enough to be barely seen, or at the soil level. I think the edging is going to be important to keep things from moving around in the future. This will give me a smooth edge of stone exposed from the walk. This is good for sweeping and snow removal. The top has a rough look that I like. The stones are thin enough that I am not giving up much planting area.

Go to the home improvement store and look at the options. Look at all items, as you may find something that is designed for another use that will work for you. They also have precast edgers that are okay.

I will not do my project until next month, but will let you know how it comes out.

D

I use the fiberedge as edging in my yard... its dark green and blends in pretty nicely with my grass. Of course yours wouldn't be near grass so that might not be what you want. One thing I wanted to point out is that your concrete may not be flush under ground level. What I mean by this is often when they pour the concrete, they set up the boards to make a nice smooth edge, but underneath where the board was, the concrete seeps out about an inch or so further than the smooth edge. I hope this is making sense. My only concern with putting a edging right next to the concrete would be, can you get the edging sunk down into the ground flush against the concrete in the first place?

Courtskey makes a very valid point. It is not unusual for the concrete to have oozed under the forms. I plan to have some problem with this. In the past I have used a brick chisel and been able to remove the excess concrete as long as the problem is not too severe. I will also be facing some sprinkler pipes, but I think they are deep enough to not be a pproblem. I will know more when I start digging!!

D