ouchy mama, slice and dice edging .
Nope, I'd keep roof flashing on the roof and not in the ground especially if you prefer to keep your and your friends digits intact.

Have you ever fiddled with flashing ?
That stuff is sharp as a razor blade.
If you were Edward Sissor Hands or Jack the Ripper it might be keeping in the overall theme of your garden, but if you want to keep your homeowners insurance policy I'd consider finding another alternative.

something a tad bit safer like Epic bender board or trex or something that won't slice your toes off if you happen to walk across it.

I don't know about you, but I am sort of fond of my toes and my fingers seem to come in handy too once in awhile.

If those neighbors would only teach their weeds to respect property lines. I have to unweave the neighbors creeping charlie from my pole beans on my chain link every year. arrrr... I've used scrap lumber, 1X8 usually, under the fence. It's wide enough to keep most weed roots out, and the stuff that grows over it is easy to grab and pull out. The color will blend into your mulch after a few weeks. You could use a narrow strip of landscape fabric under it too.

See, mich, the fence will keep you from stepping on it. Also, please note the part about 300 linear feet and cost constraints. What's your bender board run $-wise? And, yes, it is sharp; that's why care and heavy-duty gloves exist.

Knees, yeah, I'm trying to teach the squirrels to pull weeds for peanuts. I've about given up on getting the rabbits to eat only the weeds and not the perennials! lol Did you put the boards with the 8" side lying on the ground? I would think they'd shift around too much, and eight inches distance is not too much for a weed root to grow. I'm thinking you did it the other way 'round--sunk into the ground like edging?? It would be easier to handle than flashing, though I wonder how long before it would decompose in the ground; I don't want to use treated lumber.

sounds like you already had your mind made up.

What is your concern regarding treated lumber? They have recently changed the solution used for treated lumber such that they claim it is now safe for garden use. I believe it sold as AC2 treated lumber.

Jerger

mich..., Not at all; I'm also considering untreated lumber and the evil black edging (contractor depth). You're right that flashing would be a b***h to work with. However, your reply didn't take into account my perspective and values. You pointed out why you wouldn't use flashing (with some of your objections not relevant to my application) and didn't offer any viable alternatives.

jerger, yes, and they claimed the old stuff was safe also. I'm not saying that the new stuff is and I'm not saying it isn't. I just prefer not to use chemically treated lumber, or get into it's "safety"--at least, until I get more desperate for a solution.

Trex makes composite decking, but have just introduced a landscape edging product. I haven't used it, but it looks promising to me. It looks like a wood product, but it won't rot out like wood. It is also flexible. I don't know price.

Trex landscape edging

Jerger

''You pointed out why you wouldn't use flashing (with some of your objections not relevant to my application) and didn't offer any viable alternatives. '

Please reread

something a tad bit safer like Epic bender board or trex or something that won't slice your toes off if you happen to walk across it.

As far as economics goes , generally I but a high value on safety , common sense, quality and longetivy when choosing the right product for the right job.
It keeps me employed and allows me to use all ten of my fingers and toes.

Roof flashing is none of the above.

if you are worried about treated lumber, i hope your entire house is metal, cause much of the lumber in there will be treated.

i take it that chemicals are totally out of the question?

if you do decide to use flashing, bend the top edge down and beat it flat with a hammer. it will take more time to prep, but will result in less chance of a cut! i am not sure how it would look though, probably would be horrible looking in my opinion, but you may like it. you could always try it on a short run to see before you go to the expense and effort of putting up 300 ft of it.

This is another chemical solution but what about a few applications of roundup during your growing season on a calm day and even easier if your neighbor will let you do it from their side. It is the only practical solution I have for a large fenced property I do that is surrounded by former pasture land. Saves on machine edging too.

ilima

jerger, I'll check into the cost, but I expect it is too expensive. It looks similar to something my favorite renegade gardener reviewed that runs about $1.50 per foot. Now, that's an "ouch".

mich..., whatever, honey

david..., actually, I believe house construction, at least in this part of the country, uses untreated lumber. If you can provide me with credible sources showing otherwise, I would be glad to correct my understanding.

ilima, thank you for your suggestion. I have plants growing near the fence as well as vines growing on it. Even without that, I would prefer a non-chemical solution.

Treated lumber is used in housing in this area, though not throughout. After your basement walls are poured, treated lumber is placed along the top edge of the concrete walls before the trusses and walls are built above them. I believe it is also used in a couple other areas, but it is not used extensively throughout the house.

i did not mean to hijack this, i was just informing you that lumber used in construction is treated, not the majority of it but a good bit. some houses may not have any treated lumber, it all depends on the design and the elements to which the wood will be exposed.

also, what about roofing felt instead of flashing? you could wire it to the fence fairly easily and no worries about getting cut. since the rols are about 3 ft wide, you could cut each roll in halve to double the length they would cover. plus, it is black and therefore would probably look better than shiny metal, it may even go unnoticed. the drawback is that it may have to be replaced every few years.

Old pallets tied together with shoestrings with a dab of honey for some additional organic glue sounds about right for this project.

My husband offered to spread some weed n' feed on neighbor's lawn that adjoined my veggie garden. Neighbor was elderly, couldn't do as much yard work, so gladly agreed. End of problem. Adios creeping Charlie!!

(Well, not completely, as Charlie has managed to hang in in other places, but, the point being, perhaps friendly chats with neighbor could allow you to do a little 'maintenance' on neighbor's side, eliminating the need for the edging. Sharing some divisions of perennials, making a sheet compost bed to plant them in, perhaps might be another method to solve the problem. Of course, it helps to be on speaking terms with the neighbors. Hopefully you are ;-)

Back to lurking,
Jean

update: none of the local dealers I contacted will deal in residential-sized orders. It was probably pricier than I can go, anyway.

I've never tried it and never seen it done (so perhaps there's a good reason....) but I've wondered what it would be like to dig a 8" deep, fairly narrow trench and pour in concrete for a permanent edging. Would it just crack? Or would a future generation of gardeners curse you? My neighbor would probably decorate the whole 300 feet with little pebbles, but I probably wouldn't....

The Trex garden edging product looks great!! Thanks for the link.

Rhoda

They do make a plastic flashing for ledger boards you connect to your house, when building a deck. Couldn't you put the one edge under the chain link fence into the ground and the other edge standing up on your trimmed side onto the fence?????? Worth a thought anyway and now that I'm thinking of it I just may do that on the chainlink in my neighbors yard that they never weed.

A poster in an earlier thread on this topic mentions the use of Trex decking boards instead of the product Trex sells as edging as an less expensive but similar alternative.

I don't know how the cost would compare, but I once knew of someone who used ordinary galvanized sheetmetal strips, hemmed on the top edge in a sheetmetal shop and bent at 90 degrees on the bottom edge used as homemade edging, buried flush with the lawn.

Hi Leaveswave,
I know this is an old post so I don't know if anyone is looking anymore. I was considering the very same Idea. Please see my post on the gardening with stone forum from 9/6 titled "do you think this will work", which will more fully discribe my problem. First let me say that within a day of posting I got the very same reply as you reguarding it being dangerous. However the person that answered me was very nice, kind and helpful and they gave me a link to all the old edging posts which is how I found you. Mitch, please remember that we are here to help each other. I felt kinda bad too when what I thought what might actually be a solution was shot down, but and least my person was kind and constructive, I can only imagine how Leaves felt when they read your post. Back on subject; I don't think that people that design edging or suggest conventional edging have ever delt with quack grass. It just loves anything that simply lays on the ground and laughs at anything that is less than 6" deep or has cracks in it. Landscape fabric makes the problem worse as it loves to lie under it and then come through causing you to have to remove everything and start over. I have used the trenching method too, but with that you have to be diligent which I am not always and once it gets into the roots of the perenials, again, you have to rip out everything. I'm looking for something deeper and reasonably inexpensive. I realize that it will be a little difficult to install (my idea was to use a straight edge shovel and mallet) but I don't want to have to move all the rocks and plants again soon. I also thought about the sharp edge. I only plan to leave it showing less than and inch and then cover with mulch. I also considered cutting and old soaker hose lengthwise to cover the edge (part of my question was asking if anyone had any good ideas how to keep it on). But after reading all of the edging posts I also found the idea about bending the top edge down, or even curling it on the top. I realize this may not be easy. I know roofers have those big machines that they use to make a sharp bend. Maybe a person could find someone with a maching shop to do it. Thought, most highschools probably have them. I'm not sure how a person would make a curled edge, but I may talk to a roofer I know about it. Any ideas anyone has on the subject would be appreciated and leaves if you could e-mail any replys (or a heads up to check the post) to me I would appreciate it since they won't be sent to me like they would if it were my post.
Thanks,
Catrina

There are several root barrier products available. Do a search for "root barrier" rather than edging and see if you find what you need. Deep Root and Centurion are a couple of manufacturers that I can think of off the top of my head.

Edging is designed to be easy to install and to be effective to keep separate two unlike materials. In many cases the 5-6" height that much of it comes in is effective. I would not go as far to say that the people who design the stuff don't understand its effectiveness. I think they understand that and balance it with the other criteria of ease of installation and affordability. A lot of the poly products have a wide rounded top to keep things from creeping over if they are set high enough. A couple of better poly edging manufacturers are Oly-Ola and Edge King. I don't like the look of any of these products, but along a fence line is a whole other place than between a lawn and garden at the front of the house.