What about using one of the plastic edging materials readily available at big box stores? I generally don't recommend this stuff because I think it's pretty ugly, but if you put it on the inside of your low stone edge, the stones would completely hide it. It's pretty cheap, and it's easy to install.

Here is a link that might be useful: Edging

I was thinking of something along the same lines as carrieb. I would put the barrier on the inside of the wall - sounds like you want to put it on the outside? Wouldn't that take away from the look of the wall, or am I misunderstanding?

Do you have any photos of your little walls? I'd love to see one. They sound nice.

Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: pound-in edging

Every house in my neighborhoods has these! I was actually trying to think of something I could do without being like them. I guess I could just use a different type of stone. I would just put down the edger. Lowes has it in big rolls. It does the job. I wouldn't say it's ugly. Anything looks worse than a flower bed with bermuda grass creeping into it. Those rolls of black stuff do keep that from happening. They also go about 4 inches deeo like you wanted.

why would the god awful plastic edging stop grass.. in this application.. when it doesnt work in any other application..

i am not sure 4 inches is enough depth ... to stop grass ...

i am still ruminating on this.. i have no answer ..

but i would sure like to see some pix of what you have done.. perhaps that would help in finding a solution ..

have you tried the landscape forum????

ken

Great suggestions/ideas. Thanks!

If I do use the plastic edging, I would put it down just under the outside edge of the stone wall so that you wouldn't see it and it would (hopefully) stop the flow of grass from going under the wall. And, I think it would work really well as my grass isn't aggressive enough to spread under a 4 inch deep barrier.

At first, I was thinking that the grass might make it's way through the crack between where the very top of the plastic edging meets the bottom of the stone wall, but now I'm thinking that I could make that connection pretty tight. I like that even better than the flexible rubber liner-like material. Cool!

I've worked with that type of plastic edging before so I'm very familiar with it. I find it kind of frustrating to work with, as it has a tendency to behave kind-of like one of those "Whack a Mole" games during installation. When you push down in one area other areas pop up and so on, until it's all solidly in the ground. But, it's definitely a great suggestion and worth a shot.

The reason why I would install it underneath the outside edge of the wall and not underneath the inside edge of the wall is that I tend to use the more irregular-shaped stones on the lower layers and I place them so that the outer edge is smooth and regular while the inside edge tends to be rather irregular and no one really sees that inside edge. Then the "cap stones" or top layer is fitted kind of like a puzzle so that both the outer edge and inner edge are smooth and regular and each "cap stone" piece is close to perfectly fitted to its neighboring pieces.

Reason why I posted on the perennial forum is that I find you'all to be much more responsive to these types of questions.

Thanks again!

Hi, Steve

I usually lurk but hubby and I are going through this ourselves right now and here is what we're doing. We ordered 2 rolls of Terrace Board from Amazon, though we'll probably need more. It is 5 inches wide and made of a plastic composite, a little less than $20 for 40 feet. We'll be installing it at the very edge of the bed then using rocks to make it pretty.

The stuff got good reviews and even some helpful hints in the comments about anchoring it. If you get 2 at a time, you qualify for free shipping - definitely a plus.

Hope this helps!
KCC

Here is a link that might be useful: Terrace Board at Amazon

Since DH doesn't like a cut edge (my preference) due to the mower wheels falling in, I use molded edging in conjunction with a band of brick just inside the edging to delineate my beds. I usually use the black plastic as that is what has been available to me locally. Last year I saw the Terrace board and decided to try it since I thought the brown color would look better in an area that currently doesn't have thick grass. I found it stiffer to work with, and since it doesn't have the molded-in ridges that the black plastic has, it tends to try to pop out of my sandy loam soil, a problem I've never had with the black plastic. So I've gone back to the black plastic which I find isn't visible where there is a regular lawn and is so much easier to work with. With either type I lay the edging out in a hot sun for a couple of hours before I start work to relax it a bit and make it easier to move into the configuration I want.

The black stuff with the edge does work. It keeps the bermuda grass out. It is barely visible. I see nothing wrong with it. It is easily hidden by your rocks too.

I agree, that's what I do, bury ugly plastic edging and top with bricks, logs, timbers, anything solid. I think it also helps to bury the plastic at a slight angle away from the bed, toward the lawn. Most rocks (roundish ones) just don't make a good barrier without mortar filling the holes, even when I tried it when I had "nice grass" (non-rhizomatous) in OH. Cute but unfortunately impractical. Flat rocks are a lot better, but it's still hard to get them flush against each other to avoid the little cracks that grass can sneak through. Finding an edging that works depends on your level of vigilance. IMO, the more work you put in up front, the less difficult it is to maintain.

Some folks use cushion like perennials like Alchemilla, tallish Geranium or Nepeta along the edges which lean over and smother the grass underneath. It works with regular European lawn with Lolium and Poa grasses.
Then you do not have a really exact edge but a line the grass can`t cross.

Just another strategy,

bye, Lin

dig a foundation footing , fill with a 6:1 mix of sand to cement and lay the first layer of top of the wet concrete - Pond liner (butyl rubber) will work a bit but grass will creep underneath for a surprisingly long way. You need to get down to a decent depth (30cm) as rhizomatous grasses will simply go undergroun and emerge in the light but they are relatively shallow rooted, unlike bindweed). Main downside is the permanence of such structures.

At my old house I had a common lawn with a neighbor and had to put a barrier down 18 inches to keep her grass out of my property. Al