Buford, I dunno about Georgia, but when I lived in California the gardenias and roses didn't do well together. Gardenias actually want a touch of shade in CA, and they want a much more acid soil than is typical there, although that might work out fine for you in Georgia - you don't have adobe clay of pH 8 there. The smaller gardenias really needed watering more often than the roses did too, but then again CA gets no rain at all in the summer, and you probably do. What did work well for me in a mild winter climate for evergreen borders was iberis and the very dwarf forms of Pittosporumm tobira, like Wheeler's Dwarf and Creme de Menthe. There are probably new cultivars out now. Boxleaf hebe works well here in our cooler climate of Washington. Japanese holly is a boxwood lookalike that is extremely hardy and is used here in WA much more often that boxwood. It stays nice and dark green all winter where boxwood goes pale from the cold, but it's not much faster growing. In CA I used African boxwood - don't recall the latin name anymore, Myrsinus? - somewhat tender, but faster than boxwood. And here in WA we use an ericaceous shrub called pernyettia or something like that for an evergreen edging, looks very similar to boxwood but faster growing and it does sucker some from the roots. There's also the evergreen euonymuses - fortunei I think is the common small leaved variegated one that can be either a clinging viney thing or somewhat shrubby depending on how you prune it. There's also something similar to the boxleaf hebe that I think is a boxleaf euonymus, E. microphlylla or something like that. That one makes a very nice dark green evergreen border. And in Georgia you should be able to grow the dwarf forms of true myrtle, Myrtus communis. Gardenerzone4, roses are leggy, no matter what. Just the nature of the beast. That's why we all have suggestions for border and edging plants. I would advise against using any of the nepetas, and most of the hardy geraniums, as they are very aggressive spreaders. Alyssum is great. Marigolds too, and snapdragons, lobelia, ageratum. I have some daylilies as well, and lavender. Mini roses can be used as borders and edging too as they can be kept very low and don't go as bare at the base.

Thanks for the advice. I do have a sprayer--just havn't thought of using it because of the chlorine/chloramines added to the pond by spraying the pond directly. I was wondering if anyone used some kind of jet along the edges. The bubble tube works it's just that when I run the Dolphin AV50 pump I get so much bubbles that the waterlily stems bend away from the air flow. It's also a noisy aeration pump. I'm going to look into getting a smaller one for next year if I can sell this one. Hard to do here in CD as not worth shipping back to anyone on the forum from the US as shipping costs are crazy. Another project for next year!

I've only used a lawn edger to divide the beds from my lawn, but I'm not satisfied with the looks. It's well sunked down to the lawn but if I cover it up with mulch, the grass on the other side escapes into the beds. I'm actually considering burying pavers down to the lawn edge. Syseeds, have you tried sinking the bricks down with the smooth edge facing up? If you like the paver look but don't have the purse for it, perhaps this is another way of achieving that look. I like the idea of reclaimed bricks for this purpose. In anycase at HD - there are pavers costing some 56 cents a piece. You could interspace new pavers with the old bricks. The most unique edger I've seen - was a row of wine bottles sunked down to the ground. - However it is a very rustic effect. Or the use of cut logs - again sunked down deept. - very rustic once more. -- It's not my personal taste. Use cheap terracotta pots - sunked down and planted with annuals. - problem is cheap terracotta will not last the winter. Use large and flat rocks for a rustic effect. You could also over plant it with thyme to soften. - I think this would be nice but again it's to your personal taste.

I've used everything at one time or another. And the easiest thing to use is no edging. This did not seem possible until I was driving through Highland Park - very expensive neighborhood, with professional gardeners. I noticed all their flowerbeds and shrubbery rows were raised on .almost berms of soil with plenty of mulch. At the edge of the gardens were 6" trough full of mulch. Using that method no grass sneaks in under rocks or edging infiltrating the whole bed before you know it. You can easily stab down through the mulch and catch any grass. I am saying this even though I have bought tons and tons of rock for walls and edging. Ants love it. Grass hides in it. I will continue to spray my rock walls with roundup every month to keep the grass from going under, around, between and through it. I will pour boiling water on it to get rid of ants. It looks great, but I don't recommend it. I quit using the metal edging because it would have caused injury if you fall on it, my dd has a little balance problem, and I'm overprotective.