I've not done this but I've seen aluminum edgers where I work. The one thing I had observed is how easily they do get bent if stepped on. They are used as edgers to little oasis in plazas or parkettes. I've not seen them used in a garden but then you can always give it a try and provide us with feed back.

To dig a trench -- perhaps you could begin with using a half-moon edging tool to just cut thru the soil, and then follow it up with your square spade. I find that square spades don't penetrate the soil as easily unless perhaps you sharpen it well (but I'm speculating).

I love your house by the way. Is it a heritage home? It looks like it's a pioneer type home.

Gail- You have a very pretty garden! I know what you mean about the quack grass, it can be a pain to keep out of the beds. I've had pretty good luck (surprisingly) with the snap together, black plastic edging at Lowe's. It only goes into the ground about three inches, but it's kept the grass out of the beds. Sorry, I don't have any info on aluminum edgers.

I don't know what quack grass is, so with that in mind ....

In one bed that is up against a fence and on the other side wilderness with invasive virginia creeper, I buried plastic flashing. I used a fiskar's edger shovel, worked great.
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But then I'm digging in sand. A year later, and past the "OMG it is taking over the yard time", the flashing is doing the job.

In the front, I contend mostly with St Augustine that spreads along the top of the ground. What I have been doing is a multi-step kind of time consuming thing; but hey - beats fighting weeds.

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First, I mound up dirt where my border will be. I use either rocks or logs for borders. Then I try to settle the dirt.

Second, I layer newspaper over my mound.

Third, I lay plastic over the newspaper.

Fourth, I put my border material on top the plastic.

And lastly, I come back around the front side of the border with a 6" or so strip of newspaper then plastic then cardboard topped with mulch up to the border.

You can see in the photo above a garden that is partially complete. On the right is finished on the left I'm still working on the 6" strip. For grass/weeds that spread by underground runners you can dig out a 6" wide and 6" deep moat before you layer on the mulch.

Hope this gives you some ideas and help,

~dianne

Hi all,

Well, I tried to get started this weekend, but I don't think my back will hold out, so I'm going to rent a mini-excavator. Here's the start & I"m not happy with it:{{gwi:673107}}

Ianna: yes, it's an 1850's original settler's log house :) Here's pic of the front:
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Lavendarlass: Thanks! I didn't think the 3 edge stuff would work - everyone I've spoken to online has said that the roots can go down 10 inches and then pop up. Glad to hear it's working for you :)

Diane - thanks for the tips & the links to your lovely garden :) Unfortunately, quack grass seems to have been sent by the devil himself, because I've layered full newspapers and layered up to 10 inches of mulch & the grass still pops up - I even found some of my tulips below some of that newspaper this weekend when digging the trench. Everything is smothered but the q grass!

So a-excavating I will go!

Cheerio,
Gail

I've been battling quack/couch grass for over 40 years. I've dug, I've done the black plastic thing, I've forked and dug and pulled without much success. If you leave the tiniest piece of this evil grass from hell it's off and running again.
The only way I've actual got a handle on it is to dig the plants I want to keep in early spring, wash the soil off the roots to make sure there isn't a tiny piece of that nasty stuff hiding in the rootball and replant in containers. Then the fun starts, dig/fork the bed over removing as much of that %$#&^%$ as you can and then rototill the area a couple of times a week picking every bit of root you see out for a month. That does a pretty good job the first year. Plant veggies or annuals the first year because there will be bits of that d*m grass popping up, I swear it actually sneers at me. Pull these as soon as you see them they come out fairly easily. The second year, rototill a couple of times a week for a month and then replant whatever you want in the bed, the couch grass has pretty much bit the bullet. You still have to watch like a hawk tho... You should see the mess I'm working on now Uurrgghh!!!

....and then there's roundup, that is if you can still buy it in your area. I hear that works really well if you are inclined to go down that road.

Annette