Flower bed edging - which is best?
Lynn in Parkton, Maryland
7 years ago
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Comments (13)
Lynn in Parkton, Maryland
7 years agoRelated Discussions
lawn and flower bed edging
Comments (8)I do trenching of my flower beds but only appx. 4" (never really measured)so I don't turn an ankle accidently and find it attractive, neat looking and easier to maintain that nice edge. However, you'll still have grass from the lawn grow OVER the trench that has to be trimmed. Which brings me to this question which I had posted in the "Tips and Techniques" forum but got no feedback yet: Any comments on these grass shears, to be used as edge shears for flower beds in lawn areas? My beds are trenched and I've always looked for a tool to clip the grass that grows across the trench. Check this tool out at the link below, scroll down to "Vertical Blade Lawn Shears 39" (P75)" and tell me if it's worth $66. Currently, I'm using some vertical hand held grass shears I bought at Lowes the other day for $9.99. Just thought the long handles would be a plus. Bacho is suppose to be a great brand,too. No, I'm not spamming, honest! http://www.bahcostore.com/grass-shears.jsp hpny2 - you will also have to still dig the trench periodically as the dirt tries to reclaim it's space so to speak. As rdaystrom says, "maintain" is the key word....See MoreHow do you edge your flower beds?
Comments (20)I gave my husband the trenching job. We gave up on the black rubber edging. Bricks IÂd like but until I start doing it myself, it wonÂt happen. Our main bed is a big raised one with landscape blocks, I think I burned him out on that one 4 years ago. (We didnÂt install the blocks ourselves but did everything else including move and replant all the perennials.) We have been doing the trenched edge for all the other beds. The one problem I have with that is that it seems to get wider each year. I never seem to be there when heÂs doing it, so I donÂt know if this is what normally happens. It seems like to get a clean cut he has to move back a few inches into the lawn. I find myself with a new bare area around the perimeter of each bed, that then I feel needs filling. Considering IÂd already installed edging plants, IÂd rather not. He does the edges twice a year, in between I go in and pull out any grass or weeds that seed or jump in. I just bought a proper half moon edger, before that he used a small shovel. Will that make a difference? Or is it part of what happens with this system, that the bed gets gradually wider?...See Morenice edging flower for dry/sunny bed
Comments (17)The best edging flower I've used that can take full sun, all the heat of a TX summer, and very limited amounts of water is Blackfoot Daisy which is covered with pretty white petaled flowers. It mounds if put in the ground and trails if in a pot. Not much eats it and I've never had any disease problems with it. A sure way to kill it is to overwater it. It is perennial so cut it back to about 4-6" in early spring and it will take off again. I lost several in the ground this winter with all the moisture we had but the ones I had in pots that drained well are already blooming. You could also consider Dahlberg Daisy, a short growing little yellow daisy that is sometimes called bitter weed because cows that graze on it give milk that has a bad flavor. Dahlberg Daisy has fine fern like leaves. If you bruise the leaves it gives off a scent that some people find offensive. I like it because it tolerates heat and full sun and requires very little water. I've not found anything that eats it, either. It's an annual but it will reseed if the blooms are left on to dry. I've used both Blackfoot and Dahlberg Daisies as the "spillers" in pots and to fill in bare spots in my perennial garden. Good Luck!...See MoreFlower bed edging - which is best?
Comments (21)Originally I used the trench-edging method. But that needed refreshing three times a year (spring, mid-summer, and fall) so it became a big chore as the garden got bigger. Plus, since I use a walker for mobility, I had much the same problem as NHBab's husband with the mower :-) It was annoying - and hazardous- to have a wheel drop into the trench! So I moved to the metal edge + brick option. That worked quite well. But the winter of 2015/2016 caused a lot of frost heave for the metal edge. Along the 'moat bed' where the metal was highly visible, we actually lifted the sod and added more soil to hide the metal edge! In other places, I have planted things to drape over the edge - but when the plants are dormant the metal is annoyingly visible! Along the garage bed where it is shady, I planted hostas as an edging and removed the metal and bricks last week. I wish there were big leafed plants like hostas that would work well in full sun! In the shady backyard there is only a bit of brick edging - without metal edging as there is no grass near the edging to invade it. So the edging is only an issue in the sunny front garden. I'm not happy with the look of some of it now but am also not prepared to do the work to do a major overhaul, so will be tinkering with plants to hide the most egregious problem areas :-) I don't think there is any perfect edging!...See Morezen_man
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoLynn in Parkton, Maryland
7 years agozen_man
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoLynn in Parkton, Maryland
7 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
7 years agoLynn in Parkton, Maryland
7 years agoNHBabs z4b-5a NH
7 years agoLynn in Parkton, Maryland
7 years agopwlong
6 years agoLynn in Parkton, Maryland
6 years agoTiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
6 years ago
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