I edge with the black stuff. I have to admit I don't do it very thoroughly. I mean, I think you're supposed to dig a trench and use a mallet to hammer it in. I mostly just swish it back and forth a few times until it sits straight.

I edge almost everything because I feel like my grass would take over in about a week. Stupid healthy grass.

I use stone collected from my yard and the gully next to the house. There's literally tons of it just laying around. I guess when they dug the basement, they tossed it around the yard. I've got to get some more to finish two of my beds. I may do that this week on my days off.

My flowerbeds are edged in rock to keep the grass out. I dug a trench about half the height of the rocks and put the rocks in. These are big rocks that we got from someone tearing down a rock house.

When I used moss rock to line flower beds before, I would put a little bit of mulch on the grass side of the rock to give something for the mower to run on. This keeps you from having to use a string-trimmer or edger on the outside of the rocks. Seems like grass will always grow where you don't want it to.

Susie

These pictures shows my 3 different edgings plus we spray on the outside of the edging to keep the grass away
Rock from my yard
landscape timbers
formed cement edging.....Lynne

{{gwi:673615}}

{{gwi:673617}}

{{gwi:673619}}

I love pretty edges.
I daydream about getting every bed edge done in what I call 'English edging' which is a trench across which bermuda and centipede can't crawl or jump in the next three days.
I'm wild about stone edges with pinks hanging over.
Brick edges for a mow strip are another fav: straight bricks, piano key bricks, or one up, one down for a mow strip.
I put broken concrete pieces around the birdbath bed, mostly because I had them and there were just enough for that project. It needs fine tuning.
Sometimes I make little wattle fence edges using twigs and whips and things, mostly to discourage the dog.
Minature dayliles are starting to bloom and I think whole rows of them would make fab edging.
There's actually a bed here with the front edge edged with Stokesia, blooming pretty now.
My aquarium bed (plants like shell ginger and shrimp plant) has fake fish as edging.

Wow, Susie, we need to see pictures of your rock edging!

Nell

-Lynn, thanks for showing pics. I realy love that bed with the curved edges.
I once had rocks as a boarder around the beds (this was many years ago, when the garden was still very small). But I got tierd of having to lift the rocks up when I wanted to get the grass out from between them. Now they are used to line the sides of the pathway. I also have pieces of broken concrete lining the Alley Garden. I put them there to keep people form driving into the flowers. He He, it sure works. No one ever attempts to drive over those things!

What tools do you guys use to cut the grass away? One of those edging shovels? I was thinking of getting one of them, but I don't know how great it would work since all of my beds are sharply curved.

-Nell, forgive my extreme ignorance, but what is an aquarium garden? Is it for plants that need a lot of moisture? Or is it a theme? I would like to see pics of it if you have any.
CMK

I use a combo of bricks, rocks, monkey grass, and just a simple cutaway that I keep clean with my trusty hand spade.

The rocks actually serve a dual purpose. That particular bed is situated in an area of the yard where the natural drainage flows.

{{gwi:673621}}

{{gwi:673623}}

{{gwi:673625}}

{{gwi:673627}}

An Aquarium Garden is a Theme garden. Lucy's Aquarium Garden looked like Under the Sea.

Mine is a bed with plants with sea-related names, like 'Minnow' daffodils and Shell Ginger. I edged it with little ceramic fish.

There's a nursery in San Deigo that installs succulent gardens that look like undersea wonderlands.

Nell

P.S. When I become a proper gardener, my beds will look like Natal's. Those are just wonderful.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:673613}}

I have tried many edgings over the years. What I find works the best is to dig a trench around the beds. A couple days after a rain is a good time, the ground comes up easily. It can be composted, or if it is grass it can be used somewhere that needs grass.
I use a curved shovel (spade?) and I can turn it backwards when I need to make a curve in a bed going that way. I've used an edging tool too but I like the shovel better. I also have a hand tool that chops nicely and can be used to chop or scrape any little seedlings that go into the trench in later months. I probably clean up my trenches in spring and fall. Winter is a good time too if it's a mild day. I have bermuda grass and zoysia grass but it really is not too hard to keep it out. Make the trench big enough, about 6 to 8 inches, I'd say. If it's big enough you can run the mower wheel there when you cut the grass.
laurie

CMK: I use a curved shovel, too, and like Laurie turn it around sometimes for a really clean cut edge. Then I go around on my knees and shake the soil out of the grassy (St. Aug) clumps and form the trench with my hands. I don't make my trenches quite as large as hers though.

Tip: sharpening the edge of the shovel with a metal file really makes a difference.

-laurie and treelover, thanks for the info. Now I don't have to go and buy yet another tool that will probably just end up in the back of the shed with the rest of the never used gadgets. I will have to sharpen my shovel. For some odd reason it is very dull! ;-)

-Nell, I get it now!! Great idea. Thanks for the link. My relatives, who live right on the Pacific Ocean, line their walk way with found shells. It looks nice, especially when the shells fill with dew. I once saw a pic in a magazine where someone had a similar fish stake and put it in a bluegrass, which looked like waves when the wind blew.
Do you have any other themed gardens? I have thought about it before, but don't think I could incorporate it into the rest of the garden very well. I would do a Greek Garden, with plants that are named after the gods and ancient heroes. I have a weakness for that sort of thing!
CMK

I did the first edging of the season last week. A little ragged, I didn't take the shovel back over them to straighten up the line or use the grass shears to trim grass yet. And I see a dandelion defying me as well.

{{gwi:673629}}

{{gwi:673632}}

{{gwi:673633}}

{{gwi:673634}}

Wow, schoolhouse...your boxwood hedge is what I dream about! Please tell me all the details...how long ago did you plant it and how close together and which boxwood variety, etc., etc.!!!

grammasdaisygirl, I'll post more boxwood pics in the gallery. Have planted mostly Winter Gem and Green Mountain over the years.

We edge. My DH wouldn't let me garden any other way. We use bricks. Then, in the very back, we also have stone that DH purchased. I LOVE the stone, but it was quite expensive. It would be great if I could figure out how to find it for free.

But, all beds are edged.

lynnencfan, thanks for posting those photos - especially the second one. It provided the inspiration for the solution to a couple of challenges I've been puzzling over for a while: 1) I wanted an arbour somewhere in the backyard; and 2) couldn't figure out how to finish/edge one particular part of the garden.

My DH and I had built some raised beds and had quite a few landscape timbers left - we weren't going to keep them but when I saw your photo, it was a 'eureka' moment - I could incorporate the arbour in the edging and solve both problems!

I can hardly wait to get started on it. Thanks!