I purchased an edger from Lowes last year before I had any beds. Then later realized members of this forum said it would be easier and it looks just as good to use generic Roundup. So the edger has sat ever since and roundup a couple times a year is very quick and cost effective. Just my .02... I wouldn't want you to make the same mistake I did.

Mulch is in place already - want to straighten out the lines and keep them nice - thinking edger?

Are you're beds large or small? The edger I have just is one of those that have a spinning blade in front. Not really an edger for beds, more like a sidewalk edger. It doesn't work on creating bed designs. Within a month, after so many rainfalls, the edge will crumble and fall. With this type of edger, you would almost have to do it each month to keep it looking nice.

If you are definitely set on edging your beds, I would just rent a professional bed edger every spring for $60 at your local store... a real good edger will probably cost almost a thousand. The golf courses use very expensive machines to do the job quickly.

Here is a picture of one of my beds months after I outlined the bed with roundup. You can create a very straight edge that will last for months. Then once the grass starts creeping back in 3-4 months later I just go up the line again with roundup.

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I have put in continuous black plastic edges, 5-6 inches deep, heavy round top, nail them into the grass side (2 inches from the surface) with 10 inch galvanized nails every 2 1/2 ft. They come in 20 and 60 ft rolls at big box stores. We had posts here (or the hosta forum) about how to install them. You never have to edge anymore, no need for an expensive machine, or use Roundup for that. Grass stays in the lawn. Except you have to pull out grass seedlings, which will also grow anywhere.
Bernd

Grass = room for more conifers!
Grass = more work, more water, more fertilizer, etc!
Grass = somewhere between Hitler and the Tahliban!

-Will

Will... I couldn't have said it better myself. That pic was taken after I planted my first couple conifers during this past spring. All that green makes me a little sick lol... actually a lot of it is gone, conifers were planted a couple weeks ago & I'm just waiting on the mulch next year.

I tried the round up thing and it worked o.k. but was not straight and neat as I would like plus the chips washed out past it eventually. I have some large beds with long runs so you really see the lines.

The key to good lines is good mulch that has high bark content. It suffocates the grass but not allowing sunlight. It is also THE best mulch for slopes.

Roundup is such a waste. Outline the bed with paint, mow low, dump and go.

First image represents a 2 week old install. The last pic was installed in April...still looks good to me.

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White lightening still made it in the pic! Can you find her?

Without Round-Up or the weed whacker I can't keep the zoysia & bermuda weeds out of any bed of mine.

How do you do it Whaas? I draw the line at pulling large amounts of grass by hand lol.

Here is a picture of edging that was last touched a year before the picture was taken last Spring. I use a half-moon edger and go along the edge placing the dug out soil in a wheelbarrow. The most important thing to do is make it deep and don't fill in the trench with mulch.
The grass is not able to cross the edge and it will keep the edge from collapsing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Edging Ffront yard

Looks like the half-moon hand edger is the best and most economical tool for the job. I found this while searching online :http://www.step-n-edge.com/

Wonder how well it works?

Probably quite well if you don't stones...which I do, next!lol!

Tornado, I do occasionally have to spray within the bed and there is a stray patch once in awhile at the edge. The secret is thick at the edge and high bark content in the mulch. You'll have to call around for this. It does break down quicker but its the best stuff to get it started.

forget about the half moon.. wont go deep enough..

go with a straight blade shovel .. see link.. and a grinder to keep it surgically sharp ...

been thinking about you lately .... havent traded visits in a long time...

ken

the shovel you need is at this link:
http://ogdenbotanicalgardens.blogspot.com/2011/05/update-weed-feed-day-tomorrow.html

Here is a link that might be useful: if she sharpened her shovel it would be easier .... as well as damp soil

Ken, you're nuts! I used to do that and it was backbreaking labor with little payoff. Obviously grandma isn't using the right mulch!lol!

My time is better spent designing and planting...just saying and to each their own!

I've been searching for a similar product. I'm about to purchace an Echo Bed Redefiner BRD-280. It cuts a crisp, beveled groove along the turf edge, leaving a professional, manicured finish. It does exactly what your asking for. Kind of expensive for small beds, but I'm building a small pinetum with a lot of raised beds so price is justified. All Echo products are expensive but good products. The user reviews I've read sound good.

Patrick

Here is a link that might be useful: ECHO Bed Redifiner video

Will,

What are those upside down black pots for in your beds? Protecting tender conifers from winter? The second the sun hits those black pots, the plants under them are going to cook. When colder weather hits, the plants will come out of dormancy during the day in their "sauna" and at night when the sun goes down, the water in their needles will, since they are not dormant- causing death. Paint them white, and don't put them on the plants until closer to Thanksgiving. We won't experience any killing temperatures until long after then.
-Matt

Hey Matt, I hear ya, that would be quite disastrous! They were actually placement holders to map out plantings...ended up as conifers of course.

Anybody that is successful in separating mulch from grass in their beds does it the way jonnyb023 does it in the above post.

I do it with brick and mortar. Labor intensive and a few bucks involved. Not for everybody, I realize that, but permanent and long lasting.

Dave

That edger from jonnyb nicely chops up all those invasive grass roots which get thrown into the bed and create a lot of new plants. Whaas, probably under that nice thick mulch on the border a lot of new grass roots are invading your bed, they love that mulch, check on it in spring. I believe in a barrier, 5 -6 inches deep and 1/2 inch higher than the grass which grass roots can not penetrate, install it once and no rework as the other methods require.
Bernd

Nope, I've been doing this for years. Just did a drive by of the house I sold last year. Edges are pristine!

I actually don't recommend what JonnyB did unless the grade is high and its well drained. This a poor choice for soils that retain moisture as this is the path of least resistance for water flow. Might be good for mositure loving plants but last time I'm check conifers aren't big on moisture.

Just my 2 cents.

I would agree a more permanent barrier is the best route if you are dead set on the shape and depth of bed.

@ Ken, I have seen a shovel used and it does a good job. I do not get any grass migrating into the bed and if you go to the full depth of the half-moon it is deep enough to stop grass migration. I walked down to my shed to measure it (I hope you all appreciate this) and it is 4 1/2 inches deep. I do not get any grass making it into the bed

The half-moon gives better control to me. The shovel would be faster on the straight sections but would give a choppy edge around curves. Each to his own I guess, I like curves.

@ berndnyz5, "That edger from jonnyb nicely chops up all those invasive grass roots which get thrown into the bed and create a lot of new plants"
Which is why I place the edged material into a wheelbarrow as I stated and do the edges first and then mulch.

@waahs, I have good drainage but the only place water would accumulate is in the depression made to prevent grass roots from spreading. I guess it would form a little moat in poor draining soils on an island situation, along an edge it would just drain off the end....maybe helping drainage. If the drainage is that bad then you have a bigger problem than edging.

...and I think a permanent barrier would hold more moisture and block the water in as well as the grass out...and I have tried barriers and they don't work well for me over the years. In some areas I have used paving blocks. I put black plastic under the stone and 6-8 inches into the bed. The paving stone is placed on top of the plastic and mulch placed over the plastic "apron". The apron ensures no grass grows under the stone edging. I have a bed of Pachysandra Terminalis that has worked its way under a good 6" deep plastic barrier. I plan on taking out the intruding plants, putting a 6-8" black plastic apron butting the edging and then covering with mulch (around the outside of the Pachy filled area) to keep the pachysandra in a nice shaped bed which the edging did for 4-5 years before it "escaped".

Personally I think it would depend on how many beds, how large they are & soil type. If you have poor soil, you are going to have to edge your beds as often as you mow.

I don't have much experience with conifers, but I have a lot of experience in gardening in general. Before when I had just a single 40' bed in the front of my house I wanted the perfect edge.

I took my shovel and dug a the perfect trench and it looked great! A month or so later the edge filled in because of the drainage. I dug it a couple more times that year until winter came and had the same results. It took maybe 2-3 hours each time. The next year I went and got a gas edger (the kind you push, not the string trimmer kind) It dug the edge in about a quarter of the time of shoveling which was nice. However, I still had the same result. Last year I put a retaining wall in it's place and the problem was fixed.

This year I started collecting conifers... I have 7 new large beds in my backyard. Most of them are 50' long & I plan to add at least 1-2 new beds a year. I'd be crazy to go out each month with a shovel to get the perfect edge even if I had good drainage. Actually, my roundup edge is a lot straighter than what my shovel or edger could have done.

Whaas- I use roundup around the edges only when the grass starts to creep over the mulch beds. My grass is the spreading type that grows at an angle and I can't mow it once it crawls over the mulch beds. Other than that, my edge looks similar to yours. Although I only like to apply a thin layer around the edge so the grass holds the mulch back from spilling into the yard. This way the mower can go over the edge and it won't toss any mulch into the yard.

I would say what you need is to rent a professional edger each spring at your local store. See link for the type our local place offers...

Picture from camera phone taken today:

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Here is a link that might be useful: EZ Trench

Rick, It looks to me as if you have not dug them out deep enough. Now, if you had a nice 4 1/2 inch half moon edger and stood on it until it bottomed out on the little bent edge you wouldn't have to keep working at it. At first it seems as if the edge will not stay, but the grass will keep it from collapsing. Don't fill it with mulch as this just defeats the whole idea, which is to take away the soil that grass would need to grow further. You have good grass, it should work well. Hey, $20-$25 for an edger and a little work to try it on one bed. I have about 350 feet of edge to do each spring and once it is established it takes maybe 3 hours and 2 wheelbarrows or so of extracted soil or extended bed.

In the end everyone has their techniques and you just have to make the call on what works best for you.

JonnyB, I actually intend to use your technique for the backside of a bed that is on a slight slope as it gets quite dry. What do you do with the soil by the way?

Rick, stagger or offset those pavers for a more interesting look. Similar to what you'd do with a planting. Looks like the bed is coming along.

Soil goes into a pile with potting soil from containers and window boxes. Gets mixed in with composted leaves, grass cuttings and old fruit, old pumpkins and other compostable stuff when I feel like it. It is on my side lot and it takes about a year, but composts nicely with no watering mixing.... Lazy gardener's compost.

Great stuff. Anything will grow in it.

that power tool on a 5 foot stick.. reminds me a lot of that tiny mantis rototiller ....

unless you have extensive forearms.. or do the job every other week.. i just dont see how efficient it is going to be ....

too bad you cant try these tools out in person.. before investing that kind of money ...

ken