Have you tried checking on Craig's list in your area? Here in south Florida there are always people who want to get rid of the cement edging due to modernizing. You can usually pick it up free or very cheap.

I agree with your husband. I wouldn't use any wood for edging due to termites and other insects.

Have you thought about using a roll of roofing flashing? We used it along a fence to keep our mulch from migrating to the neighbor's yard.

Wooden tree logs , no matter how large , decay quickly in our Florida climate .
I use them quite often and have had no trouble with termites .
It's not my first choice because they don't last long enough .
I have used old cedar or cypress logs with much better results .
I found these on my property and they are scarce .

I use small logs too. They tend to look good even when they've mostly decayed inside. I don't have any trouble finding them.

We do have limestone rocks here in florida it just depends on where you are as to how much there is. I know that in Marion, Citrus, and Lake counties almost every time they do any type of major construction or road work they dig up tons of limestone. Most of the consrtuction crews don't mind if you take some of the rock as long as you move it yourself and don't bring in heavy equipment and try taking the really big rocks. Every garden bed in both mine and my parents yards are edged with limestone that didn't cost us any more then the gas to go get them and the work it took to load them.

Here's a picture of the pile of rocks that I haven't used yet. Except for a few of the biggest, I hauled home every rock in the pile in my little Honda Fit.

And here's a picture of what they look like edging flower beds.
{{gwi:199430}}

I love the look of your stone walk way. It reminds me of the flagstone we had at my childhood home in NE Ohio.

Craig's List also has free roofing tiles that I have seen folks use.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/homesandgardens/2009/10/installing_roof-tile_edging.html

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf361191.tip.html

T-

Wow, those limestone rocks would be perfect here. Our road is paved with crushed limestone, also our driveway, so there are companies here that sell it, but I'm sure it would be costly to have it delivered. I'll just have to keep my eyes open.

Oh I love those limestone rocks - Carroll's here in St. Pete sells 'Florida Field Stone' for something like 79 cents/# & I plan to get some eventually.

I use logs too & they really last a long time, even as they decay & even tho most of the 1s ringing my veggies are from Chinaberry trees, which is a very soft wood. I really love the rustic look - some sprout fungi & it's all very 'woodsy' looking.

The logs I have are mostly more than a foot in diameter & have been in place for several years.

No termites observed in mine either - just carpenter ants. Slugs & snails & glassworms like to hide there as well.

Do you want the pre-cast concrete scalloped edging?

Or the concrete curb edging?

I know this sounds overly picky, but I've never liked the look of scalloped edging, too "cutesy", and the curb edging is nice but too permanent. I like something that can be changed, expanded, moved, etc. And anyway, all this stuff is expensive. I'll just keep looking around, thought maybe someone might have a suggestion (cheap) that I haven't thought of yet. Maybe I'll be able to sweet-talk the hubby into going ahead and using some of these logs laying around here, hey, it's free!

I made a raised bed and used coconuts, it has worked out pretty good and fits in my funky little yard. They are free, and now is a good time to get some.

The cheapest edging (and to me one of the prettiest): just keep the lawn around the bed edged neatly, with an edger or with a flat shovel.

Another alternative would be liriope, which is often used as green edging.

Are the beds right up next to the house? If they're not, you might point out that logs might attract termites AWAY from the house....

No, all the beds close to the house are already edged with concrete edgers. This is a new bed I've started about 60 feet away from the house adjoining where the woods begin. That's why I don't see the problem with using logs myself. Also I plan to keep expanding it, which means I need to use something that is movable and cheap. I mean, the woods are already full of downed trees, stumps, etc. that are already drawing termites, there's no way out of that. So I was just trying to get ideas to bounce off my stubborn husband, but it looks like the log idea is a good one, I just have to convince him. I need to get a conversation started with my son this afternoon, it never fails, if one of my ideas seems dumb to my husband but then my son comes up with the same solution, all of a sudden it's a good idea! Drives me nuts!

I know what you mean about men belittling an idea until another man comes up with it!

Expansion is one reason I like using logs, very easy to move out when I have just a few more plants. (My goal is about 90% garden and 10% lawn.) I don't actually have any "lawn" right now and I need a border to keep my landscaper from mowing where he shouldn't.

Castorp, I agree with your suggestion of just keeping the lawn around the bed neatly edged. This makes it so easy to expand the garden here and there or all over. The beds around my house are no where near their original configuration. As I shop and swap, I've needed more space and, from lurking here daily, I know many of you can't resist "just" one more plant either.

I learned from my previous home's garden. I was thrilled when I happened upon free cobblestones and happily edged the beds with these. Then...I needed more space. Whew, what a job removing those chunky babies and then digging another trench for them.

A neat lawn edge is much easier and amenable to change.

This is on my to do list and I have no experience with it, but on the Hypertufa Forum, there are instructions how to make rocks and it looks pretty easy. In the pictures that were posted, they look very nice.Look at the fourth posting by "wendy2shoes".

Here is a link that might be useful: Hypertufa Rocks

Wow! This is awesome! I never heard of such a thing. I've got to look into this, thanks so much!

I've had these down for 2 yrs now with no problems. I had some at our old house that had been in the ground for several years (well over 5 yrs) with no issues. These are landscape timers that go for between $2-$3 per log. They won't last for ever, but should last for 10 yrs plus on average and can easily be replaced when that time finally comes.

Hi
I use castorp.idea I quit using a mower because the entire grow area consists of beds , grass is only growing on the "paths" at least on purpose. all cutting is now done with a weed eater. turned on the side makes a nice edge . Of course it doesn't last Hate rocks because it eats up the line . landscape timbers are probably the most economical I used them stacked to make a marsh using fiberglass tarp to hold the water, Only thing I dislike about then is the square shapes .?? I have pots setting all over the grow area again the string trimmer works well
can either cut right up to them or move them. Okay have not solved seed coming up in the beds lol. They have no respect for borders of aany kind lol gary

I use stacked 15" by 27" sandbags. Not the classiest look, I'll grant you, but cool in a lot of ways. There's no need to level or clear the existing ground first (they'll level themselves), the beds don't dry out so fast like they do with thin wood sides (the sand in the bags makes a nice cool, always slightly damp insulator) and you can't beat the portability! If you can find woven plastic poly-mesh bags instead of cotton or canvas, they'll last at least a few years. If you have a concrete plant, an asphalt plant, a commercial stone or sand pit or mine, a geotechnical engineering firm, or a Florida Dept. of Transportation office near you, stop by and ask them if they have any old sample bags they want to discard. A lot of these places have old extra bagged soil and rock samples laying around in piles, just waiting for someone to haul them to the dumpster; so the bags would already be full - very handy!