The ones which have formal edging in our garden (which are not right next to a cement curb already in place, or the sidewalk, or the driveway, or the 115 year old fake stone wall which is made of cast concrete), are made out of those cement "tree round" thingies, which are curved. That is usually because they are around just one rose. We did have bricks laid around a large oval bed, because that bed was being made out of the lawn at the same time we were having our front brick path torn up and re-made, so we had the same person build the new oval bed out of bricks. At also the same time, he built a brick path only about 10 inches wide, from the new oval bed, between the lawn and an old long flower (rose, and some friends) bed at the front of our house. We do have some one rose "beds" which are made of plastic - sometimes we have used it if a rose is in the middle of a large bed with ground cover, etc., so that the ground cover does not try to overrun the rose. So, all of the beds which do have edging either have that plastic some sort of concrete or brick edging. My DH likes concrete or bricks around the lawn so that he does not run the lawn mower into the flower beds. I like it because it is super sturdy, and protects the beds from the lawn mower, and out by the street from passing bicycles and cars parking right next to the flower beds (evidently people have trouble doing that, have run over the flower beds before - hence the concrete edging. Also, my DH has made me some "raised bed(s)" for one rose by stacking the tree round concrete things (which come in several colors) up to 2 or 3 layers, so you can make sort of a large pot with no bottom out of them, and they look beautiful, and do not rot like half wine barrels , which we used to use.

Here are some pics:

Here is the oval bed with bricks around it:

Here is a raised bed my DH made for Peace.

Here is one rose (we think it is TROMN) with the plastic making a bed around it. Now that my has gotten used to building me the beds out of concrete tree rounds, we are not using the plastic edging anymore, b/c I like the tree round stuff better.

vaporvac, it looks so good! It was certainly worth all your hard work. And your roses look bloomiferous too!

BTW Cath, I've just used green plastic. Not so attractive, but it's hardly visible. I'm pretty sure one bed was originally edged with brick, as I kept coming across buried bricks when I was putting the plastic in. I was pleased to discover they were almost in the same curve as I was laying!

Thank you,Titian! It was a little bit fun once I stared it, like many projects. I was determined to get the sections by the roses done before the first flush to really get the sense of how it used to look. It forms a rectangle around the entire upper level so this is just one part. Hopefully, I'll do the last section on the house-side bed soon if it ever stops raining; then it's just a smaller section that was not removed and is now lower due to sod to finish the whole thing up.. I did put deep plastic edging on the inside to prevent grass growing under the bricks. I love this look yet have never seen it in anyone else's garden ... only online. Don't you love excavating and finding buried "treasure"? Jackie, I really like the standing bricks you have, also.

Other beds just have a trench which is better if one is expanding beds! Deep trenches are so elegant, are easy to maintain and don't cost anything other than some muscle aches! (Not that that doesn't count!)

I wish I took better pictures that could capture the real look of these roses; they're at least nine different varieties, but they look all the same and so washed out in the bright sunlight. : (( 2019 was the third year for these roses except for the near 100yr old NewDawns I transplanted. It surpassed my dreams and caught my breath every time I looked off my porch. Sorry to go on, but everyone here knows that feeling either in a single flower or panoramic vista.

Vaporvac,

Your rose bed is lovely! I also like the way the trees are providing a backdrop for your roses.

May I ask, what are the 3-4 large rose bushes beginning on the left side of your image?

These are all the roses starting on the LHside: Falstaff (deep red) next to First Crush (white), Summer Romance (deeper pink) fronted by Molineux (pale yellow), Munstead Wood (deep red), Lindee (white) near corner fronting Eglantyne (not seen) and Viking Queen (not seen). The entire backdrop on the balustrades are two New Dawns, one on each section. There's a peony and some lavender coloured iris in there, too. For scale, the long section that's partially hidden, is about 35' long and 5' deep.

Vaporvac.....I am in love with your brick edging! I really like the way it has the front flat piece. It looks very rose garden-y and suits the roses perfectly! I would love to see more pictures of your garden.

Jackie....the way each rose has its own little "bed" is so nice...it makes them so easy to take care of! As always, the exuberance of your roses is breathtaking.

I prefer a plain cut edge to my beds with lawns, or a stone edging where beds meet gravel. But since our garden is so large, I've had to add a cheaper alternative in many spots and I chose metal edging. The metal does make it very easy for the landscapers to maintain the grass edges as well (they kept cutting back my grass edges too hard and my lawns were shrinking every year! Metal edging has put a stop to that).

Here there is stone edging between the lawn and the hedge and gravel...this is really pretty, but requires weeding between the stones:

More stone edging, and behind it on the gravel paths we used metal edging:

Here are my favourite pics of the metal edging, just after it was installed around this little lattice house and hydrangea hedge:

Here's a closeup of the metal...this is the bourbon rose 'Blanche Lafitte' which I'm training to grow on this stone wall:

Perfection! I have no place for gravel paths, but I've saved your pics anyway! That's a new pic of the lattice house I don't recall seeing before. I made sure when doing the brick to leave no space for weeds! I feel for you.

Rosylady-

Better Homes and Garden & Fine Gardening should visit your property. Geesh!! Such beauty, vigor, and health!

I couldn't agree more, Lynn. OMG! I'm just now noticing the wisteria? and another natural wood lattice structure. Hmmmm.

Thank you Lyn and Vaporvac! And I do have a new lattice "house", which I need to figure out which rose to grow on...I will do a seperate post about it soon!

Thank you Jackie for the extensive information and beautiful photos.

Rosylady your garden is a dream. The gravel with stone edging looks like a very good combination.

Titian, I too have used plastic but black plastic. Its durability and blending in well surprised me but it requires resetting or, even better, replacing. My problem with it (besides being plastic which I have never been fond of) is that some of it must make a curve on a slope and it doesn't seem to be able to make the proper contortions. That caused it to sit high enough to be caught by the lawn mower.

Vaporvac, that saw toothed set brick looks majorly labor intensive. The flat brick at its base is perfect for the lawn mower though and a maintenance necessity.

Some of you have used metal but the top edge looks wider, which is good, than I have been able to find. I have thought of brick or stone with metal on the grass side but I am still dithering.

Cath