Garden bed edging provides your outdoor landscape with a clean aesthetic and highlights the style of your garden. It makes your plants stand out while preventing soil and mulch from spilling onto pathways. Your garden bed edging material should be selected based on your needs and fit with your decor style. Adding a border to your garden is a great way to create a distinction between your garden and lawn or gravel areas. Materials such as corten steel edging are excellent solutions, as they are known for their durability and aesthetics.
Garden edging will help control plant growth and provide the finishing touch that pulls everything together. Whether you DIY it with repurposed materials or invest in sleek modern edging, these ideas prove that small yards can make a big statement. Below, we have gathered a collection of creative garden edging ideas that are perfect for any size of yard—each designed to be unique and stylish.
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1. Rusted Galvanized Steel Edging.
The bed edge is 16 gauge cold-rolled steel. Any steel yard will have this product. A chemical solution was used to remove the black carbon to have this rust effect. (note: it is messy and hard work, and cor-ten, despite its cost, would be much more worth it). The back side was painted with rust-preventing paint, the front was patinaed so it would rust immediately, and a 2-part clear coat was applied to protect it. Without the protection, the metal would fail in 3-5 years. The bed is joined by overlapping steel ends and through bolting. The curves are supported by the soil and the curves themselves. And just sitting on the ground. All in all, it’s pretty low-tech. Interesting Fact: The metal doesn’t seem to cause heat problems. The raised bed situation and possibly the metal edge help warm the soil up so that you can plant earlier in the year. (via OLIVINE Land)
2. Steel Garden Edging.
Design your garden with a feature border using metal edging. This edging is available in corrosion-resistant finishes or in an unfinished form, as pictured above. (via Abilitybox by Skemah)
3. Rock Border.
A gravel path leads the viewer around the south lawn, unfolding changing views at every turn. The path’s walking surface is made of 3/4″ crushed shale. The larger rocks are black basalt. Question: When pouring the gravel, how deep should you dig to remove the soil before placing landscaping weed paper and then pouring the gravel? Answer: Four to six inches is a suitable depth for path excavation. (via Fifth Season Landscape Design)
4. Cobblestone Edging.
The hardscape appears like concrete, but it is actually large granite slabs. They are from a supplier called Rockport Granite in Maine, supplied by Hales Landscaping. The blue/purple flowering plants are Salvia. The pink and white flowers are Daisies and Purple Coneflower. The edging stones are granite cobblestones available at your local landscaping supply house. (via Amy Dutton Home)
5. Living Edges with Shrubs.
The beautiful, hardy-looking plant that borders this pathway is a variety of lavender. This iconic perennial shrub thrives in dry gardens and creates a lush, living border. (via Taylor Tripp | Landscape Design)
6. Create A Secret Garden Retreat.
This secret garden provides a peaceful place to relax. A pathway of brick leads through the garden, and the border is rope edging made of concrete. (via 1 to One Garden Design)
7. Natural Edges For A Pathway.
This gravel pathway features steel edging, almost completely hidden, but vibrant wildflowers spilling over the edges. Flowers include Geums, nepeta, hardy geraniums, foxgloves, and Lupins bowing out to towering delphiniums and spires of Veronicastrums. Roses fill the air with sweet fragrance, myrrh, old rose, and fruity. Valerian adds a subtle musky vanilla. (via @thegardeningkind)
8. Choose Steel Edging.
This corten steel edging adds so much beauty to a garden. No more worry about plants being hit by the weed wacker and no more grass and weeds crawling in. A similar edging (and easy to install) can be found at @edgingengineered. (via @stratagreen)
9. Attractive Brick Border.
The border of this free-form pebble walkway around the garden is a yellow fire brick set in mortar. The spinning copper sprinkler at the heart of this garden is made to go on the end of a hose. It was “hard-piped” and put on an automatic sprinkler valve. The sprinkler was purchased at Copper Frog Studio. The landscape architect used 3/8″ Del Rio gravel (from the Ventura River area) on these paths. The tree is a CA Pepper tree (Schinus molle). (via Grace Design Associates)
10. Make A Garden With Stone Edging.
This small garden features stone edging to define the garden with a stone river bed for drainage. (via Encore Landscaping)
11. Eye-Catching Border Of Ledgestone.
The garden border is Montana slate ledgestone (you may be able to find this at your local stone yard). The small light blue flowers around the edging are called blue star creeper or Isotoma Fluviatilis, an excellent selection for groundcover. A word of caution: it can get very invasive. It’s not an ideal choice if you want it contained. The evergreen shrubs are Hebe Buxifolia. The pink flowers are geraniums. The deep blue-purple spikey plant is Veronica spicata ‘Royal Candles.’ There is also a deep pink variety of Veronica spicata ‘Red Fox.’ They are quite easy to grow in sun or part sun. The flower spikes last around 4 weeks, and if you deadhead right after flowering you might get a few more flower spikes come up in late summer. The large green shrub at the back of the image is called “Ilex crenata.” The pavers are called “Old Dominion” circle from Mutual Materials in a ‘Harvest” color with a ‘Charcoal’ Roman paver. (via Classic Landscaping + Nursery)
12. Use Edging to Define A Central Garden Bed.
Add paver edging to your flower beds to help define your yard and increase your curb appeal. The white flowers are called ‘White Swan Coneflower.’ The pink flowers are a mix of ‘Summer Beauty Allium’ and ‘Millenium Allium.’ Ferns and hostas thrive in the shade underneath the large trees along the sides of the garden. For the central fountain, the homeowner pours a cup of apple cider vinegar into the water once a week to keep the fountain algae-free and to provide quality drinking water for the birds. (via @betterhomesandgardens and designed by Austin Eischeid Garden Design)
13. Define Your Backyard Oasis.
This beautiful landscape features a deck with steps leading down to bluestone pavers with a small garden defined by curved steel edging. A cozy fire pit area has a wooden bench seat. Plants include spotted gum, bromeliads, and succulents. (via @jake_baturynsky_gardens)
14. Create A Stone Ledge Border.
The stone used is Vermont schist, which a local stone mason can cut to order. The lavender-purple flower in the bottom left of this photo is Lemon Thyme, a summer-flowering, sun-loving, low-growing perennial herb. (via Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio)
15. Wooden Post Mini Walls.
The wooden posts used to create this rustic beach garden border are timber. They also form an intimate sitting area within the garden. They are Cupressus Macrocarpa cut to railway sleeper dimensions (200mm x 100mm approx). It was supposed to be recycled hardwood sleepers, but this was substituted for them. It looks wonderful but is not really all that durable on the ground. It cannot be treated as such, so the contractor painted the sections below ground level with a waterproofing compound.
The grassy moss covering is a native New Zealand plant, Scleranthus Biflorus. It does not need much shade and is a plant of riverbeds and semi-alpine areas and requires an open, sunny situation with good drainage – or they grow more and more open/shaggy and then rot and die. A better choice for a shadier area would be Irish Moss (Arenaria aurea); it looks very similar, just a richer green and not so mounded, more a flatter sheet and a softer plant. If you can find a suitable spot for Scleranthus, plant it with the top 1/2 in a gravel or pebble mulch, not soil. This replicates its normal habitat and avoids the risk of it rotting from below. (via Earthwork Landscape Architects)
16. Concrete Cinder Block.
This raised vegetable garden bed was created out of cinder blocks. It can play double-duty as a garden edge and as a planter for various small flowers. The cinder blocks are a great budget-friendly option for your garden border, and you can leave them exposed or sunken to match your garden preferences. (via This House Of Dreams)
17. Stonework Garden Art.
A creative way to decorate your yard without a lot of plants, creating a low-maintenance yet attractive work of art. This garden design uses a mix of brick, stone, and small pebbles to form geometric patterns and flower shapes within a square border. The entire space has a border of stone pavers for a finished look — perfect for a small yard or to create a decorative garden corner. (via Pinterest)
18. Boulder-Lined Garden Edge.
This home was built on a slope, so the landscape architect created a terraced wall out of boulders and native plant material. The walkway was designed out of irregular limestone. (via yardscapes Inc.)
19. Curved Brick Garden Border.
A great way to boost your curb appeal, this DIY brick border is an excellent budget-friendly option for any weekend warrior (taking just four hours to complete)! It will lend a clean and polished aesthetic to your flowerbed. Not only will this edging look attractive, it will help to keep the mulch in its place, saving time with trimming and weeding. It also provides a great separator from the lawn, so it will not encroach on your flower bed, and it will make lawn mowing a simpler process, as the wheels will be able to glide along the bricks. Get the full DIY tutorial at the provided link. (via Better Homes & Gardens)
20. Wheel Pattern Herb Garden.
This backyard landscape of a home in Edina, Minnesota, features a wheel-patterned herb garden formed with cobble street pavers. The walkway is clay brick pavers, and a white picket fence forms the backdrop. (via Bachman’s Landscaping & Garden Services)
21. Create Edging For Raised Beds.
Define your veggie beds with a stone border. These raised beds of a backyard in Atlanta hold organic garden soil mix that ranges from 8″ – 2′ deep. Planted in this garden are various types of lettuce, kale, parsley, and chives, which are accented by pansies that have edible flowers. After frost, most of this will be removed, and tomatoes will be planted in the center where the soil is the deepest. Basil and mesclun will be planted around the tomatoes. (via Home & Garden Design)
22. Seashell Garden Edging.
If you live by the beach or have a seashell collection that you would like to repurpose, this is an easy and inexpensive way to edge your garden bed. Just be careful not to damage them while edging with the grass trimmer! (via @sandandsisal / Instagram)
23. Curved Paver Edging.
Enhance your curb appeal with a beautiful English garden at the front of the yard. The driveway pavers create a border for this lush garden that features a mixture of perennials, low-maintenance ornamental grasses (Calamagrostis and Festuca), and shrubs. (via @style_my_garden / Instagram)
24. Wood Timber Edging.
This garden features a mix of shrubs, perennials, and annuals. Euphorbia is shown in the foreground of this image. The garden is edged with durable wood pieces for a natural aesthetic. (via @rachaels.garden.diary / Instagram)
25. Enhance Curb Appeal With Cor-ten Steel.
Enhance your curb appeal with this simple yet creative solution to soften and liven a driveway boundary. Cor-ten steel edging forms a low-raised garden, offering a visually striking contrast from the adjacent bluestone cobbles of the driveway. Plantings in the side garden include: Elaeocarpus reticulatus, Sansevieria, Prostrate Rosemary, Rhaphiolepis Oriental Pearl, Santolina, Chamaecyparissus, Zoysia Tenuifolia, and Dichondra Silver Falls. (via @twopalmslandscaping)
26. Recycled Rubber Edging.
Edging your garden bed with recycled rubber offers a cost-effective option that is simple to install. It is flexible to bend to curved garden beds, making it simple for you to achieve your desired look. Additionally, recycled rubber edging can be paired with pavers, bricks, or stones for a contrasting design. This @ezborderedges “Scallop” recycled rubber garden border is . 2” wide, 3.5” tall, in 4-ft lengths, with installation spikes. (via @multyhomelp / Instagram)
27. Gravel Edging.
Define your garden with a gravel walkway. Edge the sides of the garden with small stones. The pathway is 3/8” pea gravel. It can be found in different colorations, but generally speaking, it’s small stones (generally river rocks). It’s very easy to walk on. The pea gravel makes it almost seem like you are walking on a flat, smooth surface. (via @elmcottage1916 / Instagram)
28. Upcycled Flower Bed.
A heart-shaped garden bed is outlined with stones, providing a colorful and fun way to create a small garden on your lawn. (via Barbara Scarton / Pinterest)
29. Curved Edges.
Neat and evenly curved edges are created by using strips of galvanized metal sheeting buried in the ground. This ensures that the lawn grass cannot grow into the surrounding pebbles, rocks, or flowerbeds. Edging the grass is simple and efficient, as mechanical line trimmers can cut right against the metal protruding above ground level. (via The Gardener Magazine)
30. Brick Edging.
In this beautiful French Colonial-style property, bricks are used to edge the path, delineating the planted areas. An antique urn seamlessly integrates into the landscape. It’s a unique piece that helps to enhance the beauty of this magnificent garden. (via Hess Landscape Architects)
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