Garden edges, whether flat or raised, are primarily used to contain garden beds, but they are also an integral part of the garden landscape and should be planned accordingly.
Planning garden edgesBegin by drawing a detailed plan of your house and land. Each line that you draw will require some form of edge. It may be a flat edge (often a mowing strip), a raised kerb to retain garden or lawn or to control the flow of water, or a raised garden bed.
Next, you need to decide on the edging material. Consider the style of your home, the degree of formality required, the amount of money you have to spend and how readily the material is available.
As well as the materials discussed below there are less permanent materials, such as plants or the wire borders so popular with Victorian and Edwardian gardeners.
Bricks, pavers and tilesDry-pressed house bricks, which have a `frog' (a depression) on one side, are better for edges than extruded bricks, which have holes running right through the brick.
Raised brick edges can sit directly on the soil, but to prevent sideways movement they are: best contained on one side by a solid surface and on the other by a buttress of concrete.
Clay pavers are used for flat edges such as mowing strips and are laid on the flat, while terracotta tiles are used for raised edges and can be positioned in straight, curved or geometric lines. Like bricks, they are best supported by a solid surface and concrete buttress.
StoneStone makes an excellent hardwearing edging for the garden. It can be cut into regular shapes and the blocks butted closely together, or mortared as for brickwork. If the blocks are laid flush with the ground, a mowing strip will not be necessary. Undressed stone can be laid with or without mortared joints.
ConcreteConcrete can be used to make edgings of any shape or height. It has traditionally been neutral in colour, but the use of oxides to colour concrete is increasingly popular. Concrete strips can also be stamped or stencilled in a variety of patterns.
Precast concrete strips are available from most landscape supply centres.
They are most suitable for straight edging where lengths can be butted together. Other concrete products, such as cobblestones and pavers, are laid in the same way as bricks.
TimberThe simplest form of timber edging consists of lengths of timber (treated pine or durable hardwood) laid horizontally on edge and held in place by timber or metal pegs. When laid horizontally, such timbers are suitable only for straight edging. For curved edges, install these vertically, stacked closely side by side. They can be cut off in a level line or the height can be staggered to create a one up, one down effect.
Old (recycled) and new railway sleepers make ideal edges. They are heavy to move but are strong and fairly durable. Their own weight is usually enough to hold them in place, whether bedded at ground level or raised to create an edge.
Raised garden bedsRaised beds are used to create different levels within the garden, either for aesthetic reasons or to give greater control over growing conditions. Unless you have free-draining, sandy soil you will have to make provision for drainage, usually by making weep holes just above ground level every 600mm or so. It is also a good idea to place a 100mm deep bed of crushed rock, tile or broken brick in the base of the bed before filling it with soil. Check with your local Council on the height a DIYer is allowed to build without engineering details.
Source: Garden Edges & Retaining Walls (Murdoch Books)
8 Comments
I watched BH&G tonight and when watching the raised bed gardening segment, I noticed a white cylindrical "thing" in each garden bed with a clay flower pot saucer on top. What are they there for? Thanks
ReplyEvery time i make a raised bed i use wet over lapping newspapers it keeps out the weeds.
Replyin my opinion, the best way to stop weeds from growing is to put weed mat down, and then put large river bed pebbles over the top. make holes in the weed mat for your plants to grow through. weed mat stops stuff from growing but lets water through. there are 2 grades of weedmatt, get the thicker stuff, available at garden centers. its about a dollar per square meter. i think .this method works because it takes a very long time before the there is sediment on top of the weed mat in which any weeds would grow. the idea is to deprive the weeds of a growing medium. the next best method is to 'shade weeds out' by covering the garden bed with largish course mulch from the nurseries. it is personal preference, as to what appearance you are happy with. councils use the course stuff as it is usually cheap or free for them to obtain as compared to the finer mulches. Weeds will grow in mulched garden beds, especially if the mulch layer is too thin.. . it takes longer for weeds to grow in larger chunks of mulch than in finer ones. the fine ones look great, but unless you are there every week with hand sprayer filled with weed control substance your garden will have weeds within a season or two. whatever mulch you use try to keep it 75-100 mm deep. the deeper the mulch the less chance the weeds in the growing medium will receive light to grow with.. using weed mat under mulch is not something alot of hardened gardeners are fond of, because what happens is that eventually sediment ends up on top of the weed mat over a few years and you end up with stuff growing on top of the weed mat. Also the mulch breaks down and becomes a growing medium eventually. i have seen this for myself. the best weed free gardens i have seen are the ones with pebbles and weed mat, in combination with very occassional weed spray, and mulched garden beds maintained with hand sprayer weekly or fortnightly, depending on the season..
Replyin my opinion, the best way to stop weeds from growing is to put weed mat down, and then put large river bed pebbles over the top. make holes in the weed mat for your plants to grow through. weed mat stops stuff from growing but lets water through. there are 2 grades of weedmatt, get the thicker stuff, available at garden centers. its about a dollar per square meter. i think .this method works because it takes a very long time before the there is sediment on top of the weed mat in which any weeds would grow. the idea is to deprive the weeds of a growing medium. the next best method is to 'shade weeds out' by covering the garden bed with largish course mulch from the nurseries. it is personal preference, as to what appearance you are happy with. councils use the course stuff as it is usually cheap or free for them to obtain as compared to the finer mulches. Weeds will grow in mulched garden beds, especially if the mulch layer is too thin.. . it takes longer for weeds to grow in larger chunks of mulch than in finer ones. the fine ones look great, but unless you are there every week with hand sprayer filled with weed control substance your garden will have weeds within a season or two. whatever mulch you use try to keep it 75-100 mm deep. the deeper the mulch the less chance the weeds in the growing medium will receive light to grow with.. using weed mat under mulch is not something alot of hardened gardeners are fond of, because what happens is that eventually sediment ends up on top of the weed mat over a few years and you end up with stuff growing on top of the weed mat. Also the mulch breaks down and becomes a growing medium eventually. i have seen this for myself. the best weed free gardens i have seen are the ones with pebbles and weed mat, in combination with very occassional weed spray, and mulched garden beds maintained with hand sprayer weekly or fortnightly, depending on the season..
Replyin my opinion, the best way to stop weeds from growing is to put weed mat down, and then put large river bed pebbles over the top. make holes in the weed mat for your plants to grow through. weed mat stops stuff from growing but lets water through. there are 2 grades of weedmatt, get the thicker stuff, available at garden centers. its about a dollar per square meter. i think .this method works because it takes a very long time before the there is sediment on top of the weed mat in which any weeds would grow. the idea is to deprive the weeds of a growing medium. the next best method is to 'shade weeds out' by covering the garden bed with largish course mulch from the nurseries. it is personal preference, as to what appearance you are happy with. councils use the course stuff as it is usually cheap or free for them to obtain as compared to the finer mulches. Weeds will grow in mulched garden beds, especially if the mulch layer is too thin.. . it takes longer for weeds to grow in larger chunks of mulch than in finer ones. the fine ones look great, but unless you are there every week with hand sprayer filled with weed control substance your garden will have weeds within a season or two. whatever mulch you use try to keep it 75-100 mm deep. the deeper the mulch the less chance the weeds in the growing medium will receive light to grow with.. using weed mat under mulch is not something alot of hardened gardeners are fond of, because what happens is that eventually sediment ends up on top of the weed mat over a few years and you end up with stuff growing on top of the weed mat. Also the mulch breaks down and becomes a growing medium eventually. i have seen this for myself. the best weed free gardens i have seen are the ones with pebbles and weed mat, in combination with very occassional weed spray, and mulched garden beds maintained with hand sprayer weekly or fortnightly, depending on the season..
Reply