Landscape edging is an excellent way to highlight your outdoors and infuse more personality. Edging or borders establish a defined space, giving your yard a more complete look.
While defined landscape edges are sure to add visual interest to your space, the type of edging you choose also plays a crucial role in how your plantings grow. Common landscape edging materials include metal, wood, plastic, concrete, natural stone/rock, mulch, or plants.
We’ve compiled several creative landscape edging ideas that will protect and highlight your garden beds and lawn while keeping everything else neat and delightful.
Take a look!
1. Complement the Façade
Add rustic charm to your landscape with a natural-looking edging that will last a couple of years before you replace it.
The rocks used here make a bold edge and create a clear, distinct separation between the lawn and the gravel garden. The gravel bed emphasizes the rustic edging.
2. Try Corrugated Metal Edging
Bring a touch of style to your landscaping with an inexpensive edging idea that adds definition to your yard. This black corrugated metal edging creates a clean, defined border for the flower bed.
The material is rust-resistant, flexible, strong, and suitable for both straight and curved spaces, adding depth and contemporary elegance to your outdoors.
3. Opt for Steel
Metal edging is low maintenance, easy to install, and creates crisp, clean lines. Furthermore, there are several options that you can explore, including steel, aluminum, and others, depending on your preference.
Here, weathered steel edging keeps the wild perennials of this flower bed from encroaching into the neat lawn. The weathered look of the edging creates a contrasting outline, highlighting the vibrant colors of the plantings.
4. Pour some Concrete
One popular choice for landscape edging is poured concrete. Here, black concrete edging creates a clear definition of the yard and the garden. The edging adds some organic curves to the space, with the white and black pebbles for the garden bed helping add depth through contrast.
Consider hiring an expert for this idea to avoid any mistakes. Nonetheless, when done right, you’ll have a beautiful, sturdy edge that offers the perfect blend of function and form and stands the test of time.
5. Stack some Stones
Stacking stones is an inexpensive landscape edging idea. Here, pieces of flagstone were stacked along the garden edge, creating a rustic division of the garden and yard. The stones also give the yard a classic country garden appearance.
6. Go for Rubber Edging
Recycled rubber edging is an eco-friendly and sustainable option for defining your landscape. Here, sustainability meets style with scalloped recycled rubber edging.
The edging makes a striking border, with its flexible design allowing for creative and versatile landscaping solutions.
7. Cater to Corners
Make more of a statement with a mow-over edging. Here, a low-maintenance brick edging sits against the lawn, creating a clean edge.
This is a simple DIY landscaping solution for backyard corners, and you can easily mow over the brick edging without a fuss.
8. Create a Cohesive Look
Corten, also known as weathering steel, is a popular material for landscape edging and creating raised beds. The corten steel edging used in this front yard garden provides structure and a sleek design while adding rustic flair with its weathered look.
The edging matches the brown chip mulch for a cohesive look, with the soft, airy plantings bringing the garden to life. A white planter adorned with Aloe plicatilis (fan aloe) sitting at the end of the garden provides the perfect finishing touch. Although it’s a bit tricky to install, this edging will last a lifetime!
9. Define a Walkway
Individual granite rocks line this gravel walkway, dividing the garden into several sections while making access and maintenance much more manageable.
The contrasting rocks create an enchanting pathway that doesn’t take anything away from the lush flowers and foliage.
10. Go Natural
Consider a pebble border for an inexpensive landscape edging idea to separate the lawn from the garden.
Here, the natural stone edging brings timeless charm to the yard and creates a colorful profile with the brown triple shred mulch and neat lawn.
11. Add River Rocks
An edging of steel and river rocks separates this long, narrow front garden from the lawn and driveway.
The garden bed contains varied textures and colors that provide an organic complement to the metal border, river rocks, and garden mulch.
12. Tidy Up your Yard
The sturdy and natural-looking edging in this idea makes a timeless border for the small lawn area.
Part of the edging has been raised to prevent rocks from the gravel bed along the fence from spilling over to the lawn, but it also brings added depth and height to the design.
13. Wall Blocks Edging
Bring structure and a subtle element of sophistication with Ladera wall block edging. The sleek design of these wall blocks creates a visually appealing border that helps define the flower bed.
Colorful blooms effortlessly elevate the outdoor space’s overall look.
14. Create Contrast
Black mulch and river rocks are a clever combination of natural materials for landscape layout ideas, and when it comes to edging, the two can be used with or without a roll of plastic or metal edging.
Here, river rocks separate the garden from the lawn, providing a clean, low-maintenance edge. Black mulch creates a lovely contrast with the rocks while allowing the boxwood bushes to take center stage for a modern front yard.
15. Polish the Edging
Installing a polished concrete curbing edge can offer a stylish yet classic feel. This landscape edging idea is more challenging and needs a professional to install it rather than conduct it as a weekend DIY project. The green lawn pops when set by the dark gray edging and driveway.
16. Create Multiple Beds
Here, brick pavers have been used to define several garden beds. This landscaping project might be pricier than the average edging since you’ll be using more materials.
Nonetheless, you’ll be left with a statement-making yard like the one featured above, which is what you might just be looking for!
17. Boulder Edging
Using small boulders as edging is an excellent idea to give your landscape a natural look. Here, boulders cordon off a small flower bed from the rest of the yard for a subtle focal point.
Go for multicolored rocks for a unique garden edge that won’t put a hole in your wallet!
18. Go with the Flow
Most metal landscape edging ideas are no-dig, meaning you only need to hammer them into the ground. Here, gauge steel edging offers a rustic fusion of structure and style for the vegetable garden.
The galvanizing of the steel was removed with a chemical solution to give it the rusted effect. The flexible metal makes it easy to create curves, which are supported by soil by just sitting there on the ground. Wear heavy gloves when handling this project since the steel can be hard on your hands while installing.
19. Create Rows
@Artemis Landscape Architects, Inc.
Choose inexpensive materials such as pavers, then create rows for a striking landscape edging idea.
Here, several rows of concrete pavers create the perfect edge to separate the driveway and the garden while highlighting the long beds of vinca and boxwood.
20. Consider Sandstone Edging
Brick pavers in different shades create a visually striking driveway, which is edged with sandstone for a refined look. A small seating area and colorful plantings make this front entrance look picture-perfect!
21. Beautify with Stone
Here, extreme stone edging separates a well-manicured lawn from a formal garden. The stones used for the edging have a different color than those for the garden bed, adding variety to the space.
The textural Podocarpus macrophyllus ‘Variegatus’ elevates the look of this garden.
22. Bring a Rustic Feel with Wood
Wood is another excellent way to create a natural border between your garden and yard. Here, small wooden logs were used to edge a raised flower bed, adding organic warmth to the space.
The rustic edging not only frames the flower bed but also complements the natural surroundings. The logs are easy to replace if required.
23. Border a Tropical Oasis
Modernize your landscape with the minimalist curves of concrete curbing. Here, a curved concrete edging separates the lawn from a garden filled with tropical plants, including Thaumatophyllum xanadu, Cordyline fruiticosa ‘Black Magic’, bromeliads, Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Firewitch’ and a Pygmy date palm tree.
Once more, ensure you use a contractor or professional for this project to avoid the nightmares that come with the costly removal and reinstallation of the curbing. Also, avoid installing the edging too close to a tree that will grow large—the roots will lift the edging and break it!
24. Build an Interesting Design
Landscape edging ideas can also give your outdoors some character. Here, building blocks stacked upon each other create a raised flower bed and a rustic edging that separates the garden from the lawn. For this one, you can save the money for hiring someone to install the edging since it’s an easy DIY project.
25. Keep it Simple
Landscape edging ideas don’t get more rustic and simple than this. This inexpensive garden border uses stones for the edging.
The stones are easy to find and will create a natural-looking garden edge that will last for years to come.
26. Go for a Small Design
Here’s another affordable way to bring a natural look to your landscape. The contrast between the black mulch and the rock garden border adds a decorative touch to this space.
As the flowers and foliage grow to their full potential, the rocks will continue to provide a neat edging.
