Top 37 Garden Edging Border Ideas: Spruce Up The Landscape

This collection of garden edging ideas will help you define garden borders, highlight an area, add texture, and dress up your landscape.

Often overlooked, lawn and flower bed edging can play an important role in your landscape design plan to improve your property’s overall curb appeal. Edging simply separates two distinct areas.

Not all of these landscape edging ideas will fit your garden. You may love the look, but they simply may not be practical, affordable or the style of your garden.

Keep in mind that, as with many things in the landscape and garden, there are no hard rules on style. Landscape edging comes down to your taste, creativity, materials and budget.

The one place to slow down is materials that touch the soil around plants you plan to eat, so watch for the safety notes on railroad ties, treated wood, pallets and glass below.

The materials used for edging come in a wide range of choices and combinations: stone, concrete, brick, wood, tiles, metal, plates, glass, gabion, logs, and all kinds of recyclable items.

Let’s face it, upcycling is popular in the garden. Many of the garden edging ideas below use some type of upcycled material, and most photos are credited to where they were found. Let’s get started!

Key Takeaways

Edging can highlight shrubs and trees, contain mulch, keep plants from spreading and reduce mowing time, according to UF/IFAS, so choose a material for the job, your budget and the look you want.
UF/IFAS lists stone, brick, concrete, plastic and aluminum as durable border materials and says all wood edging needs replacing every few years, while Illinois Extension rates plastic edging’s durability as poor.
Clemson Cooperative Extension advises against railroad ties that ooze or smell of creosote and says you can line the inside face of ties with plastic if you use them in a vegetable garden.
UF/IFAS says landscape fabric can damage ornamentals that root into it and makes weeds harder to pull, and recommends organic mulch at 2 to 3 inches deep for weed control.
Look for the stamp on reused pallets: Penn State Extension says heat treatment (HT) causes no risks to humans, while an MB stamp means the pallet was treated with a highly toxic pesticide.

What To Know Before You Choose Edging

UF/IFAS says edging can highlight shrubs and trees, contain mulch, keep plants from spreading, and reduce mowing time, and suggests choosing a material based on your budget and the look you want.

On durability, UF/IFAS lists stone, brick, concrete, plastic and aluminum as durable border materials, and says wood edging is natural and versatile but all wood products need replacing every few years, so choose a wood that resists decay. Extension sources don’t agree on everything.

Illinois Extension calls metal edging, steel and aluminum, the longest lasting. It also says plastic is the most common homeowner choice because it is inexpensive and easy to install, but rates its durability as poor.

Here in Florida, St. Augustinegrass is a common lawn grass, and UF/IFAS says it spreads along the ground on aboveground stems called stolons. Keep that in mind when you decide how deep and how tight your edge needs to be.

Concrete Edging And Curbing

Broken concrete makes for great garden edging. The word “concrete” can sound very hard and cold, but a concrete edge offers lots of design opportunities.

A gloved hand uses a small trowel to smooth a curved gray concrete edge bordering a mulched flower bed with lambs ear plants.

The arrangement of these flat stone or “broken concrete” garden dividers around the corner of the house draws attention to the hostas and other foliage planted against the foundation border edge of the house.

You may have heard that you should lay landscape fabric before edging. UF/IFAS is less sold on it. It says fabric can be difficult to install in an existing mature landscape, can potentially damage ornamentals if they root into it, and can make weeds that grow on top of or through it harder to hand-pull.

For weed control, UF/IFAS recommends organic mulches such as pine bark or pine straw at a depth of 2 to 3 inches.

landscape border ideas – Formed Concrete Garden Border

This edging uses concrete to form a curb. These concrete landscape borders are built onsite and are permanent. You can also stain or paint the concrete. It’s a nice way to edge around a tree.

Rounded gray river stones edge a mulched foundation bed of variegated hostas and ferns beside a metal downspout and green lawn.

Curious about how much concrete curbing costs per foot? It varies a lot with the material, the length and where you live, so get a couple of local quotes before you commit.

Brick Garden Edging

When we think of edging materials in most yard landscaping projects, we think of brick, and as you’ll see, you can use bricks and pavers to create a landscape edge in many ways. One tip from Illinois Extension: make sure the brick or pavers are well fired so they are waterproof.

Neatly assembled stone tiles set flat in a shallow trench create garden edging that forms a nice barrier between the garden bed and grass. It’s a neat, clean look that adds uniformity to the landscape and edges a flower bed with bricks, giving you a clean line to mow along.

A curving row of red bricks edges a green lawn beside blooming magenta bougainvillea planted along a white house wall.

What’s interesting about this garden edging idea is that it is very symmetrical. The square shapes made of 4 bricks look clean and distinct. However, the center of each “square” carries a different design.

You can dress up brick edging in the evening with a rope lighting strip tucked away on the inside of a rock lawn edging. It’s a simple way to add style to the garden, and it looks almost mystical, as if the light comes from nowhere.

We often see bricks used as edging to separate the lawn edge from flower beds. Turning the bricks on their side creates an entirely different look in garden design and offers another way to lay brick edging for front-yard and backyard landscaping.

It is an old style look that has a new style when it comes to the brick. It almost looks like a wave that is leading the way for you.

A beautiful, eye-catching brick garden edging idea because of its symmetrical shape. The tiny blocks inside the edging give it a very suburban look.

Metal Landscape Edging For A Rustic Look and Feel

By raising the garden bed and installing metal landscape edging, this winding “rusty” steel edging creates a contemporary look that draws attention.

A curved rusted-brown steel edging separates a mulched flower bed of silvery lambs' ear and blue fescue grasses from a green lawn near a brick wall.

A note from Illinois Extension on the two common metals: steel edging is relatively expensive and difficult to install properly, while aluminum is easier to work with, but its silver color can look unnatural in many landscapes.

Metal and bricks working together.

Corrugated Steel Panels Installed Vertically As Garden Edging

I love the neat look of this landscape edging idea. It gives a very minimalist garden feel, looks clean and simple. The colors are not too busy, and it makes the yard feel peaceful. As a bonus, the full-size panels didn’t require any cutting of the metal landscape edging.

A curved raised bed edged with corrugated galvanized steel holds echeveria, aeonium, jade plants and ornamental grasses, backed by a slatted wooden fence and lawn.

Metal Edging Laid In A Zig Zag Pattern

The short and long metal edge gives it a very simple look. It’s nothing extravagant or eye-catching, but it gets the job done. Paint the thin steel edge sheets if desired.

A rusted metal edging strip runs in a straight line separating pale gravel from a mulched bed with rosemary and lavender shrubs.

Gabion Wall Used As Edging

This kind of garden edging, called “gabion”, stacks stone in wire baskets. It looks natural yet structured, and it blends in well with the natural environment.

A wire-mesh gabion basket packed with smooth gray river stones forms a low edging wall beside a gravel path, backed by leafy ornamental grasses.

In this photo, the gabion garden wall edging holds plants and soil like a retaining wall, and it also serves as a garden focal piece.

Garden Edging Stone

Stone edging ranks right up there with brick edging as a popular material to separate areas. It does take some heavy labor to get it all in place, but stone edging does produce impressive results.

If the stone’s job is to hold back grass, Illinois Extension says it should be at least 3 inches thick and at least 4 inches wide.

Stone and rocks come in so many shapes, sizes, colors, looks and textures. This lets you use stone stand-alone for edging or combine different stones to create interesting looks.

Stacked Flat Edging Stones

This shows a nice way to edge a flower bed using short flat tiled rocks stacked on top of each other. A simple design with a casual look and feel separates the lawn edge from the mulch and flower bed.

A curving dry-stacked stone wall of flat gray rocks edges a gravel path beside lush ferns and hostas in a shaded woodland garden.

Garden Stones Used As Simple Clean Edging Of A Deck

This is an uncommon way to differentiate the deck from where the garden starts, but it adds a “polish” to the design. The small garden stone rock border makes a world of difference when stepping out to take in the view.

A narrow strip of smooth black river stones runs in a straight line separating a wooden deck from a trimmed green lawn.

Crushed Rock Filling In Between Bricks

This lawn edging idea contrasts brick with a wide strip of crushed rock. The stone’s low height and sudden color change create a clear boundary that doesn’t intrude on the landscape design.

A row of large light gray square pavers forms a garden path edged with dark crushed gravel, bordered by neatly trimmed green lawn grass.

The contrast of light and dark stones along with different sizes complement each other quite well next to the concrete stepping stones. It clearly defines where the walkway ends and the border begins.

Stones Combined with Brick Edging

This edging made up of smooth rocks and bricks gives off a very natural but not too manicured and perfect look. Simple, yet the way it spirals adds impressive flair. As you can see, there are no complicated “install stone landscape edging” instructions. The stones were laid right up to the bricks and followed the garden path.

The graduated stone bed is an excellent contrast. The small stones create a nice transition border, while the large stones make up the bed. It’s a very pleasing way to implement a natural border.

A curved line of smooth river rocks edges a mulched bed of pink, white, and magenta azalea shrubs beside a gravel garden path.

Bowling-ball-size garden edging stones or rocks compose this landscape edging design. The rocks and plants make you feel like you’re walking to or from a beach!

Wood Landscape Edging

Wood, like brick and stone, comes in many forms, from raised garden beds to logs and boards, and as you’ll see, more types exist!

UF/IFAS says all wood products need to be replaced every few years, and Illinois Extension says wood edging stays in place well and creates a nice mowing edge. Before you use railroad ties, treated wood or pallets, read the safety notes below.

Railway Ties As Garden Borders

This garden edging happens to be one of my favorites. Railroad sleepers are placed at angles to the fence, with only one plant (like a sago palm) in each “growing area.” The biggest issue I see comes with maintaining the grass.

A safety note on railroad ties. Clemson Cooperative Extension says railroad ties are treated with a highly toxic, oil-borne preservative called creosote; it advises against using ties that ooze or smell of creosote in the landscape and says old, discarded ties should be used with caution.

Upright weathered log rounds form a curved border edging a gravel path, with lush ferns and dark-leaved shrubs growing behind them in a shaded garden.

If you use ties in a vegetable garden, it says you can line the inside surface, the side facing the bed, with plastic.

University of Missouri Extension adds that creosote may injure or kill plants that come into direct contact with it, that the effect diminishes after a few years, and that ties still oozing creosote or with an intense smell may cause injury.

The EPA notes that creosote-treated railroad ties are sometimes recycled as landscaping timbers and that reuse of creosote-treated wood is not subject to regulation under pesticide laws.

Vertical Railway Sleepers

These railroad ties cut at uneven lengths, make this garden edging unique. It adds a casual look and feel.

We often think of the garden edging as the accent. In a twist, this edging gets an accent with stones resembling two small feet side by side. It shows how using the resources around you can turn simple into beauty.

Rounded wooden log edging borders a raised bed of small palms and pink, white, and red flowering plants against a wooden fence.

This garden edging looks like a miniature fence. It serves as a playful “keep out of my plants” sign.

This garden bed looks similar to the uneven railroad ties, but it uses a landscape timber, and this edging does not vary in height but also delivers a very attractive and natural feel.

Scrap Treated Wood As Garden Edging

The mini boards, possibly from a pallet, are high enough to define the garden bed. Not my style, but that’s OK.

On treated lumber, Clemson says it is advisable to avoid CCA-treated lumber for landscape use, and that ACQ-treated lumber is not expected to have adverse effects on the health of adults and children, according to a 2007 risk assessment it cites.

Weathered gray wooden timbers form a low border along a mulched bed of hostas and shrubs beside a stone path.

If you’re concerned about treated wood in a raised vegetable bed, Clemson suggests a heavy metal soil test and lining the inside surface of the structure with heavy-duty plastic sheeting.

Cut Tree Trunks Laid Out As Edging

You barely notice this edging because of the bottle walkway. There is lots of detail in the walkway, and the edging looks to me like an afterthought.

A curving garden path made of round wood log-end discs set among dark pebbles, bordered by blooming pink, orange, and white flowers.

Garden Edging Made From Pallets

This garden edging looks very “homey,” as though it’s part of a project. The cut-apart pallets give a very western feel.

If you reuse pallets, Penn State Extension says to check the stamp: heat treatment (HT) is a safe option, while a pallet with an MB stamp has been treated with the highly toxic pesticide methyl bromide and should never be used for any home project.

A raised garden bed edged with weathered gray wooden slats holds lettuce, chives, and herbs, standing on gravel before a wooden lattice trellis.

Woven Garden Hoses Used As Edging

A unique and beautiful way to create a one-of-a-kind fence. The best part is breathing new life into old garden hoses destined for the dump.

Braided and Woven Vines

This woven garden edging gives off a rustic feel. This edging idea takes a lot of work.

A low woven willow branch edging between short wooden stakes borders a garden bed of herbs and grasses, with mown lawn and a wooden fence behind.

Manufactured Landscape Edging

For some, the easiest way to edge a flower bed or lawn is to buy a pre-made product from the local garden center. Pre-made, usually plastic, edging installs quickly.

Extension sources split on plastic: UF/IFAS lists it among durable border materials, while Illinois Extension says plastic edging has poor durability, is probably the hardest material to install so it stays put, and that round-top edgings sink less easily than flat types.

EasyFlex No Dig Edging

This manufactured plastic edge material delivers a simple, minimalist look. It’s a quick fix and barely noticeable in any garden.

Inexpensive Garden Edging Ideas: Grey Cobbled Stone Plastic

This manufactured garden edging is thin, made of a plastic material with a brick-edge design face. The extra space lets you plant more flowers and shrubs. The color does not take away from the beautiful colors of the plants.

A hand grips a rubber mallet, hammering a black scalloped plastic edging stake into soil between green lawn and purple flowering plants.

Flexi-Curve Garden Edge

This garden edging makes the space look spotless. The beautifully crafted designs are very eye-catching.

A curved black scalloped edging strip separates a green mowed lawn from a mulched bed filled with blooming yellow daffodils.

This manufactured garden edging looks beautiful in white. It almost looks like it is made of marble. It has a slight slope where the plants sit on top.

Border Landscape Edging Ideas We Can Only Call Unique!

Glass Bottles Recycled Into A Garden Border

Unique flower bed edging ideas! Glass bottles catch the eye. It’s a good craft if you have multiple, uneven-sized bottles, since any size or shape can fit the wall. Not sure about the safety level, though!

Green glass bottles buried neck-down in soil form a curved edging around a dense bed of orange, pink, purple, and white wildflowers.

One thing to weigh: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension tells homeowners to remove toys, limbs, rocks, wire or glass from the yard before mowing, so a wall of glass right along the lawn’s edge deserves a second thought.

China Plate Garden Edging

These dinner plates make a very uncommon way to set up a garden border. Using plates that would otherwise sit in a china cabinet is an excellent way to make use of items that usually remain “off limits.”

Red and white patterned vintage plates stand upright in soil edging a garden bed lined with blooming yellow daffodils beside a mowed lawn.

Terra Cotta Pots Fashioned Into A Garden Border

This garden edging is unlike others. The terra cotta pots laid out make for an interesting, whimsical look. The tubular shape also adds a nice effect.

Scalloped terracotta rope-tile edging curves through gravelly soil beside a clay pot of purple flowers and a metal pot of green foliage.

Collected Bowling Balls Used As An Edging

Not much to say about this landscape edging design. Just an excellent example of quirky garden edging with no rules.

Blue, gray, and burgundy bowling balls line a wet wooden deck edge beside lush tropical foliage bordering a shaded porch.

Collected Hubcaps Made Into Edging

This edging made from hubcaps is a great way to reuse and recycle. These hubcap flowers offer another idea. A fun conversation starter and a unique design. Not sure how much work it would take to collect them all!

Assorted silver hubcaps stand upright in the soil, forming a scalloped edging line between lush green ferns and a mowed lawn beside a yellow house.

Recycled Bicycle Wheels Used As Garden Edging

Bicycle wheels give older bikes a second life. This edging would be a tough one to assemble in many areas, since you would have to find enough bike rims.

A curved dark steel edging strip separates a mulched garden bed with young shrubs and lavender from a neatly mowed lawn near a wooden fence.

Perennials For The Front, Middle And Back Of A Border

Once the edge is in, the plants finish the job. Here are classic border perennials sorted by mature height.

The heights and hardiness zones come from the Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, and the zone ranges run from zone 3 at the coldest to zone 10 at the warmest, with most topping out at zone 8 or lower, so check your own zone before you buy.

For example, the Missouri Botanical Garden says basket-of-gold can be very short-lived in hot, humid summers, and that in the deep South many gardeners grow it as an annual, planting new plants each fall.

A curved metal edging strip separates a mulch-filled garden bed with small boxwood shrubs from adjacent gray stone patio pavers.

Front Of The Border (About 1 Foot Or Less)

Basket-of-gold (Aurinia saxatilis, formerly Alyssum saxatile): 6 to 12 inches, zones 4 to 7.
Plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides): 9 to 12 inches, zones 5 to 9. It spreads by rhizomes and can be somewhat aggressive in good growing conditions.
Mountain rockcress (Arabis alpina): 6 to 12 inches, zones 4 to 7.
Tunic flower (Petrorhagia saxifraga, formerly Tunica saxifraga): 6 to 12 inches, zones 5 to 7. It aggressively self-seeds in the landscape.
Prostrate speedwell (Veronica prostrata, also sold as Veronica rupestris): 6 to 9 inches, zones 4 to 8.

A curved metal edging separates a mulched garden bed with young trees and shrubs from a neatly trimmed green lawn along a dark fence.

Middle Of The Border (About 1 To 3 Feet)

Catmint (Nepeta × faassenii, sold as Nepeta mussinii): 1 to 2 feet, zones 3 to 8.
Columbine (Aquilegia caerulea): 1 to 2 feet, zones 3 to 10.
Fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia): 1 to 1.5 feet, zones 3 to 9.
Baby’s breath, the compact cultivar ‘Compacta Plena’ (Gypsophila paniculata): 1 to 1.5 feet, zones 3 to 9.
Aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium): 1 to 3 feet, zones 3 to 8.
Peachleaf bellflower (Campanula persicifolia): 1.5 to 3 feet, zones 3 to 7.
Sneezewort, ‘The Pearl’ group (Achillea ptarmica): 1.5 to 2 feet, zones 3 to 9. It is rhizomatous and tends to sprawl.
Blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum, formerly Eupatorium coelestinum): 1.5 to 3 feet, zones 5 to 10. It spreads aggressively by rhizomes and self-seeding, and is considered a spreading weed in some areas.
Spiked speedwell (Veronica spicata): 2 to 3 feet, zones 3 to 8.
White sage (Artemisia ludoviciana, which includes ‘Silver King’): 2 to 3 feet, zones 4 to 9. It may spread somewhat aggressively by rhizomes and self-seeding.
Meadow rue (Thalictrum aquilegiifolium): 2 to 3 feet, zones 5 to 8.

A dark metal-edged raised bed lines a mossy cobblestone path, filled with brown mulch and multi-stemmed shrubs against a white wall.

Back Of The Border (Reaching Above About 3 Feet)

Long-leaf speedwell (Veronica longifolia): 2 to 4 feet, zones 4 to 8.
Garden phlox (Phlox paniculata): 2 to 4 feet, zones 4 to 8.
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea): 2 to 5 feet, zones 3 to 8.
Delphinium (Delphinium elatum): 3 to 5 feet, zones 3 to 7.
Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale): 3 to 5 feet, zones 3 to 8.
New York aster (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii): 3 to 4 feet, zones 4 to 8.
New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae): 3 to 6 feet, zones 4 to 8.
Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa, formerly Cimicifuga racemosa): 4 to 6 feet, zones 3 to 8.
Plume poppy (Macleaya cordata): 5 to 8 feet, zones 3 to 8. It spreads somewhat aggressively by rhizomes in good growing conditions.

These edging ideas are only the tip of the iceberg. Just use your imagination! Which one would you try first? Tell me in the comments.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best material for garden edging?

There isn’t one best material. UF/IFAS lists stone, brick, concrete, plastic and aluminum as durable border materials and says wood is natural but needs replacing every few years. Illinois Extension calls steel and aluminum the longest lasting, and rates plastic’s durability as poor even though it is the most common homeowner choice. Pick for your budget and the look you want.

Are railroad ties safe to use for garden borders?

Use caution. Clemson Cooperative Extension says railroad ties are treated with creosote, a highly toxic preservative, and advises against ties that ooze or smell of creosote. It says old discarded ties should be used with caution, and that in a vegetable garden the inside surface can be lined with plastic. The University of Missouri Extension adds that creosote may injure or kill plants that touch it, that the effect diminishes after a few years, and that ties still oozing creosote or with an intense smell may cause injury.

Should I put landscape fabric under garden edging?

UF/IFAS isn’t a fan. It says fabric can be difficult to install in an existing landscape, can damage ornamentals that root into it, and makes weeds that grow on top of or through it harder to hand pull. For weed control, it recommends organic mulch such as pine bark or pine straw at a depth of 2 to 3 inches.

How do I keep grass out of a flower bed border?

Put in a physical edge and mow along it. UF/IFAS says edging can keep plants from spreading and reduce mowing time, and that St. Augustinegrass spreads along the ground on aboveground stems called stolons. For cool-season lawns, Illinois Extension says a hand-cut edge 4 inches deep and wide can contain bluegrass, and stone should be at least 3 inches thick and 4 inches wide.

What perennials work at the front of a garden border?

Choose low growers about a foot tall or less. The Missouri Botanical Garden lists basket-of-gold, plumbago, mountain rockcress and prostrate speedwell at 1 foot or less, in zones 4 through 9 depending on the plant. Check your zone first: it says many gardeners in the deep South grow basket-of-gold as an annual.