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What are the Different Options for Decorative Edging?
Decorative edging provides an attractive border around gardens, walkways, and driveways. There are a number of different options for decorative edging. Materials such as fencing, bricks, and natural stone are often used for edging purposes. Molded concrete and landscaping timbers also make decorative edging material. A row of plants or low-wattage lighting can provide a decorative border as well.
Sections of low picket fencing can be placed along the edge of a garden to create a decorative boundary between it and the lawn. Picket fence edging can be painted in a variety of colors to compliment the surrounding landscape. Trellis edging is another option for creating attractive borders around a garden or flowerbed. This type of decorative edging can be a good choice for gardens containing climbing plants and vines.
Brick edging can be arranged in a variety of ways to make a decorative border. This edging material is available in many different colors, shapes, and sizes. Bricks can be laid end-to-end, stacked, or partially buried to create a unique design. Sizes and colors can also be intermingled to make interesting patterns. Decorative brick edging may be installed with mortar for extra durability.
Natural stone edging is available in many different materials such as marble, granite, sandstone, travertine, and bluestone. This decorative edging material provides a natural look to a garden or driveway. Most natural stone edging is quite colorful and can be laid flat or stacked together to form a low wall. This type of edging material may also be combined with landscaping stones to create elaborate garden designs. Natural stone edging can sometimes be used to enhance other garden features such as fountains and waterfalls.
Another decorative edging option is molded concrete. This material is laid in an unbroken line along a garden or driveway using an extrusion process. Molded concrete can be stained to almost any color or stamped and painted to look like brick, stone, or wood. Landscape timbers may also be used for a decorative edging material. These wooden planks can be installed horizontally or cut into short pieces and arranged in a vertical manner.
A row of plants can also serve as decorative edging for gardens and walkways. These plants may be the same variety or mixed together for added color or texture. The use of smaller varieties along the edge will allow the taller interior plants to be seen. An arrangement of low-wattage lighting can also be utilized as edging. This lighting can be imbedded in molded concrete or attached to small stakes to illuminate a driveway, walkway, or garden during the nighttime hours.
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![A house with a picket fence.]()
A house with a picket fence.
Discussion Comments
@kylee07drg – Wow, a row of garden gnomes would make some rather ugly edging! I don't like garden statues, but I do love solar garden stakes, so I decided to use them as decorative edging.
I bought the kind that change colors every few seconds. I have some dragonfly, hummingbird, butterfly, lily and daisy LED solar garden stakes, and they make my garden beautiful at night.
I had a plan when I started collecting these. Rather than just use them as decorative edging, I wanted to use them as stakes to hold up my gladiolus when they get tall.
This will be my first year growing them, and other gardeners have told me that I will need to support them with stakes. I think that using the solar light decorations as stakes will make for a much prettier garden than using regular old green metal stakes.
I have a friend who is obsessed with garden gnomes, and she decided to use these statues as edging for her garden. She placed them elbow to elbow and lined the entire thing with them, and I think it looks so tacky!
I knew that I wanted something much more natural looking for my flower bed edging, so I went with natural stone. I got it from a garden center, and though it was more expensive than some other types of edging, it looks amazing.
I stacked the stone about seven layers high all around. The small depressions and lumps in the stones help them cling to each other, and I've never had problems with the design falling apart.
Trellises make a great garden edging if you have climbing plants. I have some climbing purple roses that are the star of my garden, and the trellis serving as the background supports the plants themselves.
I chose to leave the wood its natural color, since the climbing plants could cause paint to chip. The wood is treated, so it will resist warping and insects.
In summer, the purple roses and the vines cover the trellis so much that it becomes a wall of flowers. It is the most beautiful edging I have ever used, and it is also the most dramatic.
I think that yellow sedum makes a great plant for decorative edging. It grows low to the ground and spreads out several inches, so you can get ground cover by just planting a few of them about a foot apart.
The green leaves look like succulents, so the plant appears to be full of moisture and healthy. The yellow flowers are bright and cheery, and they add color and interest to any flower garden. Red varieties are also available.
This plant is an annual, though, so you will have to plant it every year if you want this type of edging over and over again. Since it spreads so much, it is pretty low maintenance, and it really cuts down on weed growth.
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