What are the best vegetable garden edging ideas?
There are many ways to customize your vegetable garden to both make it more aesthetically pleasing and to provide it with protection so that it stays healthy. Garden edging is one such customization that is a superb addition to your outdoor space.
Garden edging can be done with a wide variety of materials including cinder blocks, stones, bricks, logs, gabions, and even recycled dishware. Providing your garden with edging not only gives it style, but also protects it from unwanted weeds and grasses.
In this article, we will explore the six different and interesting garden edging ideas mentioned above and how to apply them to your own garden. Plus, we will discuss in further depth the importance of garden edging, both aesthetically and practically.
if you make a purchase, I may earn a small commission, at no cost to you.
Six Vegetable Garden Edging Ideas
By adding edging to your vegetable garden, you can clearly divide out space that is dedicated to your veggies while also adding a creative touch that goes beyond a normal dirt border. Choosing an edging also gives you the opportunity to make your garden unique and befitting of your own personal style.
Below, we have listed 6 variations of garden edging that are fantastic options to choose from, thanks to their versatility and overall cost effectiveness.
Stones Are Budget-Friendly and Give a Natural Appearance
Stones used as edging materials can be highly useful, as they are very durable and weather resistant, as well as being relatively inexpensive. Additionally, stones provide an opportunity to vary your edging’s appearance by combining different shapes, colors, and sizes.
Another major advantage of using stones is that they may actually improve your overall soil quality. According to the Hartford Courant, stones can help the soil to drain better and protect the soil from erosion and moisture evaporation.
Aside from their benefits for edging, stones may also help compliment other areas of your entire outdoor space. One example is lining walkways or patios with the same stones used to edge your vegetable garden, thus creating a well-designed space with complimentary elements.
Bricks Are Popular for Their Clean-Cut Look and Color
Bricks are a fan favorite among many gardeners, and for good reason. This material is safe for soil and offers a plethora of customization options. Bricks, in fact, may be one of the most versatile materials included in this list, as they can be designed as edging in a multitude of ways and styles.
Like stones, bricks are easily used to decorate and accentuate other areas of your garden and outdoor space as well. Not only this, but bricks can often be bought fairly cheap and in bulk supply, making it easy to get your hands on a lot of them without breaking the bank.
Logs and Lumber Make the Perfect Raised Bed
Both whole logs and planks of lumber can be used to edge gardens. Many gardeners opt for wood for both their garden edging and for additional garden projects, such as raised garden beds. It is important when choosing wood to be aware of what factors make different types of wood good for use in outdoor spaces.
The wood product of your choice should first and foremost be decay resistant. This will help to keep unwanted bugs or bacteria from inhabiting your edging and consequently posing a risk to your vegetables. Additionally, you should seek out hardwood rather than softwood, as hardwood is much more resistant to rotting.
Concrete Blocks Allow For Additional Planting Space with a Modern Flair
Concrete blocks are growing in popularity for use as a garden edging material. Their design in particular is quite ideal for gardens, as they are not one solid block but rather have hollow spaces within their perimeters. This allows for them to double as both an edging material and as additional planters.
However, it should be noted that cinder blocks should not be used for your garden. Often times, many people mistakenly believe cinder and concrete blocks to be the same material. This is not the case, as cinder blocks pose potential threats to edible crops such as vegetables thanks to potential toxic substances from the cinder blocks leeching into the soil.
According to Off the Grid News:
“Garden beds, framed with cinder block, may be fine for flowers and other nonedible plants, but be wary of using them to frame gardens that will be home to edible plants and medicinal herbs. There is the potential for toxic materials to leach from the cinder blocks into the soil.”
Gabions Add Character to Any Garden
A gabion is a wire construction that holds stones, concrete, or other materials within the wire. According to Massachusetts Clean Water Toolkit, gabions are particularly useful in outdoor spaces that may not be totally and instead have slopes, as gabions can effectively drain water and slow down its velocity.
Gabions are a bit more complex to construct and apply as edging compared to the previously covered materials; however, this style does come with its own set of advantages besides just protection from water on sloped surfaces. These advantages include:
- Flexibility and durability to changing weather conditions
- Inexpensive in terms of individual materials needed
- Potential to be portable and easily transferred to different areas
Recycled Dishware is Perfect For Those Hoping to Reuse and Recycle
Now, this option may seem a little strange at first, but using old dishware such as plates and glass bottles can be a great way to combine sustainability with gardening by recycling such objects to be used as garden edging materials. Old china can be found both in your own home and inexpensively at thrift stores and flea markets, and often come in a variety of designs that can add stylistic flare to your garden.
The main issue with using dishware is the potential for breakage, leading to sharp shards of materials such as porcelain and glass in your garden. Luckily, this can be fairly easily avoided by lining either side of the dishware with mulch and dirt to brace it against impacts and changing weather conditions.
The Importance of Giving Your Garden an Edging
As mentioned, there are both aesthetic and practical reasons for adding an edging to your vegetable garden. Vegetable gardens in particular need to be protected in order for your veggies to grow strong and healthy. By providing an edging, you can better prevent the growth of unwanted or invasive weeds and grasses that may potentially compromise your garden’s root health.
Garden edging is also important for space definition and garden containment. Both of these are key for creating a well-utilized outdoor space that efficiently manages whatever space is available.
This is especially important for gardeners who lack large plots of land but still wish to have robust vegetable gardens. Optimization of space and resources available is crucial for this.
Installing Garden Edging
Overall, garden edging is not tremendously difficult to construct or install. The main component to be aware of is that most edging constructions involve the digging of a trench that is a few inches deep to place the edging material inside of.
By digging a trench, this better separates the garden space from the rest of the ground and allows the edging material to do its intended job better. Along with your chosen material, it may also be wise to use a mulch or similar substance to reinforce the garden edge – this will also help with drainage and pest prevention.
Final Thoughts
Adding an edging to a vegetable garden is key in both making the garden space visually pleasing as well as protecting and optimizing the space used. The different materials discussed here are all soil-friendly and provide a wide variety of options for design to make your garden a unique and beautiful space that fits your own personal aesthetic.
Enjoyed this post?
It would be great if you could share it and follow me on Pinterest or Facebook.
