Hard lawn edging is a more common choice for many Australian lawn owners these days, which can separate a lawn from a garden. The most often encountered garden edging in the past few decades in Australia has been a concrete edging product, which is applied by the operator via the use of a specialised machine which lays down wet concrete in a shaped form, which then quickly dries out to form a hard and styled and coloured concrete edge as a barrier between lawns and gardens. This was and remains a wonderful invention and tool for lawn owners in this country.
There are of course other hard edging options for lawns such as the laying down of paving for either a garden edge or as a path to also be another type of garden edge. Pavers also make for a stylish garden and lawn landscaping addition.
More rustic or cottage type of garden areas may use the old railway sleepers option, which too still have a place in Australia for use as lawn edging and as the basis for raised garden beds, and sandpits for children too. Just be sure to properly treat this timber prior to being placed into the garden. Treatments will help to prevent rot and pests like termites from ruining the timber. Creosote has been a traditional product for this purpose, though other newer products may now be available.
In recent years though, another new lawn edging product has emerged too…
Steel Garden Edging
I’ve been noticing this more and more often in recent years, and this too has proven to be a wonderful barrier between lawns and gardens. A relatively thin steel strip is placed down into the soil as the barrier to the lawn, thereby stopping lawn runners from entering into garden beds.
The steel garden edging product is rather appealing in its own right and for its own strength. And the main strength of steel lawn edging is the fact that it is nearly invisible to the eye. When installed the steel will create a barrier between lawn and garden, giving a pleasant sharp lawn edge which is appealing to look at, while also stopping any invasion of our lawn grasses into our garden beds.
Steel lawn edging does the job for which it was intended, is almost invisible as the lawn leaf covers over the thin steel edge, and gives our lawns a sharp well maintained appearance. So all in all this new lawn product can only be recommended, I like it, and it works very well for its intended purpose.
The One Problem To Be Aware Of
There is one single major issue that appears over and over again when I do encounter steel garden edging, and that is that it isn’t being installed properly. Yes, the steel edging can be put down in a perfect straightness or a perfect curve, to whatever design best suits the lawn and garden, in this sense it is being installed perfectly.
The problem so often encountered though, is that this steel edging is not being installed high enough. This happens when the person installing the edging has first laid down new roll-on turf, and then they install the steel edging at the same height as the new turf.
And this is where the problem lies.
This new turf will thatch up, that’s what new lawns do. Once the turf has been put into position in whatever area where we’ll be growing that lawn, as it establishes it will also raise in height, and when it does this the new lawn is then sitting higher than the steel garden edging, making it much easier for the lawn to cross over the top of the lawn edging and into the garden beds, thus defeating the purpose of the edging almost altogether.
This problem significantly worsens when Buffalo grass is laid as the lawn. Buffalo lawns will significantly raise in overall height and thatch over time, and will only continue to do so, especially if that Buffalo grass is grown in full sun conditions.
Once the Buffalo raises above the steel edging by a couple of centimetres, we have a real problem, and that problem will continue to worsen over the years as the Buffalo thatch height increases.
The steel edging is wonderful in that we only need to lightly trim the garden edges after mowing with a line trimmer, making for a very quick and easy task to edge our lawns. However when the Buffalo lawn raises higher above that edging, we are then forced to trim the edge with a line trimmer at a severe angle in order to cut off any runners that are making their way over the top of the edging and into our gardens. This is a real nuisance, it’s very difficult to do, and places a real strain on the arms in order to try to position the line trimmer to then cut at the correct angle to fully remove those runners.
The solution to this problem is very simple.
That when we install steel garden edging around our lawn, that we install it higher than the lawn that we are installing. One centimetre higher may be all that’s needed for a Couch or Zoysia lawn, or maybe two centimetres at most if we want to be extra sure. It won’t harm the lawn at all, and it should still remain rather hidden to the sight, while ensuring that we are stopping the majority of lawn runners from ever entering into our gardens.
Buffalo grass lawns once again need a slightly different approach, whereby knowing full well in advance that our lawn will raise its height and thatch layer much higher than the height we see after installing the new roll-on turf, that we plan for that more so. Installing steel garden edging around new Buffalo lawns should then be done at a more generous height allowance of at least three centimetres above the height of the newly installed lawn, four centimetres higher is also acceptable, just to be sure.
Steel garden edging is a wonderful new addition for our lawns and gardens, all we need do when we install it around a new lawn is to make allowance for the future natural height of the lawn itself, so that the lawn and the edging may be at about the same height. This way we can have our steel edging working to its peak performance for its intended purpose.
WARNING: installing a steel garden edge around an area of lawn which is used by foot traffic can present a tripping hazard. Raised steel garden edges should only be done in areas where there will be no foot traffic.
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