[Jamie Butterworth]

I need some ideas on what to use as edging for a border for a flower bed and a border for a pebbley path, i had some of them half log thingys in mind but dont know much about them or where to buy them

[Y.E.A.H]

i sometimes use small slabs dug in the ground a bit as edging 

[Trillium]

I'd go with small slabs as well - they'll hold up better and longer than anything wood.

I'm currently re-edging all my veg beds and paths with 4"w x 12"l  concrete (cinder) blocks because I have a home garden for this sort of permanency. I've turned the blocks so the closed side is up to keep out pests. Any that have openings are filled with pea gravel for the same reason.

On the base I've laid out heavy weed barrier and a thin layer of pea gravel for drainage so the blocks don't crack with water buildup and freezings.

All were joined together with tubed landscape block adhesive (the kind of tubes you put into caulking guns) to close out weed roots and soil seepage and maintain stability. Eventually I'll add a top course of something attractive (and affordable).

[arugula]

I think you can buy those half log thingys on a roll in most DIY/garden centre type places.  We dug a bed last year in a silly triangular corner of the lawn and is it now edged with some roof tiles which were kicking about. These are placed on edge standing longways and overlapped as their shape dicatates and as they would be on the roof.

[smud6ie]

I'd go with small slabs as well - they'll hold up better and longer than anything wood.

I'm currently re-edging all my veg beds and paths with 4"w x 12"l  concrete (cinder) blocks because I have a home garden for this sort of permanency. I've turned the blocks so the closed side is up to keep out pests. Any that have openings are filled with pea gravel for the same reason.

Have your cinder blocks been out in severe frosts,I have had some  of them stacked outside for a few years and all thats left is a heap of chippings.
smud6ie

[Trillium]

Yes, mine are mostly in the ground with a few inches showing, and I still have a stack waiting for this spring. We get -3C on good warm winter days, -11C on less nice days, and about -18C in evenings, so yeah, lots of frost and freezing cold. Around -22C daytime on particularly nasty cold snaps.

I bought the true concrete building blocks, not just cheap pavers as I wanted them to hold out better. These are the blocks that house foundations are built with. I bought 4" wide ones for most of the garden edgings and 8-10" wide blocks for stepped areas that support the soil on hills. Those are stacked 2 or 3 levels high, depending on the area, and were 'glued' with the landscape block glue. These are exposed on the south side to both sun and our bitter winters, and are still holding out beautifully as I expect them too. Because they're the same blocks my raised house foundation is built from.

If yours crumbled so quickly, you'll want to find a better supplier.

[Paul Plots]

As argyille says you can buy rolls of half-log edging but it is quite expensive even for the smallest size. The half-logs are joined together with galvanised wire so bend to shape easily. I bought a strip or two at a local garden centre several years ago to make a small circular bed to house a new tree.

Apart from cost (if you have a lot of edging to do) the other down-side is that they do not last for more than a very few years before the stapes holding them to the galavanised wire fall out... they will also eventually rot.

Again as argyllie suggests reclaimed / second-hand roofing tiles will last for years. They are easy to use either standing on end with a fair portion in the ground or placed length-wise so they go further. I imagine that you could pick these up quite cheaply at a salvage yard or a builders yard. You might be lucky enough to find someone re-tiling their roof and happy for you to take them away!!  They'd look good if they weren't brand new too. 

[juliec]

you have all just given me an ideal border for some new raised beds... the unused patio flags that have been stacked at the bottom of the garden for 2 years.

thank you. if theres a reason I sould not use these please let me know.

jools

[Paul Plots]

you have all just given me an ideal border for some new raised beds... the unused patio flags that have been stacked at the bottom of the garden for 2 years.

thank you. if theres a reason I sould not use these please let me know.

jools

I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't but mind your back!! 

[arugula]

Again as argyllie suggests reclaimed / second-hand roofing tiles will last for years. They are easy to use either standing on end with a fair portion in the ground or placed length-wise so they go further. I imagine that you could pick these up quite cheaply at a salvage yard or a builders yard. You might be lucky enough to find someone re-tiling their roof and happy for you to take them away!!  They'd look good if they weren't brand new too. 

This is why we had these hanging around. Our roof needed a few tiles replacing and these were obtained but turned out to be slightly the wrong profile to match, but they are lovely and weathered and I'm glad we have put them to some use.

[smud6ie]

If yours crumbled so quickly, you'll want to find a better supplier.

I was confusing your terminology of "Cinder" thinking you were using a breeze block for the edging.We use Cinder/Breeze blocks on internal where they don't absorb water and freeze!

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-cinder-blocks.htm

Smud6ie

[Thrift]

Because we have lots of stone ( it's my main crop in the garden  ) I use it for all my edgings and raised beds. I also save all the small ones as packing when repairing old walls. That thought makes me want to get going mixing mortar ..... shame it's raining 

[RichardA]

My experience with half log thingy's is they either rot or the wire rusts or both. (mine were from ARGOS so perhaps cheap end of market) I use path edgings or broken slabs with the broken edge buried -- I have used timber well treated as well especialy when I need an upstand to form a raised bed such as in polytunnels but mostly I dont bother with edgings.
R

[Paul Plots]

I guess "edging" is for decorative purposes unless used to increase the height of a bed or retain lose materials along a path?

Personally I'd prefer not to have any edging at all as it allows rotten little weeds to creep in underneath. 

[savbo]

Wine bottles, neck down, buried 2/3 of their depth are surprisingly robust and attractive too