Elevate Your Garden Space with Metal Edging

There are several key structures I use in every single one of the kitchen gardens I design for my clients. One of those structures is the raised bed, of course, but another is the border. Borders separate the garden from the rest of the landscape and help prevent grass and other vegetation from growing where it's not wanted. Borders also help contain whatever material you're using around your garden beds, whether that's gravel, mulch, or something else.

There are many different garden edging ideas you could use for your space. There's brick, stone, plastic, and rubber, to name a few. I personally love using steel edging. It's a little less expensive than brick or stone, for one. It also has a much thinner profile, which is ideal if you want your edging to blend in with the rest of your landscape. Finally, it's way more durable than plastic and rubber.

Steel edging is perfect to create a nice, clean border between your lawn and your kitchen garden. Here's what to look for when you're purchasing metal garden edging and the step by step to install it in your garden space.

What to Look for When Buying Steel Edging

Here are some things to keep in mind when shopping around for your steel edging:

• Buy a variety that has ground spikes. These not only help you install the edging, they also keep it in place over time.
• Go for the tallest option you can find. I recommend going for 5 inches so that you can bury the edging deep enough to keep out grass from your lawn but still have enough metal aboveground to contain soil, gravel, or mulch in the garden space.
• Check the gauge of the steel. If you shop at a landscaping supply store, you'll likely find a thicker-gauge steel than at a big box store. Buy the thickest steel you can afford to maximize durability. Choosing the best possible materials within your budget can really make a difference in the longevity of your garden and landscaping.
• I recommend using edging that has a lock system where one piece slides into the next one. That way, you don't need to have connector clips, which can interrupt the sleek appearance from the outside. I like the gardens I design to look as though they're surrounded by one long piece of steel edging.

You can find the steel edging that I used here in my Nashville garden in the Gardenary Shop. It comes in four different colors (brown, black, slate, and Corten steel) so that you can match your edging to your kitchen garden or home. It's designed to be installed as easily as possible (sorry, you still have to put in some muscle when it comes to digging). Each piece is made of 16-gauge steel and powder coated for maximum strength and durability.

Tools & Supplies Needed to Install Metal Edging for Landscaping

In addition to your steel edging, you'll also need most, if not all, of the following tools and supplies (depending on the type of edging kit you buy):

• sharpshooter shovel or edging tool*
• screwdriver
• stakes and string (don't use fishing line or anything that'll be hard to see) and/or spray paint
• small saw or cut-off tool**
• tape measure
• rubber mallet
• pencil or chalk
• a block of scrap wood

*You can buy or borrow a cordless edger. I highly recommend a simple, inexpensive edging tool that uses good ol' manual labor. It allows you to make a clean, deep trench when installing your garden edging. Whichever you buy, you can use it afterwards to keep your lawn tidy.

**Depending on the gauge of steel you buy, you may need a little saw to help you make indentions in the pieces for easier shaping around corners in your garden.

Finally, grab a buddy if you have one. It's totally doable to install metal edging on your own, but having a partner makes it a little easier!

How to Calculate How Much Garden Bed Edging You'll Need

Use a tape measure to measure the perimeter of your garden space that will be edged. Divide the total perimeter length by the number of feet your garden edging will cover.

Be careful because many steel edging kits have a bit of an overlap between the pieces. Each section of our Gardenary steel edging, for instance, is 39 inches long, but there's about a 2-inch overlap thanks to the locking system. That means the five pieces that come in each pack will cover about 15.5 feet of space. So make sure you're ordering how many packs you need based on the expected length it'll edge.

All right, now let's look at the three steps to install your edging. Grab your digging tool of choice. You're about to get a whole-body workout!

Mark the Border Where Your Edging Will Go

One of my pet peeves is when I see a garden with a crooked border. It's so simple to create a nice, straight line for your steel edging. You can either use some stakes and string or spray paint to mark your line. I often use both just to be sure!

Start by hammering in stakes at the corners of your garden. Add a couple more stakes down the length and width of your space. Use a tape measure as you go along to make sure you're staying the same distance from stationary objects (your raised beds, house, fence, etc.).

Tie your string to each stake and run it down the perimeter of your garden space. Put the string at the height you'd like the top of your edging to be, and make sure it's pulled as tight as possible. You want your straight line to be really visible as you work. This is when you could also come in with spray paint to maximize visibility.

Dig a Trench Along the Perimeter of Your Garden Space

Digging first makes installing the actual edging much easier. It also ensures you can place the edging as deep as possible so that you don't have a tall lip around your kitchen garden. You don't want to just stick your edging in the ground—even edging that has spikes all along the bottom for "no dig" installation—unless you have extremely pliable soil.

Move down the straight line you've created with your edger or shovel. You don't have to dig up any soil or anything because your edging pieces are so thin. You just need a narrow trench that will allow you to slide your pieces down inside. Trust me: digging first will require a lot less banging to get your steel pieces in place.

Connect Edging Pieces & Slide into Trench

The hardest part of installing edging is doing the corners. So I actually recommend starting with a corner.

As I said, some metal pieces need to be first cut with a saw to make an indentation so that they can be molded into a sharp turn.

Most pieces, however, can be bent around a hard surface like a wooden block or brick. You might need to use a mallet or hammer to help shape the corner if you want a 90° angle.

Slide the corner piece into the trench you've dug around one edge of the garden. Then add the next piece.

The way you'll connect pieces depends on what type of kit you've purchased. If your steel edging comes with stakes, you'll use your mallet to hammer the stakes in place to connect two pieces. You can strike the metal stake directly, or what I like to do is place a piece of scrap wood in between and hammer on the board instead. This is especially important for preserving a thinner piece of edging—you don't want to bang it up so soon!

If you're using the Gardenary kit, then you'll want to make sure you're placing each piece so that the locking system (the side with the bumps) is on the inside of your garden. That way, you'll have a nice, smooth appearance from the outside. All you have to do is pull up two sides from the trench a little bit so that you can connect them. One edge of each piece has two holes that the tabs on the next piece can slide right into. Use a screwdriver to help you slide and lock each little tab into place.

As you go along, check that you're maintaining a straight line.

When you come to another corner, use a pencil or piece of chalk to mark on an edging piece where the bend needs to be. Now you have some experience making those corner pieces.

Use your mallet and a wooden block to drive any pieces farther into the ground as needed. Hopefully, pre-digging the trench will make it super easy to just push each piece into place.

You're Just 3 Steps Away from a Tidy Garden Border!

So there you have it: the good, the bad, and the ugly of installing steel edging. It's a lot of work, but it's definitely worth it! Put in the muscle now so that you end up with a beautiful, long-lasting border for your garden.

Time to dig in and get those edges in place!