Border edging for your garden can offer the perfect finishing touch to turn a plot of flowers into a well-thought-out part of an overall design. The right edging can set off a corner of the lawn, or call attention to a patch of pansies and violets. You can use a low edging at the corners of walkways to discourage wandering feet from straying off the path, or define a path through the center of a flower garden by running a low border edging along either side.
Border edgings for your lawn, patio and garden come in many different styles and materials, and each can make a definitive statement of design. Wrought iron border edging can form elegant corners to contain a spill of stately flowers, or define the outline of a stone path to the house from the garden. Rough-cut pine or oak strung on wire can be pressed into the ground in sweeping arcs or encircle a rounded mound of lobelia that tumbles down the sides to creep out onto the lawn itself.
One of the simplest and least expensive garden edging options is a simple PVC-coated wire fence. Bent into fanciful designs, with end tips every six to eight inches that can be pressed into the ground, the white or dark green edging can be bent or curved to fit the shape of a path or a garden plot. Interlocking sections can create a border edging of any length and shape, and is particularly suited as an edging around a border of hostas or other green plants.
Another popular edging option is white picket - either real wood or molded PVC. Like the wire edging, picket edging can be used in interlocking sections to create a border of any length that can be pushed into the ground. Eight to sixteen inches high, white picket edging has a country cottage look that's especially attractive edging flower beds with taller flowers - tulips and day lilies, perhaps.
Wrought iron edging can create a unique border around a squared flower bed. Rather than outlining the entire perimeter, set corner sections at each of the four corners, and leave the sides and ends unfenced. The effect is particularly pretty around a raised stone flowerbed, creating visual interest and calling attention to the shape of the bed and the particular plants that 'anchor' the garden plot.
Border edgings can be used in many ways to create unique accents in your garden. Choose all one kind and color for a cohesive, unified look - or, if your garden is more casual, mix and match several styles to create an eclectic mélange of styles that emphasizes the sweet disorder of a naturally unkempt garden.