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Sep 20, 2023

11 Garden Edging Ideas

Mary Alice Russell is a Southern Living fellow who is starting her career in

Mary Alice Russell is a Southern Living fellow who is starting her career in lifestyle journalism. Primarily focused on social media and digital production, Mary Alice is excited to hone her skills and dedicate her professional life to beautiful things, from homes to hearts.

A recent graduate of Washington and Lee University, Mary Alice majored in journalism and art history. At W&L, she was co-editor-in-chief of her school paper, The Ring-tum Phi, with her best friend and interned for The Welcome Home Podcast. Now based in Birmingham, Alabama, Mary Alice is a Virginia native who is proud to hail from the land of ham and peanuts.

Mapping out what your perfect garden looks like isn't always easy. You have to keep in mind what flowers work together, what flowers don't grow together, as well as what grows in your environment – the list goes on and on. One detail that's easy to check off your list is garden edging. In just a few simple steps and a relatively few supplies, you can transform your backyard into a defined and refined space that is sure to impress your garden club pals. A shovel, a few bricks and some creativity get the job done. We’ve pulled some of our prettiest gardens to help you gather inspiration when starting this project. Depending on how large your space is, this might be the perfect weekend project to tackle. It's even easy to do if you don't have a green thumb. No plants should be harmed in the garden edging process, just be aware of those roots!

Ralph Anderson

Classic gardens are few and far between, but traditional diagonal brick garden edging is easily replicated in even the smallest of back yards. If you are doing more than one section of your garden, make sure that your bricks are facing the same direction to create a cohesive look.

Simple stones can make the biggest impact when it comes to the great outdoors. Light colored stones look particularly pretty in green gardens and settings.

Pavers add crisp edges to your garden, giving you the freedom to allow the surrounding plants to be themselves. We suggest using gravel or grass as filler.

Paving the way with a concrete path allows for precise garden edging every time. Since this edging is so flat, the plants can gently cascade over the walkway.

All of these garden edging ideas are lovely, but at the end of the day, all you really need is a shovel to add edging to most any garden. This method is especially effective to separate between grass and a mulch garden.

Large pieces of stone elegantly separate this colorful garden from the yard. Decorating your edge with potted plants adds a nice touch.

Let nature do the edging for you with this flower technique. It's a polished way to add an extra punch of color to liven up your outdoor space.

Vertical garden edging allows for a lovely surface area for vines to cascade onto. It gives even the most whimsical gardens a refined finish.

The organic look of flagstones allows for your garden to truly be one of a kind. The stones pair beautifully with tomato trellises as well as wildflowers.

Even the most colorful of gardens are contained with some brick edging. This technique allows for you to create beautiful straight lines as well as natural looking curves.

Every space deserves to be beautiful, and these large flagstone pavers make this garden a place we can picture ourselves spending all our free time. The natural light color of the stones plays well with the vibrant greens and blues of the garden.