Last updated on June 8th, 2022
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Is gravel getting onto your lawn? Is your flowerbed soil flowing over onto the path? You may need lawn edging to keep different parts of your garden separate from each other. Lawn edging is often used for keeping all parts of your garden in their own area – flower beds, borders, lawns, gravel paths, patio blocks, and so on. In addition, not only is lawn edging practical, but it also serves an aesthetic purpose and adds a different design element to your garden.
Our Lawn Edging review looks at the best products for edging. We present the pros and cons of each product and discuss why they are a good choice. Our Buyer’s Guide gives insight into the important features of lawn edging, the choices you need to make, and what to look out for.
Our Best Pick for lawn edging is the Ribbonboard 4.0 Flexible Plastic Lawn Edging. This recycled polyethylene garden edging comes in 10 metre or 20 metre lengths which is handy depending on the length you need. It’s flexible enough to take sharp curves and make wavy lines. This really is a fantastic durable product when it comes to lawn edging.
The Floranica 2.3 m Spiked Log Roll Border is our Runner-up and it also doubles as a feature in itself. It’s made of treated timber and held together with a length of two wires that are stapled to each post. The posts are flat with a rounded top and each fence section comes fully assembled. They simply need hammering into the ground.
BEST PICK
RUNNER UP
Best Lawn Edging Reviews
1. Ribbonboard 4.0 Flexible Plastic Lawn Edging
BEST PICK
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The Ribbonboard 4.0 Flexible Plastic Lawn Edging is a lawn edging made from recycled polypropylene so it gets some bonus points for helping the environment, but does it actually work? It’s flexible enough to make turns and curves around your flowerbeds and rigid enough that you can use it for straight-edged shapes such as rectangles and triangles for your borders or lawn, so no matter the shape, it can be used. This edging is also good for encircling lawns, concrete, stones, paving stones, sand, gravel and many other materials. It truly is a multi-purpose edging product.
Installing this Ribbonboard edging is easy. The bottom of the edging has a ledge with holes spaced regularly. Work out where you want to put the 30 plastic (very strong) spikes that come with the length and put them through the holes into the ground using a hammer. You don’t have to dig anything, just be careful when tapping down the spikes, we recommend using a rubber or plastic mallet because you can damage the spiked pegs if you use a metal hammer. If your soil is hard or packed down, a little tip is to use a metal rod to create the holes first.
The dimensions of the Ribbonboard 4.0 Flexible Plastic Lawn Edging are 10 metres long; and 4cm or 6cm high (there are confusing details about this). This lawn edging also comes in 20 metre lengths complete with 90 nylon spiked pegs. You just need to choose the right length for what you need are some careful measuring.
Pros
- Made from black polypropylene which is also 100% recyclable.
- Flexible so can make sharp curves (semicircles, wavy) and straight sections too (squares, triangles).
- The 10 metre length comes with 30 rustproof nylon spikes so you don’t need to dig anything.
- Highly resistant to bad weather leading to a long service life.
- Shapes lawns, concrete, stones, paving stones, sidewalk bricks, sand, gravel and many other materials.
- About 4cm high (from ground level) and 10m long.
- Also available in a 20m length with 90 pegs if you have big plans for your edging.
Cons
- Comes coiled so takes a bit of work to straighten it out.
- The pegs are sturdy enough but would be better if they were just a little more sturdy.
Our recommendation
The Ribbonboard 4.0 Flexible Plastic Lawn Edging is a flexible, recycled polyethylene that’s hard-wearing. The edging works equally well as a perimeter for rounded shapes, geometric shapes with straight sides and for irregular spaces. This is a no-dig edging; you just put the supplied rustproof pegs through the holes at the bottom of the edging and insert them firmly into the ground with a soft mallet.
We like the versatility of the Ribbonboard 4.0 Flexible Plastic Lawn Edging and that it’s made of recycled materials. We’ve made this edging our Best Pick of lawn edgings because it’s just so versatile for what it can be used for.
If you’re looking for an all-purpose edging that’s long-lasting, consider the Ribbonboard 4.0 Flexible Plastic Lawn Edging with 30 Securing Pegs (10m)
2. Floranica 2.3m Spiked Log Roll Border
RUNNER UP
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The Floranica Spiked Log Roll Border is more of a traditional garden edging. It’s made of pine that’s impregnated with a weatherproof coating after a thermal treatment. This weatherproof solution doesn’t just sit on top of the wood – it’s within the wood itself. You may want to regularly renew the coating to keep the wood waterproof, as you would with any other wooden outdoor structure or fence.
The Floranica Spiked Log Roll Border is made of strong wooden stakes that are flat. Each stake is rounded (scalloped) at the top and gives a softening look to the wood. This edging comes in lengths (2.3 metres in this case) that have a wooden spike at the bottom of every 10 stakes. You hammer the spikes into the ground with a soft mallet but do not hit them too hard.
The stakes are about 4.5cm wide and 1.6cm thick. They sit 20cm above the ground, although you can also buy 35cm or 45cm above the ground versions. Whatever height you choose, the below-ground stakes are always 20cm long so they give stability to the edging in case it’s bumped.
The stakes are fixed together with galvanised wire. The edging comes fully assembled and rolled up and has a flexibility that moulds around corners to suit curvy flowerbeds and lawns.
Pros
- Pine edging that’s fully impregnated with a weatherproofing solution for all-year protection.
- Wooden edging comes in a roll and is flexible to go around corners in your garden.
- The fence element is fully assembled so you just need to carefully hammer the spikes into the ground.
- Each stake is flat and rounded at the top for a pleasing aesthetic.
- Spikes are placed at the bottom of every 10th stake for no-dig installation.
- Length is 2.3m; thickness is 1.6cm; height above ground is 10cm, 20cm, 30cm, or 40cm depending on the height you choose; depth below ground is 15cm or 20cm depending on which height you choose.
- Available in anthracite (medium grey), white, brown, and natural to suit your garden colour scheme.
Cons
- Depending on what you expect, the wood may seem a little flimsier than expected, however, it’s worth noting it is much sturdier than most other alternative similar products.
Our recommendation
The Floranica 2.3m Spiked Log Roll Border is a wooden lawn edging that’s in a traditional style. The wooden stakes are rounded at the top and soften the appearance of the edging. This edging comes in a roll so it’s flexible enough to handle the curves of your lawn, flowerbeds, or paths.
Although we review the 20cm tall Floranica edging here, it also comes in 10cm, 30cm and 40cm tall lengths, the spikes go down to 20cm below ground so they are very sturdy when inserted securely. If you have hard or packed earth, make a hole in it before putting in the spikes to make inserting the spikes easier.
The Floranica 2.3m Spiked Log Roll Border is a good alternative to our Best Pick if you’re looking for a more traditional edging in a natural material that also acts as a feature such as a mini barrier or fence. We’ve made this lawn edging the Runner-up in our review of garden edgings.
If you have a rustic or natural-looking garden or are fond of traditional styles, check out the Floranica 2.3m Spiked Log Roll Border to edge all the different sections of your garden. It is worth noting that there are many ‘log roll’ style edgings but this particular product is one of the best, by a long way.
3. Prosperplast 10m Lawn Border Edge
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The Prosperplast 10m Lawn Border Edge is a plastic lawn edging that comes in brown and is a cheap but cheerful quality product for the price. Each section of edging is 50cm long, so a 10 metre pack contains 20 pieces. The top of each segment has a rounded top giving a scalloped appearance to the edging sections.
This is a no-dig edging as each section of five segments has two plastic stakes to insert into the ground. It’s easy to fit the sections together as you just butt them up against each other. They don’t click together or have pins to connect them. You need to spend time installing them to make sure that they’re close together and are in the shape you want. Bumping this edging may take the sections out of alignment.
The length of the Prosperplast Lawn Border Edge that we review is 10m; each segment is 50cm long, and it sits 9cm above the ground.
Pros
- Segments are brown plastic with deeply scalloped tops for strength and an interesting look.
- Dimensions are length is 10m; segment length is 50cm, and height above ground is 9cm.
- Twenty sections per package that have no-dig spikes every 10 segments.
Cons
- Not very flexible (a little tip, heating them up in hot water lets you curve them a bit).
- Not as robust as expected, especially the spikes but for the price they are okay.
- Don’t connect together.
Our recommendation
The Prosperplast Lawn Border Edge is one of the cheapest lawn edging products in our review for its length and is a cheap and cheerful option, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. (The Parkland LED edging is cheaper but you only get 3.6m for its price.)
It’s made of brown plastic and has a deep scalloped top that makes a definite design statement. It’s a no-dig edging as each section of five segments has two spikes built into it. The sections butt up to others to surround the areas that you want to edge.
We like the Prosperplast 10m Lawn Border Edge because it provides the strength of plastic on a budget. Would be nice to have maybe a third spike in the centre to create a bit more support.
If you’re looking for basic and budget lawn edging, take a look at the Prosperplast 10m Lawn Border Edge.
4. Parkland 24 Pack 3.6m LED Light Up Garden Lawn Edging
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The Parkland 24 Pack 3.6m LED Light Up Garden Lawn Edging is different from all the others in this review as it’s definitely not unobtrusive. This edging makes a statement in your garden so don’t put it in places that you want to hide.
This Parkland edging is made of black plastic and comes sectioned into 24 panels. The panels lock together to give stability to a long length of edging. Each panel is pointed at the top and gives a fence-like look around your flowerbeds and lawn. At the tip of the point on each panel is a coloured LED light. Their soft glow draws attention to that part of the garden. Use this edging to highlight your prized plants or to give ambience around your patio. This really comes to life in the evening when they really stand out and can be a real talking point.
The LED lights are powered by a rechargeable battery. You don’t need to worry about the battery running down in the summer because it’s solar-powered. However, in the winter you probably need to plug it in, to recharge. The LEDs are light-sensitive and come on automatically at dusk and go off at dawn.
You need to hammer in the edging but its details don’t say if there are spikes or if you just hammer the panels directly into the ground. The dimensions of the Parkland 24 Pack 3.6m LED Light Up Garden Lawn Edging are length is 3.6 m; each panel is 15cm long, and height above ground is 15cm. However, as the lights are strung on the edging you can’t shorten the length without cutting the wire.
Pros
- Made from black plastic and comes in 24 sections for you to click together.
- Stakes are pointed and each has an LED light on top in a variety of colours.
- Solar powered rechargeable battery so you don’t need to worry about it running out in the summer and autumn.
- LEDs come on automatically at dusk and go off at dawn
Cons
- No stakes to put into the ground.
- Can’t shorten the edging easily.
Our recommendation
The Parkland 24 Pack 3.6m LED Light Up Garden Lawn Edging is difficult to miss in your garden. The LED lights on the top of each black plastic stake give a glow to the surroundings. The combination of colours of the lights gives a festive glow all year round. By placing the lights around a flowerbed, your flowers are visible in the evening. If you use this edging by your paths, you can see where you’re going after dark. You assemble the 24 sections that make up the 3.6m length by simply clicking them together.
We like the fun aspect of the Parkland 24 Pack 3.6 m LED Light Up Garden Lawn Edging and its shape which is similar to fencing.
If you want to highlight parts of your garden or to light up a prize plant of two, this could be the best lawn edging for you.
5. Rowlinson BFG664 4 m Border Fence (4 pack)
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The Rowlinson 4m Border Fence (4 pack) is another wooden garden edging product. It comes in a pack of four panels. But it’s unclear from the name whether each panel is 4m long or there are four 1m panels for a total of 4m of edging. We searched and found out that it’s the latter (from the technical specs) you get 4 sections, each a metre long.
This border fence is made of pressure-treated wood certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council to be environmentally appropriate. However, the species of wood is not specified. The edging is natural looking but you can paint or stain it to not show much in your garden or a bright colour to be highly visible as part of your garden structures. Applying even a neutral colour stain protects the wood from rot and mould.
Each stake is a post cut vertically to form a semi-circle. The dimensions of the Rowlinson 4m Border Fence (4 pack) are: length is 4m; each panel is 1m; stakes are 30cm, and the height is 15cm above the ground.
Pros
- Pressure-treated wood (unnamed) protects against rot and mould.
- Paint or stain the natural coloured wood to make your own design statement.
- Pack of four 1m panels with a total of 4 metres of edging.
Cons
- Difficult to make shorter.
Our recommendation
The Rowlinson BFG664 4m Border Fence (4 pack) is a natural-looking wooden edging product that works equally well around your lawn, your paths, and your flowerbeds and borders. The advantage of a natural material is that you can customise it in the colours and finishes that you want. This lawn edging is thicker and has more of a presence than our other wooden edging (Floranica 2.3 m Spiked Log Roll Border). It’s difficult to hide away the Rowlinson Border fence and it does make a design statement.
We like the Rowlinson BFG664 4m Border Fence (4 pack) for its rustic look and the long length of its sections that let you easily border an extended section of your garden. It’s worth noting that we reviewed the solid length version but you can also but it as a log roll style too.
Buyer’s Guide
When you’re searching for just the right edging for your lawn, flowerbeds or gravel path, you’ll find that there’s a wide range of materials to choose from.
In our review, we focus on plastic and wooden edgings. In this Buyer’s Guide, we discuss the benefits of using garden edging. We introduce other popular materials for lawn edging and some of the benefits of each. We end by explaining some features of edging that may affect your choice.
Why use lawn edging?
Lawn edging is used for many different purposes. Here are just some:
- Gives a permanent edge to where different garden elements meet.
- Creates a distinct barrier between lawn and other growing areas.
- Gives a clean and distinct mowing and trimming line on the lawn.
- Keeps mulch in the right place.
- Adds value to your landscape reasonably inexpensively.
- Complements or contrasts with your home style.
- Decorative lawn edging enhances your garden aesthetics.
Uses
Where
Lawn edging, despite its name, can be used anywhere in the garden. You can use lawn edging to separate or mark off any sections of your garden. Think about your lawn, flowerbeds, borders, paths (gravel, brick, stone etc.), trees, vegetable garden, rose garden and raspberries.
Practical
Lawn edging’s main practical use is to separate different elements on the ground. This works especially well if the two elements are different and tend to move into each other’s space. For example, gravel from a path encroaching into flowerbeds and earth around a tree from spilling onto the surrounding lawn. The main use for edging is to border your lawn as a focal point and mark it off from the rest of the garden.
Aesthetic
Many lawn edgings sit above the ground and are a design feature along with the flowerbed or lawn for which they’re the perimeter. Edgings give clean and crisp edges that complement different garden sections. Edgings come in many designs, types and materials, so whatever your garden style is you probably can find lawn edging to match. If you just don’t want the edging to interfere with the look of the garden, choose one that sits under the ground with only 1cm or so showing.
Materials
Here’s a brief overview of the more common materials used for lawn edging and some of the features of each.
Plastic
Plastic is strong and highly resistant to water, so it’s good for wet climates. However, it’s not that durable in extreme heat or cold, so it’s perfect for the UK. Plastic lawn edging comes in different grades to suit whatever needs and uses you plan for it. Some lawn edgings are made of recycled plastic for an environmentally friendly product. Plastic is also budget-friendly.
Metal
In general, metal lawn edgings are bendable and can go around curves. Metal is strong, and won’t swell or warp in warm weather. It’s unobtrusive when you sink it into the ground, leaving only 1cm or so above the soil. Consider this if you think of edging as a practical solution that won’t interfere with how your garden looks. Metal edging can be expensive so it’s best suited for areas that really do merge into one another. It’s one of the best lawn edgings for gravel as it’s difficult to scratch. Metal lawn edging is a product that is mostly used in parks and on a commercial basis although you can get some more affordable but often more flimsy alternatives for using in your garden too.
Galvanised steel has a coating that protects it from bad weather and whatever it is surrounding. The coating may wear off with time and the edging start to rust. Check your edging occasionally, especially if gravel or rocks are rubbing against it. Regular steel is also strong and resistant to physical force. You don’t have to worry about breaking it when you pound the pegs in. Choose powder-coated stainless steel for the most durability.
Aluminium is another choice for metal edgings. It’s rust-resistant and handles the physical force well when you hammer it into the ground. Aluminium is good with fresh water but salt or seawater corrodes it. Aluminium edging is usually installed with stakes and works well for designs that have straight lines in them.
Resin
Pure resin is a plant-based polymer but many commercial resins contain synthetic and plastic compounds to improve their service life. Resin is budget-friendly but it is affected by salt water. Don’t use resin edges around salt water ponds or if you put salt on snow in the winter. Be cautious, also, if you live at the seaside.
Wood
If your garden style is rustic or reflects the wilderness, wood is a good design choice for your garden edging. But it really suits almost every garden design except perhaps a contemporary look. Wooden lawn edgings may be short, narrow posts connected together or long railroad ties. The posts may be flat or a piece of wood cut in half to create a semi-circle.
Look for pressure-treated wood because it’s long-lasting. Let your inner garden designer out with wooden edgings by staining or painting them. Keep in mind that if your wooden edging splits over time and opens up the inside, it may be exposed to rain and snow that would harm it. Wooden edging is best treated with a coat of paint or oil every couple of years.
Bricks, concrete, river rocks and paving stones
These hard materials won’t rust or rot, won’t twist or warp. They generally come in individual blocks that you can easily manipulate to go around curves or into any shape that you want. Many styles and colours are available for you to design your edgings as you wish. Installing these materials as edging takes more time and effort than with the “ready-made” ones. Most usually need to be professionally fitted because it requires more work, such as laying a concrete base to secure them properly.
Rubber
Rubber edgings have many of the benefits that plastic ones have. In addition, they’re softer and more flexible for curves and irregular shapes. And rubber doesn’t rot.
What to look for
Standing up to the weather
Lawn edging should be hardy enough to stand up to the different weather that you experience, and in the UK this is often wet winters. Many edgings are water and weather-resistant. Some materials handle extreme heat and cold well, while others (such as plastic) are harmed by that. In addition, other materials don’t like regular hot weather or salt water (resin).
Properties
The length of the edging strip or roll, as well as its width and depth, is important in planning how much you need for your garden. The length should be straightforward to tell from the product’s description (but not always). The width is how thick the edging is and that’s quite simple to find out as well. It’s the depth that can be confusing. If a non-dig edging is described as 30cm deep, it’s not always clear if that number includes the lengths of the stakes, if it even has them. You might have 15cm of stake and only 15cm of edging above the ground. Check carefully so you know what the depth refers to.
Lawn edgings come in many styles. They may have a straight, pointed or scalloped tops, they may be plain or have a pattern on them, or maybe a ridge at the top or an imitation wooden surface. Not all edgings have sides that click together. To put some together, you just place each section next to each other.
Some lawn edgings are easier to curve than others are. Choose the best material depending on where you are going to use the edging and how curvy the corners of the design are. Most lawn edging comes in rolls and arrives rolled up. While this flexibility is great for rounded designs, it is sometimes difficult to unroll the edging into a straight line.
Sometimes you may want to cut the length of the edging down to fit a small part of the border or lawn. Some materials cut more easily than others do, for example, steel is more difficult to cut than wood.
Installing the lawn edging will take time and patience. When you’re looking at edging, pay particular attention to how it needs to be staked down. Some edgings have stakes built into them and you have to push these into the ground. For stony ground or hard soil, we suggest that you pre-drill the holes first. With other edgings, such as those made from metal, you push the bottom edge into the ground. If you’re hiding the edging beneath the soil line, push most of it in. Yet other lawn edgings don’t have stakes built into them but come with external stakes to hold the edging down.
Most edgings come in neutral and garden-friendly colours such as black, brown, white and natural. Wooden lawn edgings, in particular, let you customise them by painting or staining. Maybe match the colour of the edging to your flower colours or tie it into the colour scheme of the outside of your home.
Final Conclusion
Lawn edging can save you from picking stones out of your lawn before you mow and keeping the gravel in the path where it belongs. You can make the garden edging a feature in your garden or hide it (mostly) under the soil line which is usually the case for lawns. Many edgings are flexible enough to form curves and circles as well as make irregular and unusual shapes around your flowerbeds. Installing garden edging does take some time, but once it’s in you can leave it there for years.
Our Best Pick for lawn edging is the Ribbonboard 4.0 flexible plastic lawn edging with 30 Securing Pegs. This black polypropylene edging is made from recycled materials. This is a no-dig edging that comes with rustproof nylon spikes.
The Runner up lawn edging is the Floranica 2.3 m Spiked Log Roll Border. This is a wooden border that comes in a roll. The spikes are built into the edging at regular intervals for a no-dig edging. Each section of the edging comes ready assembled.
If you decide not to put lawn edging around your grass, you may need to read our article on the Best Edging Shears for your Lawn.
Last update on 2024-11-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
