How to Give Lawns & Gardens a Creative Edge
If you live in Perth, you’re no stranger to sunshine and probably try to get outside as often as you can. But the great outdoors isn’t so great if you have to stare at those rough edges around your home every day. So here are a few simple (and mostly free) ways you can give lawn and garden edges a creative makeover.
Lawn edging for small gardens
If you live in a smallish property with an equally small garden, you can give it a real edge with…edging! There are some great ways to make a small garden jump out no matter how small. Old bamboo fence rolls cut to varied lengths creates a modern, slightly exotic look. A mix and match of roofing tiles (broken or intact) gives any garden a lift. Or, if you want to make a real statement, scout out your local junk yard for old wheels and go to town! Old bottles, broken dishes, pipes, pallets; they’re all perfect for a truly edgy garden.
Garden edging for beach houses
Living in Perth, chances are you live near to a beach. Your home design may well reflect that with lots of large windows, balconies and decks facing into the sea breezes. So why can’t your lawns and gardens go along for the ride? To find that nice beachy edge, you won’t have to look far. How about seashells? Either go for a uniform look with lots of large shells, or go more eclectic with varying shapes and sizes. How about some rocks from along the shore – rough and smooth mixed together! How about driftwood? If you want to go super colourful and crazy, create an edge out of old beach balls!
Edging for lawns
Getting creative with your lawn edges is a little trickier. There’s always that pesky mowing to consider and most mower blades don’t cope well with sea shells or bamboo. You can still make a very appealing border flush with the ground. Remember, all but the top surface of your edge will be buried, so choose decorative bricks, paving stones, flat stones, mosaic tiles; anything that will look attractive from above. Try to ensure your edging material is at least 15cm wide so you can easily run the wheels of the lawn mower along it. And, if you’d like some heavy duty help giving your lawns a ‘straight from the salon’ look, you’ll find our range of lawn edgers here.
Edging tips
Now that you’ve got some creative ideas for giving your exterior an exciting new ‘edge’, here are a few tips to make sure they stay that way.
First and foremost, make sure you lay some plastic sheeting under your edges first to stop weeds adding their own creative interpretations. For gardens, make sure you give each piece in your edge puzzle a stable footing by burying at least half of it in compacted soil. For lawns, bury your edge until flush with the ground or low enough to avoid interference with mowing. If you’re using bamboo fence rolls or any other rolled edging – corrugated plastic is easy and effective – follow these simple steps.
- Dig a trench along the edge of your garden. This needs to be deep enough to bury half of your edging
- Lay your edging in the trench. Some edging materials are made to clip together. If not, align each piece as neatly as you can
- Peg your edging into place at the back using standard edging pegs
- Use the soil you dug out to refill the trench from behind the edging
- Compact the soil to hold your lovely new edge in place
For more edging tips get in touch or you can find great inspiration here.