No-dig, steel, stone or plastic: how to choose garden edging

Four finishes, four different jobs. The right choice depends less on taste than on three practical questions: do you want the edge to be seen, does it need height, and how tight are your curves?

Here is how the four compare, with the published measurements for each.

The four finishes side by side

Should the edge be seen?

This is the first question, and it settles most of the decision on its own.

If you want it to disappear

Go low, dark and flush. The no-dig flexible kit is 5 cm high in black. Set level with the turf, it holds the bed line without announcing itself, and the mower runs straight over it.

This is the default choice for the classic job: a lawn that keeps creeping into a mulched bed.

If you want it to be part of the look

The stone-look border gives a laid-stone appearance with a 10 cm visible face and a 13 cm stake below ground, without mortar or a prepared base. The flexible plastic border is the softer, more cottage-garden option, available in black or green.

Both are modular: they interlock section by section, which is what makes them easy to extend later.

Does it need height?

Height is not about looks — it is about what the edge has to hold back.

• Lawn against a level mulched bed: 5 cm is plenty. Anything taller is an obstacle for no benefit.
• Deep mulch or a raised bed: you want more depth so the material cannot spill over the top.
• Gravel or pebbles: this is where weathered steel at 15.5 cm earns its price. Loose stone finds every low point in an edge.

A useful rule: the edge should sit at least a few centimetres above the surface of whatever it is containing.

How tight are your curves?

This is the difference people notice too late.

Continuous edging bends. The no-dig kit and the steel border are supplied as a continuous length, so they follow a smooth curve — and a full circle around a tree — in one piece, with no joins to open up.

Modular edging angles. The stone-look and plastic borders are made of fixed sections that pivot slightly at each connection. They follow a gentle sweep well. On a tight radius, each section stays straight and the curve reads as a series of short flats.

If your beds are drawn with a garden hose rather than a straight edge, favour continuous. If they are long and gently shaped, modular is fine and often looks more finished.

What about mowing?

Only the low, continuous profile is designed to be mown over, and only when it is installed flush with the lawn. Leave any edging standing proud and you have created something to trim around by hand.

The taller and decorative finishes are meant to be seen, so you mow up to them rather than over them. That is not a drawback — it is the point of choosing them — but it is worth knowing before you buy.

Working out how much you need

Measure the full length of the edge you want to define, following the curves rather than cutting corners, then add around 10% for adjustment and joins.

• No-dig kits: 5 m, 10 m and 20 m, supplied with 15, 30 and 60 anchoring spikes respectively.
• Weathered steel: 5 m, 10 m and 20 m.
• Stone look: packs of 10, 20 and 30 pieces, each section approximately 25 cm wide.
• Flexible plastic: bundles covering 3 m, 6 m and 9 m, with the sections and stakes included.

For the modular borders, work in pieces rather than metres: divide your measured length by the section width to get the count you need.

A quick way to decide

• Lawn creeping into a mulched bed, curves involved, and you would rather not see the fix → no-dig flexible.
• A gravel bed, a modern planting scheme, or you want real height → weathered steel.
• A front path or formal bed where the border is part of the design → stone look.
• A visible border on a budget, easy to extend a few metres at a time → flexible plastic.

Still unsure? Tell us the length of the bed and what the edge has to hold back, and we will point you to the right one — we would rather talk you out of a product than process the return. Get in touch, or browse the full range.