If you are one who takes pride in your lawn and garden, you’re probably no stranger to the idea or concept of landscape edging. Even if you don’t currently have landscape edging in your yard, you’ve likely considered it at some point.
If so, you’ve probably wondered… “Is professional landscape edging better than DIY landscape edging? If so, how and why?”
Why Use Landscape Edging?
Landscape edging makes it significantly easier to keep a clean line between your lawn and flower beds, and even between lawn and hardscape, such as sidewalks and driveways.
Landscape edging also helps to keep grass from choking out flowers and flower beds. Even better, all this happens EASIER than if you try to perform these tasks without landscape edging installed. With landscape edging installed, you just need to maintain the lawn edge instead of constantly having to re-create it.
Landscape Edging Options
For many people who think about adding landscape edging but don’t do it, the reason is frequently because they don’t find the landscape edging products they’ve seen appealing, or in line with their lawn aesthetic.
Yet, many landscape edging products at big box retailers like Lowe’s CAN look pretty good. Furthermore, these DIY landscape edging products can also be fairly easy-to-install.
Types of DIY Landscape Edging
Some of the DIY landscape edging options that people commonly think of can include wood beams or railroad ties; bricks, stones, and pavers; and commercial plastic edging.
Today, there are even specialty DIY landscape edging products that provide a more upscale look, while still being affordable and easy to install yourself.
Why About Professional Landscape Edging?
On the downside, for the more discriminating homeowner or gardener, commercial or mainstream landscape edging products can be too “cookie cutter” or one-size-fits-most, in terms of style. Thus, those who feel this way might consider or review professional landscape edging options.
However, professional landscape edging choices are a bit limited too. If, for example, you want a landscape design with curves, you are generally limited to some sort of cement-mold landscape edging product. These landscape edging selections do provide a broader palette of available colors, but this comes at a price. Poured cement landscape edging is often quite a bit more expensive than landscape edging you install yourself.
So… is professional landscape edging “better” than DIT landscape edging?
For some, the answer to this question really depends on how you define “better.” If “better” to you, means it costs more? Then, “Yes.”
On the other hand, if “better” to you equates to better performance at its expected function, that answer is likely different.
For example, Grass Barrier and Edge Right are two specialty DIY landscape edging products that can often do a much better job of preventing grass and weeds from entering flower beds than professional landscape poured cement edging or even, professional-installed brick retaining walls.
These products are also both easy to install and very attractive.
Grass Barrier is an HDPE plastic landscape edging product that is environmentally-friendly and fully malleable, making it ideal for any landscape design of any shape.
Edge Right is COR-TEN steel landscape edging that is very easy to implement and looks more beautiful over time as it develops its aged patina.
Again, which one is “better” — professional landscape edging or DIY landscape edging — really comes down to what matters to you, as well as what achieves your designed lawn style aesthetic and budget.