Instructions for Cement Landscape Edging

Flower bed edging helps to keep a flower bed neat.

Landscape edging is an improtant part of flower gardens, vegetable gardens and raised beds. The edging provides a barrier between the garden and the lawn. This barrier is like a tiny demilitarized zone that keeps grass runners and weed seeds out of the flower beds while at the same time keeping mulch in the beds. One of the strongest, most impenetrable types of garden edging is made of concrete. Concrete edging requires a bit more work than rolled plastic, but the results are far more permanent.

Things You'll Need

• Garden hose
• Spray paint
• Shovel
• Branch loppers
• Spirit level
• Scrap board
• 1/4 inch re-bar stakes, 12 inches long
• Mallet
• Concrete
• Mixing bucket
• Wheelbarrow
• Hoe
• Plastic

Instructions

1. Lay out the border of your flower bed with a garden hose. A garden hose makes it simple to change the parameters of the bed until you are satisfied with the layout. Mark the permanent boundary of the bed with a can of spray paint when you are satisfied with the layout.

2. Dig a trench around the perimeter of the flower bed that is 6 inches wide and deep. Remove all roots you encounter with branch loppers and make the bottom of the trench perfectly level. Check the levelness of the trench by placing a board over the bottom of the trench and putting a spirit level over it. Edging that is dug to this depth will not pop out of the ground during seasonal frosts. It will also keep grass plants from sending runners under the edging and into the flower bed.

3. Assemble a concrete form by hammering 1/4 inch re-bar rods 6 inches into the ground against the walls of the trench. Place scrap plywood along the inner walls. The scrap plywood should be held in place by the re-bar stakes.

4. Mix the concrete according to the package directions using a bucket or wheelbarrow and hoe. Concrete should be the consistency of cake batter. Pour the concrete into the concrete form. Mist water over the concrete with a garden hose and cover it with plastic. Concrete will dry over a period between 24 hours and one week, depending on the temperature.

5. Uncover the concrete and pull the plywood form and stakes from the ground. Allow the concrete to cure for another week before planting in your garden bed.

Tips & Warnings

• You can purchase re-bar as a single rod from a re-bar company or a hardware store and have it cut into 12-inch sections when you purchase it.

References

• Ohio State University Extension: Raised Bed Gardening
• Texas A&M Universtiy Extension: Building a Raised Bed Gardening
• "Reader's Digest New Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual"; Editors of Reader's Digest; 1991

Resources

• Utah State University Extension: Edging