How To Install The Black Plastic Edging To Stay Put Around A Garden Beed

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Plastic lawn edging is used to distinguish a garden bed from the rest of a lawn, making your garden look neat and tidy! To place the lawn edging, dig a trench around the garden bed and cut away any roots. Then set the edging by filling the trench in with soil again, and installing edging stakes.

1
Measure the outline of the garden bed using rope. Lay out a piece of rope around the garden bed where you plan to install the edging. Then, measure the rope with a tape measure to determine how much edging you'll need.^[1]
- You can purchase edging from most gardening centers and home improvement stores.
- Plastic lawn edging is commonly sold in 20 ft (6.1 m) lengths.^[2]
- The height of plastic lawn edging varies across brands. It typically ranges from 3–6 in (7.6–15.2 cm) high. Generally, 3 in (7.6 cm) edging is inexpensive and widely available, yet short enough for the grass rhizomes to easily grow into the garden bed, while 6 in (15 cm) is more expensive and difficult to find, yet will make garden bed maintenance easier in the long run.^[3]
2

Unroll the plastic lawn edging the day before you want to use it. Remove any plastic coverings or packaging. Lay the plastic lawn edging flat on the ground.^[4]

Tip: If possible, leave the plastic edging in the sun over the next day. The sun will warm the plastic and make it less curled, and therefore easier to shape and use.

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3
Dig a 3–6 in (7.6–15.2 cm) deep trench around the garden bed. Use a shovel to dig a neat trench around the whole bed where the plastic edging will go. Dig to the depth of the leading you plan to use. Keep the soil that you have dug up close by, as you'll be using it again soon.^[5]
- The width of the trench must be slightly larger than the width of the edging. Although it depends on the width of your particular edging, approximately 2 in (5.1 cm) is normally sufficient.^[6]
- You can use a rototiller rather than a shovel if you prefer.^[7]
- Make sure you dig the trench deep enough so the plastic edging doesn't stick up out of the ground. If the edging sticks up too much, you could hit it with your lawn mower and cause damage.^[8]
4
Cut off any small roots that are in the way of the trench. Use pruning shears to remove any plant roots that are interrupting the 3–6 in (7.6–15.2 cm) deep trench. Leave any large, tree roots that are in the way, however, as it will be easier to cut the edging to accommodate these.^[9]
- Once you have cut away the small roots, remove them from around the trench so that you have a clear space to work.
5

Place the plastic edging into the trench. Push the edging firmly into the trench and against the garden bed. Make sure that the top, decorative edge is just at the surface level of the trench.^[10]

Note: Place the edging into the trench so that the lip on the bottom points toward the garden bed rather than the lawn.^[11]
6
Cut a notch in the plastic edging if there is a large tree root. Use scissors or a utility knife to cut a gap in the edging if there is a large root. Line it up with the root to check that you have the right spot.^[12]
- Avoid placing edging around garden beds where there are many large tree roots, as you don't want to cut away at the edging too much.
7
Use a connector if the trench is longer than 1 roll of plastic edging. Slide the connector onto the end of each roll, so that the ends meet in the middle. Firmly push the connector down onto each end so that it feels sturdy and attached.^[13]
- With an 8 in (20 cm) long connecter, 4 in (10 cm) from each end of edging will be used.
- The plastic lawn edging kit will come with connector pieces that you can use to connect 1 roll to another.
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1
Fill the soil back into the trench. Use a shovel to place the soil that you previously dug up back into the trench. Fill the soil to the height where only the top ½ or ⅓ of the decorative, circular, edge is visible.^[14]
- Make sure that the soil is tightly packed.
- The edging will be the right height so that a lawnmower won't get caught on it.
2

Stomp along the curves of the edging with your feet. Flatten the soil to make it compact. This will push the edging outwards along the curve.^[15]
3
Install a stake at every 5 feet (1.5 m) along the edging. Place the stake into the soil so that it is right next to the top of the edging, and the pointed tip is going towards the "V" shape at the bottom. Hammer the part of the stake that is above the soil, to make the pointed tip go through the edging.^[16]
- Stakes for plastic lawn edging are either straight or perpendicular in shape. These are installed in the same way.
Note: Stakes help to sturdy the garden bed and edging as the soil moves over time. This way, the edging cannot move any further away from the bed, and the soil will tightly compact it in the trench.
4
Water the edging to settle the soil. Walk along your newly installed edging with a garden hose. Water the soil on both sides of the edging lightly.^[17]
- You don't need to saturate or flood the soil, as just enough water to make it moderately damp will do.
5

Backfill the edging into any gaps in the soil. Use your hands to push soil into any small gaps that you may have missed between the garden bed and the lawn. Check to see that the edging feels sturdy in all places, and add more soil to any areas that require more support.^[18]

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Question

What is the best lawn edging?

Jeremy Yamaguchi is a Lawn Care Specialist and the Founder/CEO of Lawn Love, a digital marketplace for lawn care and gardening services. Jeremy provides instant satellite quotes and can coordinate service from a smartphone or web browser. The company has raised funding from notable investors like Y Combinator, Joe Montana, Alexis Ohanian, Barbara Corcoran and others.

Lawn Care Specialist

Expert Answer

Commercial-grade edging will be more durable and last longer than cheap plastic edging.
Question

Can I use plastic edging to form a rectangular flower bed?

Yes you can. You can make ground stakes to put into each corner out of any scrap wood you have handy. You can paint the wood first to match the edging if you'd like. Pound your wooden stakes (maybe you chose 2x2s) into the ground and then cut your edging sides one at a time stopping after every cut to glue that end to your wood corner blocks. Ask at your home improvement store for help selecting an appropriate plastic-to-wood glue suitable for the type of plastic edging. (PVC notably requires specific adhesive) Measure twice and cut once with your edging to ensure sharp looking corners as they come together at the corner block.
Question

Should I cut the edging to get over tree roots?

Yes, you should, since your alternative is to cut the tree roots and you rarely want to do that. In some cases, it makes more sense to skip the tree root altogether if the root is above ground. If it's just underneath the ground, you can cut the underside of the edging, leaving the top intact.
Question

Can I install plastic edging in a new landscape before sod is established?

Yes, just leave it high enough to account for the height of the sod.
Question

How do two pieces hook together?

Douglas McClung

Community Answer

Most forms of edging, like the above, come with inserts to hook two sets together. If not, you can use a dowel rod, stick, or anything that would fit in the opening to tie them together. I have also used a wooden block about a foot long on straight runs and screwed the edging to the block to hold them together. Just leave the block below the top of the edging 1 to 2 inches so it will cover up.
Question

How do I make corners with plastic lawn edging?

Determine what type of plastic your edging is made from and get a construction adhesive/PVC glue/gorilla glue type of product capable of bonding the type of plastic product you have to wood. Find or buy a piece of wood you can use to make corner stakes. You could also spray paint them to match the edging. I'd probably cut a 8" wood stake piece for every corner and pound those stakes into the ground in each corner spot. Then I'd affix the facing plastic edging to each side of the 'box', being careful to measure twice and cut once to assure a good fit at each corner. The wood stakes/blocks will not be visible but will provide something to glue the plastic to while providing extra strength.
Question

What do I cut it with?

You can use a fine tooth hacksaw, or even yard, hedge, or metal shears depending on what you have handy and how thick it is. Some of the thinner kinds can likely be cut with a strong hand using a bread knife or kitchen shears. But I'd start with a standard hand saw/hack saw, the kind that comes with a miter box for cutting baseboards and frames. If you'd rather use electric tools, get an appropriate blade for your table saw, but that's surely more than is needed for this job.
Question

What do I do when the plastic edging is raised on one side? Can it be pounded back in?

Probably not. There is one type of plastic edging out there that is meant to be pounded in with a mallet, but most kinds are not like that and will break. Just dig out that section and reposition it, then refill with your dirt.
Question

How do I get plastic edging back down after it's worked itself out?

Just dig around the area you need to put back, exactly as shown in the article above. Reposition your edging and replace the dirt. You can add stakes to make sure it doesn't happen again if you want to, before refilling with your dirt.
Question

Can I cut the edging to fit over tree roots?

Kaitlyn Wislang

Community Answer

Absolutely. Use a utility knife or scissors to make a notch of the appropriate size.

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You can mow straight over the plastic lawn edging to get a clean edge around the garden bed.

Make sure that you are wearing gardening gloves when handling soil. Soil is a common source of bacteria, which can cause infections.^[19]

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Article SummaryX

To install plastic lawn edging, start by measuring the perimeter of your garden bed using rope to determine how much edging you'll need. Then, dig a 3-6 inch deep trench around your garden bed that's slightly wider than the width of the edging. Next, place the plastic edging in the trench so the lip on the bottom is pointing toward your garden bed and not the lawn. If you need multiple rolls of edging, use a connector to attach the ends of the rolls. Finally, fill the trench in with soil and install a stake every 5 feet along the edging. To learn how to deal with tree roots that get in the way, scroll down!

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