Landscaping, Part 3

So I got to the point where I wanted to put edging around the trees and shrubs in the front yard.  The point was to prevent lawn grass from invading and to give a visual edge to the beds.  Well, the stuff is pretty much useless!

The widest I found was 6".  And 3" above ground is "ok" but 3" inches below ground won't hold in place.  Mowers push it loose and frost heaves it up.  It really has to be 12" and I couldn't find any.  I've gotten tired of going around the edging with a spade to push it back in again.

My lot is slightly sloped.  It is 100' wide and 200' front to back.  The front to back slope is about 6-8'.  Not enough to cause any rainfall problem, but enough to make edging awkward.  My cross-street neighbors have several nice inter-locking pavers set 3 high in tan and red.  Looks great.

But of course I don't want to copy them.  So I had the idea of buying 12" pavers to lay down around the curved edging around the Saucer Magnolia tree and then add a single layer of interlocking bricks on top to define the area.  I ordered both.  They arrived last October.

Then I discovered a problem.  Now, I am good at geometry, but I sure didn't think it right this time!  Square pavers leave gaps around a curved bed...  Where grass can grow...  Which is what the pavers were supposed to prevent.  😭

So I have another idea in mind.  I built a step-down shadow-box fence around the backyard a few years after I moved in.  You can see the "step-down" (for the sloping yard), and the alternating inside/outside "shadow box" boards here...

The point is that most of the boards had to be cut to length (variously above and less than 6').  And that left pieces.

I saved them of course...

So it occurs to me that I could make an edging using those pressure treated wood pieces (cut at random heights.  They can all go down 6" for stability and still stick up 6-10" high (to define the edges).  The boards will touch edge to edge to form a good curve.  And I can further stabilize them by using exterior construction adhesive to attach the old plastic edging on the inside of the boards.

Sometimes, it takes a while to figure out a good solution to a problem.  I think I've found it.  Then it will be on to other problems...  😁