Skip to content
Perth Landscaping Hub

Guides & calculators

Garden edging ideas: steel, timber, limestone and more, compared

Edging is the highest-impact metre-for-metre upgrade in a garden: it turns 'some plants near lawn' into a designed landscape. Here's every common edging type compared honestly — looks, lifespan, cost and how hard the DIY is in Perth sand.

Steel edging — the crisp line

The designer's default: a thin, continuous line that curves beautifully and disappears into the design. Raw steel develops a rust patina (a feature, not a fault); powder-coated stays black. Decades of life in Perth sand, mid-range cost, and easier DIY than it looks — the pins do the work.

Timber and sleeper edging — warm and natural

Timber suits native and cottage gardens and doubles as a low raised-bed wall in sleeper form. In ground contact it's a 5–8 year finish even treated — accept that or choose concrete 'timber-look' sleepers for the same style with triple the life.

Flexible poly edging — curves on a budget

The budget shape-maker: bends to tight curves, invisible once the garden grows in, and the easiest DIY of all. It won't hold back much soil, so use it as a mowing edge and pebble-stopper, not a retaining product.

Limestone and paver edging — the Perth classic

Limestone block edging matches half the walls in Perth and makes a bed feel built, not just planted. Heavier DIY (a levelled sand bed matters) but effectively permanent, and small-format blocks are stocked in store.

Which edging for which garden

Whatever you choose, weed mat under any stone or gravel beside the edge keeps the line clean for years — the edging and the mat are a team.

  • Crisp modern lines and curves → steel
  • Native / cottage warmth → timber or lupin-mulched steel
  • Tight budgets and tight curves → flexible poly
  • Matching Perth limestone walls → small-format limestone
  • Raised bed + edge in one → sleepers