Edging concrete is a landscaping operation aimed at creating a border between two types of ground, like between the pawn and the flowered garden. The targeted goal is to impede the grass from invading the flower bed and emphasize the flourishing landscape. The installation requires much effort and is performed using a landscape curbing machine specially adapted to the needed design.

Benefits of Edging Concrete

The beauty, durability, and visible separation between your grass and landscaping are essential aspects of a beautiful lawn. Concrete edging mimics the look and feel of brick, stone, and other natural materials, giving your landscape border a genuinely distinctive and eye-catching appearance.

Additionally, benefits of edging concrete:

  • Several colors and design choices are available.
  • Flowing curves, straight lines, and bespoke designs are examples of design versatility.
  • Most works can be completed in a single day because of the reduced time required for edging and pruning
  • Your home’s curb appeal increases its resale value.
  • Any new construction will not harm the existing landscape.
  • A material that will neither rust nor decay nor will it break or move like a brick.

Garden and lawn edging made of concrete are the most durable options available. It will not rot, distort, separate, or otherwise deteriorate even in the harshest weather. In addition to being one of the most long-lasting types of edging available (as opposed to other materials like plastic, metal, or wood), poured concrete edging is also one of the most cost-effective.

Pavers, blocks, and other types of precast concrete edging work well as landscape edging too. Cracks and chips in your concrete edging can be easily repaired. Damaged blocks, bricks, or pavers can be replaced with new ones rather than filling in a hole in the concrete.

Cost of Edging Concrete

According to Outback Landscape, concrete edging is one of the most expensive options for garden edging. Your lawn or garden beds must be shaped to fit a concrete form before the edging can be put in the desired location. The edging cost goes higher because of the time and effort required to build the forms.

A less expensive alternative is precast concrete, which is less costly than the more expensive ones like poured concrete or wood. Edging your grass may not be prohibitively expensive if you have a tiny yard. When it comes to edging, you may end up overspending if you have a large yard or a lot of garden beds that are close to the edge.

The costs for installing concrete edging range from $4.71 to $5.40 per linear foot in the United States. Between $7.71 and $18.45, the total cost of labor and materials per linear foot is $13.08.

How To Make Concrete Edging

You can construct concrete garden edging of any desired length by following these simple instructions. Concrete garden edging can be used to define garden beds, tree surrounds, and driveway curbs, and its adaptability allows you to match any landscape shape. It is always economical and both decorative and functional.

Preparation

Decide on the location of the new edging pour. The beauty of a curving concrete border can help define the best aspects of your surroundings. The garden hose can be replaced by stakes and a string line to create a straight boundary.

Determine the size of the edging. It is recommended that concrete edging be at least 3 1/2 inches wide and deep for maximum strength. To secure the border, you should bury at least two inches of that depth below the soil surface. Concrete edging can either be flush with the ground or a few inches higher, depending on the look you’re going for.

A trench can be dug by working together—at least two to three inches wider and one inch deeper than the concrete edging. Keep the trench sides as straight as possible while digging. Remove any soil rises or clods from the trench bottom with a flat-head shovel.

Plywood

Plywood strips of 1/4 inch thick can be used to make your molds. Cut 4-by-8-foot plywood sheets lengthwise to make the sidewalls of the concrete forms. Flexible strips should be as broad as your desired concrete edging depth (above and below ground) plus an inch for the gravel in the trench.

Begin by edging your first piece of plywood. Lay the plywood in the trench next to the guide and secure it with a 12-inch stake. Form and stake shall not go higher than the specified limit height. Attach the stake to the plywood with two 1 1/2-inch screws.

Using a 1×4 stake, insert the plywood strip such that it just overlaps half of the larger stake. This time, the plywood will be held in place with four screws (two rows spaced an inch apart). An additional set of screws will ensure that the plywood form is connected correctly using curved concrete edging.

Replace the stakes every two to three feet between the two end stakes. The plywood forms will retain their shape when concrete is poured if additional pegs are inserted into or outside the forms. If you’re going to put them inside, dig them out so that only an inch of soil is showing. (If there are any more, the above-ground concrete may crack.) There’s no need to attach the plywood shapes to the interior stakes.

Plywood should be used to fill in the rest of the form. With four screws, attach the second strip to the first, making sure it is tightly attached. Continue building the plywood forms in this manner until the first side is complete.

Concrete Mix

Invest in durable concrete. Quikrete’s Crack Resistant Concrete Mix contains synthetic fibers to boost per square inch (psi) to 4000 lbs. , reducing the chance of border cracking.

Check out Quikrete’s films before mixing your batch in a wheelbarrow with a shovel or a small rotary concrete mixer. Once the dry concrete mix is wet, add water as needed. You want a handful that isn’t runny or crumbly. To make an 80 lb. bag of concrete mixture, add approximately three quarts of water.

Fill the wet concrete forms, leveling as you go. Excess concrete is “chopped” vertically through the wet mix with the shovel’s blade. This reduces air bubbles and helps the concrete settle uniformly. Every six to eight feet slide, a flat wood concrete hand floats across the tops of the forms. For low places, add more wet concrete and float again.

You may use a concrete edging tool for beveled edges. This handheld tool has a curved side and a flat bottom. Lie the tool flat on the wet concrete, with the curved part inside the form. Then, use the edging tool to smooth the top of the wet concrete and round the edges.

Add control joints before mixing. Work a margin trowel’s blade straight-up-and-down a third of the way into the concrete. These cuts every two to six feet help prevent huge, jagged cracks. Instead, if the concrete cracks, it will be at a joint.

Protect your concrete project.

Spray, brush, or roll on Quikrete’s Acrylic Concrete Cure and Seal after hardened concrete. However, even though this coating isn’t required to cure the border, it saves you from having to water-cure it six or eight times every day for three or five days. Use this sealant after mowing to prevent grass stains on the concrete.

Remove the screws from the stakes, then remove the forms. Backfill the new border with earth or gravel to complete the landscape.

Call an Expert

Consider putting concrete edging if you’re having difficulty separating your flower beds from your lawn or want a more defined yard boundary. Contact a trusted tuckpointing contractor today if you’d like information on how we install concrete edges or would like us to do this work for you. You deserve professional service from skilled experts who know what they are doing!

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