Bamboo Edging: How to Make Your Garden More Interesting

What Is Bamboo Edging?

Bamboo edging comes in a variety of shapes and sizes – you can even make it yourself!

Made by joining bamboo stakes with garden twine or gardening wire, the stakes are bound together to form a block of bamboo.

What’s wonderful about bamboo edging is its versatility. It has the option of being either very flexible or solid, depending on its construction and where you want to use it.

Let’s look at what’s available…

Types of Bamboo Edging

Vertical Bamboo Edging

The most common bamboo edging is made of vertical stakes bound together with wire. It’s widely available and is super flexible making it perfect for a wide variety of projects.

Sold in 1 m lengths, this edging can be pieced together to form any length you need. Choose from uniform heights ranging from 15 – 40 cm to lend structure to your garden. Or go for a more random look by using uneven edging featuring bamboo stakes of different heights.

If you can’t find the uneven variety, why not buy straight edging and cut down a few random lengths yourself?

Vertical bamboo edging sometimes has a sharpened longer stake at either end. These help to secure the edging in place.

Horizontal Bamboo Edging

An alternative to vertical edging is horizontal bamboo edging. It’s made from larger bamboo stakes and can be used in place of wood when a more solid structure is required. This can be more difficult to find than the vertical varieties.

Other Styles of Bamboo Edging

If you’re prepared to make your bamboo edging yourself you can get even more creative. For instance, using large bamboo stakes cut in half lengthways and interlocked makes a stunning scalloped edge.

What Is Bamboo Edging Used For?

Separating areas of your garden doesn’t only look good – it helps with garden maintenance too. Thoughtful landscaping saves a lot of time and effort.

So where can you use bamboo edges?

Lawns and Pebble Paths

Have you ever tried to mow a lawn that sits next to a pebble or stone chip pathway? I have.

If you have as well, you’ll understand why using edging around your lawn or path is my number one choice.

Creating a separation delays the inevitable attempts of the lawn to creep out onto the path because:

• The physical barrier makes it more difficult for the lawn to spread.
• When it does start to spread out, it’s easy to spot so you’ll be able to restore order before it takes over large areas of the path.

And it’s not just the lawn that starts to creep. Walking on pebble and stone chip paths sends stones into the lawn – it can’t be helped. But it’s a nightmare to mow. It can cause bare spots on your lawn and you’ll notice your lovely path begin to look sparse.

Using bamboo edging keeps the stones on the path, where they should be.

Flower Beds and Borders

Defining the edges of your flower beds and borders makes them stand out beautifully. Raised edging also retains soil, mulching bark or stones, and stops spillage into other areas of the garden. The natural look of bamboo edging complements most garden styles beautifully.

Raised Beds and Areas of Different Heights

A sloping garden isn’t everyone’s dream, but a little landscaping can turn that annoying slope into a feature. Raising up beds slightly and edging them with bamboo gives your garden a more purposeful feel. My last garden had a slight downward slope towards the back. I dug out about 15 cm of soil at the high end to flatten the lawn and used bamboo all the way around. If I say so myself, it looked fabulous.

Steps and Decking

Using bamboo edging, whether it be vertically or horizontally, is a stunning way to finish off steps and decking edges. And it’s a welcome change from conventional edging. If you’re going for that oriental appeal, bamboo edging looks amazing.

Bamboo Edging Pros

There are lots of things to love about bamboo edging – here are a few of the main points I picked out:

• It’s affordable and easy to install
• It’s flexible (or solid) depending on what you need
• It’s sturdy and comes in various lengths and thicknesses
• It’s attractive and gives an organic or oriental theme to your garden
• It’s durable and biodegradable

Want to know why we love bamboo so much? Find out more on our Why Bamboo page.

Bamboo Edging Cons

Bamboo, like any organic material, will need to be replaced eventually. Depending on the quality and size of bamboo used, edging can last anything from 5 to 10 years.

Alternatives to Bamboo Edging

Yes, we love bamboo, but let’s take a quick look at some alternatives…

Wooden Stakes

These are sometimes easier to find than bamboo. Because the wood is cut, wooden edging doesn’t often last as long as bamboo. Wood needs to be treated every year or two with a preservative and this can be labor-intensive if you have a large plot.

Bricks or Stones

Using bricks or stones can give a rustic feel. They are long-lasting and don’t need a lot of maintenance. The cost of materials is generally the sticking point. Bricks and stones are amongst the most expensive edging materials.

Recycled Rubber

This product has become more popular over the past 5 years. It’s heartening to see recycled materials taking some market share. Rubber is flexible and heavy-duty. It’s resistant to changes in temperature too. Costs are coming down as popularity increases. It does still look a bit manufactured though.

Plastic

There are many different types of plastic lawn edging – too many to mention here. Generally, plastic is known for its durability but, as we try to move away from using plastic, it seems sensible to consider more environmentally-friendly products first if you can. It’s not always the cheapest either!

How to Use Bamboo Edging

Here’s a nice video from our friends at The Garden Shop over in Ireland showing how a basic bamboo edging roll can be used: