The other use for my pile of rock was for garden borders. I’m gradually edging all my garden beds with natural limestone rock. Limestone is readily available all over Tennessee which makes it either cheap or free! I’m happy with the look o limestone but nearly any type of rock will work well for borders if it is large enough. Most of the stones I use are about 6 inches or larger in length and often 4 inches or more in width. The advantage of rock borders is that when you walk around your landscape with the edger you can get as close to the borders as you want without worrying about chopping off a favorite plant or scratching other types of borders.
With the pile of rock above I was able to add the stepping stones from yesterday’s post and finish adding a stone border to our front garden. Here’s how it looks starting from the arbor and moving toward the front door:
I laid the stones on top of the grass in places and used newspaper to prevent weeds from coming up between the cracks then filled in mulch where necessary. Borders are so important to define a garden bed!
I have a lot of rock borders too..the girls and I are tackling the gardens today…been doing girl stuff in the house here lately and the garden is showing the lack of attention…
We have really rocky soil so I have rock walls & rock borders everywhere. As well as piles of rocks for snakes and other animals.
We have tons of limestone here in PA. I used to have stone borders too until I found out that's where all the blippety blip slugs were hanging out. So although I think yours look great and all I don't think I'll do it too!
Your front garden is so awesome. The rocks sure give it all a finished look.
Dave,
Great post! I've been trying to explain stone edging to my husband and now I can show him your photos!
Sorry about my absence. You've probably read about part of the distraction by now. Getting a garden ready for Grumpy was a bit of work (and mild panic!).
Cameron
I love all that beautiful stone. It sets off the plants so well and is so much better than a dug trench for edging (in so many ways). Oh, the pain in my pocket book – to hear that limestone is cheap or, even better, free in TN. That's just not fair! Stone is so expensive in the Chicago area. I'll just have to use the chunks of concrete I keep digging up.
I would love to do that, but rock is expensive. I got some nice ones making new beds in KY though and they are free if you di them out of your yard, lol. Yours looks great they really add something along with the stepping stones.
Jake
We have been doing a lot more stacked stone flower bed boarders. After homeowners see what it can look like they typically opt for stacked stone over just a stone boarder. Looks like you have pavers tying into your stones? CHESAPEAKE-LANDSCAPING