• Overview

  • In this video, This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook creates a clean garden edge.

    Steps:
    1. Remove and discard all old plastic edging from garden bed.
    2. Use metal edger to cut into ground along edge of existing garden bed.
    3. Lay garden hose on ground to establish the outline of the newly expanded garden bed.
    4. Cut down into the grass along the hose with a metal edger.
    Pull back on the edger's handle to form a shallow trench along the garden bed.
    5. Use a shovel to remove grass from within the newly expanded garden bed.
    6. Spread 2 to 3 inches of pine-bark mulch over the soil to deter weed growth.
    Smooth out the mulch with a rake.
    7. Move some of the perennials from the old garden into new bed.
    8. Thoroughly water the transplanted plants.
    • 4 to 6 hours for an average-size garden bed
    • $40 to $100, depending upon how much you enlarge the existing garden bed
    • Tools
    • Shopping List
    • Difficulty: Easy
      requires little effort to establish a crisp, clean garden edge
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    Video Directory

    Selected Topic/Section

      Tools List

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      • edger
        Metal edger, used to cut new edge along garden bed
      • metal garden rake
        Garden rake, for spreading bark mulch
      • pointed shovel
        Shovel, used to dig old grass from new garden bed and to transplant plants
      • wheelbarrow
        Wheelbarrow, used to transport bark mulch
      • garden hose
        Garden hose, used to establish the outline of the new garden bed

      Shopping List

      Close
      1. Pine-bark mulch, used to cover soil of newly expanded garden bed