Landscape edging is kind of like a movie director. Both are at their best when not seen, they make sure that everything is in its proper place, and both are responsible in some way for a nice and neat final product.

The similarities don't end there. One gets cut, while the other yells "cut." Both bend backwards to get things done correctly, and both are often buried in the dirt surrounding their businesses.

OK, OK, enough with the dumb jokes, let's take a look at edging and how to properly install this product. First, let's see what materials should be used.

To plan out where you are going to install your edging, you will need one of three things, rope, string or a garden hose. You'll also need a shovel or trencher, hacksaw, masonry or tile saw and measuring tape.

Planning Stages

In the planning stages you are obviously planning your layout, and if you are going to install pavers, you'll have to determine the number of pavers that you will need.

The planning stage is where the rope, string, or garden hose come in. Maneuver the desired object (rope, string, garden hose) in the pattern that you are planning. Make sure everything is smooth and flows well. You may want to mark where your line is once you remove the rope, string or garden hose. Spray paint works, but if it is a hot sunny day, something like a garden hose will attract the sunlight and kill the grass underneath. This will also leave you with a line to help you cut along your pattern, but this option is not recommended.

"We'll take a shaker can full of gypsum and shake out the shape so we can see it and the customer can see it," said Richard Cohen, of Richard Cohen Landscape in Lake Forest, Calif. "Other times we use marker paint and paint out the shapes we want."

If you are putting pavers down along the edging be sure to calculate how many pavers you will need. Here's how you figure it out:

Total lineal feet for the design, divided by the width of the paver. So lets say you have 25 feet of edging to lay down. That comes out to about 300 inches. It looks like most pavers are 8 x 4 inches. Next take the 300 inches and divide by 4 (the width of the paver), and you get 75. That is the number of pavers you will need to go with your edging. Looks pretty easy, I'd suggest using a calculator. Now it's on to the preparation stage of things.

Prepping

Using a garden hose or rope allows a Landscape Contractor to plan out the edging pattern. Using spray paint or a can of gypsum will leave a mark that the contractor can use as they make a trench to install the edging. This also allows the customer to give their approval of the pattern prior to the digging taking place.

To prepare the site, cut the sod along the marked lines and then use a shovel or an automatic trencher to make a trench. The depth of the trench is about 4-6 inches depending on the type of edging you'll be using. If you are using pavers, just figure out the paver's thickness and add a 1/2 inch, and you've got the size of your trench.

It is important to get the bottom of the trench as level as possible, as this will help keep the edging looking good. Most edging is designed to compensate for minor bumps or drops, but it's important to be careful. It may even be a good idea to set aside some dirt or sod that you removed in the trenching process to be used for backfill. Grass seed or even sand will help to level the trench out.

Another thing to remember when digging is to keep your trench straight, even around the curves. This is probably easier said than done. Using straight pieces of edging is best when you have a straight line. Rolled pieces are hard to make straight but the straighter the trench the easier it will be to keep your edging straight no matter what type of edging you use.

Take a look at the grade you are working with, and judge how steep it is, and think about the difficulty of getting the edge up that. It may look nice having a few hills or even a sloped area, but the edging won't necessarily cooperate.

"You've got to make sure that your grade is pretty well set, " said Bill Krause of Terra Designs in Tucson, Ariz. "You can't really bend the edging up and down to go over hills and mounds."

"It has to flow with the grade of the site," Cohen said. "It has to look like it blends."

Installing

Depending on the type of edging you are using, there are some different methods to installation. Here are some basic tips to help you out when installing various edging.

Most plastic, steel, or aluminum edging that is "L" or "T" shaped will come with metal stakes that anchor the edging to the ground. With "T" shaped edging, slide one section under the paver and tap it into place so that the side of the edging is flush with the hardscape element. Install the stakes as specified.

With an "L" shaped edging simply place the vertical end against whatever hard surface you are trying to separate from the plant material, install stakes and lay the turfgrass, rocks, dirt, or whatever in may be over the lower portion of the edging.

For edging that is less "L" or "T" shaped, it can be placed up against the side of the trench and stakes can be driven through at a 45 degree angle towards the turf or outside portion of the bed.

With something Like Borderscapes' Borderpath edging system, follow the same preparation that was talked about earlier and lay down some 1/2" plastic tubing. The tubing is used to hold the snap-on retainers that hot the brick pavers in place.

To curve the edging many of the plastic models will bend pretty easily, however you may have to cut wedges along the bottom of "L" or "T" shaped edging, if they already do come with the wedges pre-cut.

For those of you who have not used aluminum or steel edging, you may be surprised at how easy it is to bend. Krause said that the 20 foot long, 1/8 inch thick steel, that he uses on many projects is very flexible.

"If you get a long enough piece it is pretty flexible," Krause said. "You can push it around pretty easy by just putting your foot on it and torking it."

One of the biggest mistakes that Krause sees with the steel edging is that they are not properly secured and supported.

A simple way to figure this out is to calculate the total lineal feet for the design and transfer that into inches. Then divide the number of inches by the width of the paver and you will have the number of bricks needed for the job.

"With the edging we use, it needs to be spot welded with rebar supports to it," he said. "Years from now you don't want it tipped over with the grass growing over it."

Cohen does some pour-in-place concrete mow strips and said that a couple pieces of steel need to be put in otherwise they will break and crack in a few years.

Now it is time for you to be the director and bring the whole thing together, hopefully some of these tips will help you the next time you are installing edging on a project.

Like a famous director once said, "Action!

When installing edging and brick pavers, Landscape Contractors must know the amount of bricks to be used in the project.