Edging Material for an English Garden

English gardens are noted for strong lines in the landscape and the interplay of soft and hard materials, constructed with a reverence for craftsmanship. Loose materials such as gravel and wood chips are used frequently, and these need to be retained with material that complements the elegance of the English style.

English Gardens

The classic English garden is credited to Gertrude Jeckyll, who designed gardens for country estates for architect Edwin Lutyen in the late 19th century. Lutyen's hardscape often combined materials such as stone and gravel with the strong geometrical forms of the architectural design softened by Jekyll's perennial borders and serene lawns. Another English garden type is the kitchen garden, where ornamental shrubs and herbs and vegetables are planted in raised beds, laid out in tidy patterns on a gravel base.


Edging is needed to retain loose material such as gravel or wood chips. Simplicity and design integrity are hallmarks of English gardens, and adding edging just for decorative purposes is discouraged. Surfaces made from concrete, brick or other hardscape materials don't require a retaining edge. The edge follows the shape of the element, and the material may need to conform to curves. When edging is set against grass, it's set just below grade as a mowing edge.

Setts and Bricks

English gardens used local materials extensively; granite setts or bricks edging a gravel path evoke the style. Bricks are set on edge, end to end, or side by side, and full or half granite setts can be used in single, double or triple rows. Both types of edging can be installed in straight lines or curves, including a surround for a tree to protect it from maintenance equipment, and to provide a mowing edge.

Steel and Rope Edging

Flexible galvanized steel keeps a crisp line in the English garden layout, and is simple to install, but expensive. It can be used in curves and right angles, as well as straight runs, and is durable and weather-resistant. Rope edgings, fashioned from concrete, terracotta or stone, have an old-fashioned, distinctive appearance suitable for edging the gravel paths for a rustic English kitchen garden. Where the flexible steel disappears once it's installed, rope edging material is visually distinctive.

References (2)

  • The Garden Design Sourcebook; David Stevens
  • The Well-Designed Garden; John Brookes

Photo Credits

  • George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images
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