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buildingahouseinmi

Grass/Mulch Edging with Stone

I found this picture while looking up water sprinkler reviews believe it or not. I LOVE the look of this person's stone edging work. I'd like to do this in my backyard, which right now is all grass. What do I need to do to do this? I'm thinking...:

1) Round up & kill all grass where mulch will go
2) Lack rock on dead grass as in picture below
3) Put a few inches of top soil to fill behind rock edge
4) Top with black mulch

Does this seem right? Will the rocks slide, tip over, fall over?

(Also, what plants are these? They are very bright green & pretty)

This post was edited by fillthemup on Fri, Apr 11, 14 at 22:31

Comments (7)

  • whitecap
    9 years ago

    While the "pros" are taking a well deserved break, let me suggest that even a cave man could stack the rock. Thing about it, the picture seems to show a raised bed, filled with a soil appropriate for "green & pretty" things. It appears to incline downwards from the fence. It was obviously laid out by someone with a high degree of expertise. The average "Do-It-Yourselfer" is unlikely to achieve results so pleasing to the eye.

    Once you identify your turf grass, you can obtain the information to eradicate it at Home Depot. I suspect a couple of thorough applications of Roundup, at ten day intervals, might suffice. Plant selection will be a function of soil type, climate and available moisture.

    Don't even think about piling soil against your fence.

  • whitecap
    9 years ago

    Ps: That stone will sink right into the ground, if not supported by a base of sand or gravel.

  • buildingahouseinmi
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you, good point about the sand.

    "Don't even think about piling soil against your fence"
    What else do you do? I want to achieve something like this, but have a chain link fence between me and my neighbor

  • whitecap
    9 years ago

    I had in mind the privacy fence seen in your photo. Contact with soil would cause it to deteriorate. One thing you could do, whatever the composition of the fence, is place a retainer of railroad cross ties at the back of the bed, leaving sufficient clearance to repair the fence, when necessary. That would give you a soil depth of almost 8 inches, not really enough for larger shrubs. So what you might do, after removing the turf grass, is work the topsoil well, with a spade or tiller, down to a depth of 8 inches or so, then mix it with soil amendments as you bring the bed to the desired height. If you encounter hard clay, rock, or caliche, you might just want to discard some of the original soil. My soil conditioners of choice are finely textured bark mulch and compost. I avoid sand and peat moss.

  • PRO
    Yardvaark
    9 years ago

    One thing to be careful of ... if you're creating something like this on what is basically flat grade, then tapering soil downward so as not to build up at the fence, then you're creating something that is bound to look a little goofy and not like the picture (where the grade is higher at the back.) Things in landscape only look good when they make physical sense. If they are contrived for no good reason ("I like it" is not a good reason) or seem like a contrivance, then they are usually off-putting to the viewer. Use good looking devices where they are needed. If you can make it look like it is needed by hiding all negative issues with plants, that would be one way to overcome that it is not needed (if that, in fact, is the case.)

  • whitecap
    9 years ago

    Yes, one would be creating a raised bed, where one is not functionally required. I'm not much on "art for art's sake," but that "edging" is attractive.

  • whitecap
    9 years ago

    Ordinarily, I might suggest that, depending on the nature of the topsoil, a raised bed could here be the most effective way of giving larger plants the type and depth of soil they require. In paging through the Lawn Care Forum, however, I see that Fillthemup has some serious drainage issues. Very serious. The drainage and landscaping issues can't be separated, and it appears to me that expert consultation is in order.

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