Concrete Landscape & Garden Borders

Decorative and durable edging can have any number of uses in an outdoor home. It makes great garden borders, turf edges, driveway and parking curbs, decorative tree surrounds, and barriers for loose ground covers—just to list its most popular applications. You can buy factory-made edging in masonry and other materials, but few prefab products can match the stability and longevity of poured concrete, and none can have the personal touch of a custom casting.

In this project, you’ll learn how to cast your own border sections with poured concrete and a reusable wood mold. The process is so simple and the materials so inexpensive that you’ll feel free to experiment with different shapes and surface treatments; see page 231 for ideas on customizing borders using trim moldings and other materials. Coloring the concrete is an even easier option for a personal decorative effect (see tip, below).

The best all-around concrete to use for small casting projects like this is crack-resistant concrete, which contains small fibers to add strength to the finished product without the use of metal reinforcement. However, for any casting that’s less than 2" thick, use sand mix. This special concrete mix has no large aggregates, allowing it to form easily into smaller areas. Either type of concrete must cure for 48 hours before you can remove the mold; to speed your productivity, you may want to build more than one mold.