In particular, we'll look into using dimensional lumber - lumber that's cut to a standardized width, length, and thickness and easily obtained at big box and local hardware stores.

Dimensional lumber offers a clean, smooth surface that's appealing as-is and also easy to modify - paint, stain - letting you create unique edging profiles that can play a supporting role or be a feature in your landscape design.

But first, to level-set, let's start with a definition.

What Is a Patio

A backyard scene with brick patio and lawn, and two garden beds edged with 2x4 lumber. — An example of a patio made with red brick laid in a double basket weave pattern. Garden beds are neatly defined with wooden edging. The clean lines of the brick and edging give this backyard oasis a moden look.

According to our friends at The Spruce, a patio is -

"a concrete space usually adjoining the exterior of a house and is located in the backyard."

While patios are typically made out of concrete poured to create a concrete slab, "large paving stones, tile or bricks are also used."

Unlike a deck, a patio is "built directly on the ground" and "is not significantly raised and does not have multiple levels."

When you get started with your patio space, the first thing that comes to mind to add a personal touch is choosing just the right patio furniture. That makes sense, and furniture certainly serves a practical purpose.

But there's so much more you can do to elevate your patio space. Adding flower beds, container plants, water features, even a vegetable garden (to keep your home-grown veggies within easy reach outdoors) can change the look and the utility of your patio.

A climbing hydrangea shown on the left in a garden bed without edging, and on the right in a bed edged with wood and 2xEDGE Staples in Rose Pink. — A before and after look at a corner garden bed with specimen planting - a climbing hydrangea. Before installing landscape edging, the soil and mulch spilled out onto the brick patio. After installing 2x2 lumber with 2xEDGE Staples in Rose Pink, the mulch stays where it's needed - keeping soil moist, feeding the plant, and keeping plant roots cool.

Ready to dig into some DIY garden edging ideas that can boost the visual interest of your outdoor space including your patio area?

Or are you not quite convinced that, in the grand scheme of backyards and patios, edging is all that and a free bag of wood chips....

Here's some food for thought.

Why Edge Your Patio Space?

Since patios are usually even with the surrounding ground, edging can be important - particularly when you're dealing with flower beds or garden beds next to your patio.

Show Your Plants Some Love

Edging around your planting beds to add the necessary height for added growing mediums will help prevent soil erosion and contain organic (eg., wood-based mulches) or inorganic (eg., pea gravel) mulch layered over patio-adjacent beds.

Organic mulch spilling out from a garden bed and onto a red brick patio due to a lack of landscape edging. — Without landscape edging to contain it, organic mulch spills out onto this brick patio. Installing edging will help keep the mulch on the garden bed where it can feed the plants and shade plant roots. It will also help keep this area of the garden tidy.

Planting Beds & Soil Levels

If the soil in your beds is lower than your patio, you'll want to add soil to help keep water from pooling in your beds.

If your patio is a concrete slab, water run-off during a heavy or extended bout of rain can flood garden beds, creating overly soggy, perilous conditions for your plants, shrubs, and trees.

Soil Condition

Depending on the condition of the soil in your garden beds, you may need to add natural materials such as compost or organic mulch, to add nutrients to the soil so that it can support healthy plant growth.

Climate

If you're gardening in a location that is hot and dry, you may want to add a few inches of organic mulch to your garden beds to help keep plant roots moist and cool - especially if the beds receive full sun for many hours of the day.

Add Visual Impact

A patio border can help you realize your garden design. Whether you're going for -

a classic look with a simple and neat border;
a modern look with clean lines and straight edges; or
a rustic look that can soften all that hardscaping and add natural charm to the edges of a patio.

Whatever your vision for your patio space, landscape edging can be a tool in your garden designer toolbox that works hard to help you achieve it.

A brick patio that includes a garden bed with a rusted steel sculpture. The bed is edged with 2x4 lumber and 2xEDGE Forest Green Staples. — 2x4 lumber is used as garden edging, installed with 2xEDGE Forest Green Staples adding pops of color to the natural wood and the red brick patio. The clean lines of the wooden edging helps to showcase this scene-stealing steel sculpture.

Why Choose Wood For Your Patio Edge?

Metal edging. Stone edging. Brick edging. Plastic edging. So many edging options!

Using wood as landscape and garden edging is a tried and true concept.

Various types of wood have played a feature roll in landscape design, from large and craggy railroad ties, to smaller railway sleepers, to landscape timbers.

More refined dimensional lumber such as cedar, redwood, and pressure treated pine that's easy to obtain from home improvement stores like Home Depot or Lowes as well as hardware stores and lumber yards, are also a popular choice for landscape edging and garden borders.

(Check out "You've Got Options! Choosing the Lumber That's Right For Your Project" for info on different types of lumber including an at-a-glance comparison chart.")

Wooden Edging Complements Hardscaping

Whether they're concrete block, bricks, natural stone, or a slab, patios are a hardscape element - sometimes quite a large one.

Wooden edging is a complement to that hardscape. It can be a striking visual element that adds texture and character alongside concrete, brick, or stone.

A brick patio with two garden beds edged with two-by (2x) lumber installed with 2xEDGE Staples in Rose Pink and Forest Green. — Two garden beds edged with two-by (2x) lumber. The bed that incorporates a specimen planting is edged with 2x2 lumber which contains roughly 2-inches of mulch. The bed that features sculpture art is edged with 2x4 lumber which contains roughly 4-inches of mulch.

Wood Lends Itself to Truly Unique Designs

If your garden design calls for edging installed in straight lines lumber is a good choice.

But straight edges aren't your only option. By cutting your lumber on an angle you can create garden beds in various shapes like hexagons, octagons, triangles.

Wood in Technicolor

Wood is one of the only landscape edging materials that you can change to suit your unique vision for your outdoor space.

You can paint it, stain it, or leave it alone and let it age to enjoy the natural beauty of weathered wood in your landscape.

If your patio is made out of concrete that isn't tinted or stained, wooden edging offers an opportunity to add color.

If it's made out of stained or tinted concrete, brick, or colored pavers, grab a brush and paint or stain your wood to complement the tones and colors of your patio.

The Benefits of Dimensional Lumber

We're partial to two-inch, or "two by", lumber. To learn why we 💗 two-by lumber, check out "Best Wood For Landscape Edging? Two-by (2x) Lumber ".

In a nuthsell:

Two-by lumber is durable and long-lasting. (See "You've Got Options! Choosing the Lumber That's Right For Your Project" to find out the average life span of common lumber options.)
It's easy to use as landscape edging off-the-shelf. Should you require a different length cutting it down to the size you need is a simple task.
The edging you'll create is modular which is easy to extend, repair, and replace.
It's safe to use - especially if you choose cedar or untreated pine, and it's sustainable.
It offers a distinct, clean profile in your landscape when compared to the usual suspects such as landscape timbers and railroad ties.

Forest Green 2xEDGE Staples installed on 2x4 lumber to create a wooden edge around a garden bed that\'s adjacent to a brick patio. — Creating many linear feet of wooden edging is a straightforward process with two-by (2x) lumber. The crisp straight lines of wooden edging installed next to a brick patio creates a modern look in outdoor spaces.

Dimensional Lumber & Edging Height

Experts recommend two- to four-inches of mulch be added to garden beds. Using dimensional lumber, you can easily create just the right amount of edging to keep mulch where it's supposed to be.

This is one of the reasons that we 💗 two-by lumber. You can get it in 2-, 3-, or 4-inch widths off-the-shelf. Shovel in the amount of mulch you need and move on.

If you'll add soil, compost, and/or mulch to your garden beds, you'll be glad that you installed garden edging. Without it you'll spend more time than you like sweeping dirt and mulch off of your patio and back where it belongs.

Someone installing 2x2 two-by lumber a Rose Pink 2xEDGE Staple with a 16 ounce rubber mallet. — Two-by (2x) pressure treated lumber can be found pre-stained. The 2x2 lumber pictured here is "cedar-tone pressure treated lumber" available at Home Depot.

Dimensional Lumber & Color

Have you noticed that, when it comes to landscape edging and color, there are a lot of different materials available but your options are limited?

There's plastic edging which is typically black.

There's brick which is usually terracotta.

There are pavers which come in grey, tan, or terracotta.

There are kits that usually include composite wood in tan or brown.

And there's metal edging which is usually a metallic steel or black.

You can't do much to change the look of these options. You get what you buy.

But dimensional lumber is different.

It offers a clean, smooth surface that's easy to paint or stain whatever color or shade you want to use in your outdoor space without limiting your options or compromising your aesthetic.

Three Forest Green 2xEDGE Staples placed over two-by lumber in preparation to install wooden edging in a garden bed. — Forest Green 2xEDGE Staples placed on two-by (2x) lumber in preparation to install the lumber as wooden garden edging. Installation requires just a 16 ounce rubber mallet.

Easy Install Wooden Edging

If you've made it this far, I'm thinking you're considering wooden edging for your patio.

Now consider this:

Edging that doesn't require you to dig a trench to install as you'd have to do to use brick garden edging, plastic edging, paver borders, or concrete options like cinder blocks.
Edging that doesn't require you to drill holes into the wood to secure it in place - weakening the wood with every hole you make.
Edging that requires just one tool, a rubber mallet, to complete your install.

Check out 2xEDGE Staples and turn what could be a weekend-stealing edging installation into a fast, easy DIY project.

Bonus: Even More Color

To complement and support your design choices 2xEDGE Staples come in a variety of colors and tones!

Black, white, silver, forest green, pastels - rose pink, robins egg blue, mint green, and monarch orange.

And our original Rustic Steel, which will gain a rust patina over time, remains a best seller.

So, Now You Know👍🏼

I hope this post brought wooden edging fully into view as you consider next steps for your patio.

Using dimensional lumber, especially two-by (2x) lumber, as landscape edging is a modern option for any garden space.

The ability to add color by painting or staining your lumber makes it a great option for patio areas in particular.

Use your customized wooden edging to extend the colors found on your patio - your furniture, your potted plants - into the garden, turning your patio area into a cohesive focal point.

And a final suggestion: check out 2xEDGE and bring your unique landscape & garden design to life the fast and easy way, without limiting your choices or your vision.

Red brick patio with two garden beds edged with two-by lumber, one in the foreground and one in the background. — Edging garden beds and flower beds that are adjacent to a patio can greatly enhance your outdoor space. Edging helps to define and feature areas and objects. Wooden edging can be a striking visual element that adds texture and character alongside concrete, brick, or stone.

Photo Credit📸

Photos included in this article were taken by 2xEDGE and are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

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