What did you use? I have one of those half-moon edgers. I guess it's not particularly energy-saving or time-saving, but I think it does a good job. But I'm probably not using it properly, as after I edge with that I get down on the ground and use a trowel to finish the job. Slow going indeed but I never thought much about the time it took, I guess. Certainly less time-consuming than weeding, at least in my yard. Now THAT'S a job that I spend way too much time and energy doing!

Dee

P.S. Upon further thought, I am probably not the person to listen to in any way, shape or form on this topic, as my edges only look good for about three days, and even then only one bed at a time....

Why not just go down to the shore and bring back head-size rocks to edge your beds with? --or are you geologically in an alluvial or estuarine area, no rocks? While I complain about having to dig out so many stones when planting, I am happy to have the big ones to use.

Carol

Beds are edged with bricks from my neighbor's demolition job. I'm still waiting for the ultra-observant person to notice the edging matches their house, and not mine.

She asked me if I wanted them, but the contractors were responsible for site cleanup. They threatened to haul off anything that was still there when they were done with the job. I broke one garden cart overloading it, but did get all of them safely across the property line by mid-afternoon.

I admit I don't edge every year let alone a few times during one growing season. As a result I wind up removing quite a bit of sod with a sharpened spade.Then I find myself with a cart full of sod to lug off to compost.
I hate mowing the lawn with a V edge but these are more casual shrub borders that transition to woodland so I am not interested in any type of brick or stone to edge.
Do you edge once or more a year? Do you use any type of power tool to keep you edge under control?

Although I use brick edging, for the past several years we've been re-doing these narrow brick strips, wherever they abut lawn. We're inserting the heavy steel edging between the grass and the brick, which not only keeps the bricks from shifting but does a great job keeping the grass from growing into the spaces between the bricks. On a new bed, we ran out of steam after getting the steel installed - that will have to wait for fall when I have more time and can face the task of hauling bricks across the yard.

Meanwhile, I do find mowing along that edge quite a pain in the neck, but the black steel, which is completely invisible, has kept the edge straight and clean. No grass has found its way out of the lawn into that (so far, unplanted) bed.

Would an invisible steel edge work in your garden?

My experience with steel edging at my volunteer garden is that it heaves and sinks with time. Maybe ours wasn't installed correctly, but it was done by a reputable landscape contractor. The sunken parts aren't all that bad, but the raised ones are just plain dangerous when combined with a lawnmower.

I don't have edges around the shrub beds. They just kind of are.

One of my gardens is lined with large rocks. Unfortunately you can't bring the mower right up to the rocks, so we still need to use the string trimmer. DH probably trims every other time he mows.

For the front beds, we ended up sinking 2x4s into the ground. I wanted a straight edge, and I needed about 50' of edging - so the 2x4s were both inexpensive and quick. It's been 3 or 4 years and the wood is holding up fine. Not sure what it will look like in another 10 years.

I am another user of brick, but I use the black plastic edging on the outside. It's pretty well hidden by the grass. DH also hates mowing by a V trench, and since I am too allergic to grass to take over that chore, I go with his wishes. The mower wheel runs on the brick edging, so no need to use the string trimmer.

Power edgers exist, but they are called lawn edgers. (I guess it's where one's priorities lie.) Some of them (the more expensive ones, it seems) can be used straight or can be set at a bevel, so I think that if you ran it along the edge once straight on the inside of the bed and once at an angle on the lawn side, you would get your V cut.

There's an example linked below. I have never used one of these, so this isn't a recommendation, but they do exist if you want to pony up the cash.

Here is a link that might be useful: walk behind gas power edger

I forgot to add that you'd still be shlepping wheelbarrow loads of stuff removed from the trench to your compost pile, but the cutting itself would be faster and easier (though louder) as long as you didn't have too many rocks. (and I am assuming that you have mostly sandy loam with few rocks.)

You folks quickly made me aware of how big the commitment to edging is. If I decide to go with plastic, steel, and or brick I will have to commit for a life time to bed size and shape. ACKK. Now if I don't commit I will but cutting away lawn until I have a GRASS free shrub jungle. Hmmm I need to give this some more thought.

Here is what I bought last season, and I love it.

Way better than the half moon things. It is like a scooter, and you just step, step, step around the bed. Then clean out the debris and you have a nice clean edge. Very sturdy and has a beefy, sharp blade.

The first 3 minutes are a little awkward, but you'll get the hang of it and you will appreciate the design and craftsmanship. Seriously.

It is made by Hound Dog, and beware because they have a different edger that is not as good. You want the "Steppin' Edger."

Here is a link that might be useful: Hound Dog Steppin' Edger

Since I used the 2x4s to edge my gardens, I don't feel like I'm committed to the size. If I want to expand, I can either pull the 2x4s out, and then reuse them or I could just bury them with mulch. The biggest drawback is that you are limited to rectilinear forms.

Before I used the steel edging, I just used brick, with the lawn-side laid on its narrow side to provide more depth. The great advantage to this was that I could perform an annual sleight of hand by lifting the bricks, re-edging about a foot into the lawn, and replacing the bricks in the new location. Viola, the bed was a foot wider and my non-gardening DH was none the wiser. (So I didn't need to answer that mysterious question - Why do you need to make that garden bigger?)

The down side, of course, was that I needed to edge every spring, or risk the grass invading the bed.

Mad gal, I use heavy-duty steel, only available from landscape supply places (and not all of them carry it). So far I haven't had any issues with heaving at all. Maybe our rocks are too small here - we're in a glacial outwash area, with layers of sand and clay, very few rocks bigger than about 4 inches. I've seen heaved steel and plastic, though, and I agree it's not a nice look - nor an easy problem to solve.

Meanwhile, I'd love to hear if anyone has a power edger that works - isn't there supposed to be an attachment for a mantis that does this job? Or don't some mow-and-blow guys turn their string trimmers at an angle and use those to cut into the soil?