What it is
10-foot sticks of 1/8-inch thick by 4-inch tall galvanized steel edging. The kind that's been used to separate beds from lawns for a hundred years because nothing else lasts as long. We sell it individually — buy what your bed perimeter actually needs.
What it's for
Anywhere you need a hard line between two materials that don't want to stay separate. The classic uses:
- Mulch bed against Bermuda lawn — Bermuda will creep into a bed in 18 months without an edge. Steel stops it cold.
- Gravel path or DG patio — keeps the stone from migrating into the grass every time someone walks across it.
- Around tree rings and foundation plantings — gives a clean line that mowers respect.
For contractors: this is the spec we recommend when a customer's mulch install needs to look right at the one-year warranty visit, not just at handoff.
How much do I need
Measure your bed perimeter. Round up to whole sticks. A typical front-yard bed of 200 sq ft has roughly 60 linear feet of perimeter, so 6 sticks. A curved bed will eat 10-15% more — steel will flex around gentle curves but tight turns need a cut.
| Bed perimeter | Sticks needed |
|---|---|
| 30 LF | 3 |
| 60 LF | 6 |
| 100 LF | 10 |
| 200 LF | 20 |
Use the mulch-bed wizard — enter your bed area and we'll compute mulch yards plus edging sticks plus fabric all at once.
Steel vs aluminum vs BendaBoard
Steel is the heaviest, stiffest, longest-lasting, and the cheapest of the three. Downside: it's heavy to carry, won't flex around tight curves, and the cut ends are sharp (wear gloves). Aluminum is lighter and curve-friendlier; BendaBoard is the cheapest and most flexible. Steel is what gets specified on commercial installs and high-end residential.
Buying tips
- The stakes are included — 5 per stick. Drive them at a slight angle toward the bed side so the edge doesn't lean.
- For driveway-adjacent installs, bury the top edge slightly below the mower deck. Hitting a steel edge with a string trimmer is fine; hitting it with a mower blade is not.
- Galvanized steel will eventually develop a thin surface rust where the cut ends are exposed. That's normal and doesn't affect structural life.
Contractor notes
Volume pricing kicks in at 20 sticks. Bundle on a standing PO with mulch deliveries — we throw 20 sticks on the truck bed with no extra freight.