Creating a new border

michellellew

Hi all does anyone have any advice on the best/easiest way to create a new border in a lawn? I have seen something with cardboard put down to kill off grass, but then do you have to add soil to that or just wait a few months and dig it up. I’m not great at digging as suffer from shoulder problems so basically looking for a lazy way 😂 Thanks for any advice

GardenerSuze

@michellellew Just wondered if you could post a photo of your lawn. Don't worry if it loads upside down! You will need to mow around it which can be annoying in some cases.

Fairygirl

Hi @michellellew- if digging out turf etc is difficult for you, you can put an edging in, on top of the grass. Ornamental rock would be ideal, and you can then put the cardboard down, and add soil. It would easily be ready to plant by next year, depending on how wet your winters are. The drawback of that is when you're cutting the grass, it can be awkward as @GardenerSuze says.
An alternative is to dig [just a little bit!] to create a channel for laying brick or similar. Even broken paving slabs can make a good edging, but you may want to mortar them, depending on the height etc.

You'd have to add soil or similar, whichever way you create the bed. If you do the conventional method of stripping off the top layer of turf, you'd need to add plenty of organic matter to make sure it was hospitable for the plants. It's always worth spending time and money on the prep, but if you add plenty of organic matter, it will pay dividends for the success of your plants