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Garden Bed Edging

Posted on January 9, 2012 by inContour

Every landscape project typically uses some sort of garden bed edging somewhere in the design. The exception might be low-budget municipal park projects. Edging is useful for several purposes, but mainly it is to keep the rhizomic roots of lawn grasses from invading garden beds. In addition, it helps to keep garden bed mulch in place, preventing it from spilling into the lawn area. It also provides a clean defined edge between the lawn and garden beds that enhances the design. Below are the five most common types of garden bed edging that one would find used in a landscape plan.

Typical Garden Bed Edging and Their Uses

Steel Edging in Garden Bed

1. STEEL EDGING
Finishes: Can come powder coated in various colors, typically black or green. It can also be used raw, as milled steel and left to rust (our personal favorite).
Advantages: Easy to bend around curves making it versatile to most any design. Long life span. Very durable.
Cons: Upfront cost, depending on the current market.

 

2. ALUMINUM EDGING
Finishes: Various Colors
Advantages: Easy to bend around curves making it versatile to most any design. Fairly inexpensive.
Cons: Short life span due to easily becoming dented and damaged by maintenance equipment. Not very durable compared to steel.

3. TIMBER EDGING
Finishes: Natural or stained wood. Various types of wood available.
Advantages: Fairly durable. Very in expensive.
Cons: Can be difficult to use around curved edges. Depending on the type of wood, life span varies. Will eventually rot.

4. PLASTIC EDGING
Finishes: Black plastic
Advantages: Very affordable. Flexible.
Cons: Short life span. Easily damaged by severe cold weather and maintenance equipment. Will break & lift. Aesthetic appearance.

5. CONCRETE EDGING
Finishes: Typically brushed concrete
Advantages: Durable. Very flexible with curved designs.
Cons: Does not go into the ground, but sits on top, thus providing no barrier to rhizomic root systems invading the garden bed area. Aesthetic appearance.

-inContour Staff
www.inContour.com

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Building a Made in USA Landscape

Posted on November 1, 2011 by inContour

You might have heard about the All American Home* being built by Anders Lewendal in Bozeman, MT. Everything from the nails they are using to the insulation and shingles on the roof are manufactured in the United States. This got us thinking about landscaping, and how in general the majority of our materials (plants & mulch) are made in the USA. However, a landscape installation requires far more than just plants, and many of the products that we typically specify are indeed made over seas. That was our challenge, replacing those foreign products with domestic ones.

After much research here is our list of products, and we challenge anyone out there from homeowners doing a DIY project to commercial landscape contractors to take the pledge and try to use at least 5% domestic goods. However, if you do manage to create a fully made in the USA landscape project we’d love to hear about it. Also, if you know of another company that falls under these categories whose products are Made in the USA, please let us know so that we can add them to the list.

*You can read more about the All American Home on their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TheAllAmericanHome?sk=info

Landscape Products Made in the USA

Anchor pins:

Drain emitters:

Filter Fabric:

Garden Bed Edging – Steel:

Garden Bed Edging – Aluminum:

Garden Bed Edging – Plastic:

Garden Bed Edging – Timber: Available from local lumber stores nationwide. Make sure it’s American grown and processed timber.

Geotextile Fabric:

Gravel: Available from local quarries nationwide.

Irrigation – Drip Irrigation:

Irrigation – Automatic Irrigation Systems:

  • Weathermatic, www.weathermatic.com
  • Hunter Industries has manufacturing facilities in California and North Carolina, along with Mexico. If you decided to use Hunter products, make sure any products you purchase from them were manufactured in the US plants and not in Mexico. www.hunterindustries.com
  • Rain Bird has manufacturing facilities California and Arizona, as well as Mexico, France and Sweden. Make sure that if you order products from them that you ask if all parts were manufactured in the US plants and not overseas. www.rainbird.com

Landscape Boulders: Available from local quarries nationwide.

Mulch (bark & rock): Available from local wood chippers and quarries nationwide.

Plant material: Readily grown and available from nurseries all over the country. Just make sure the plants were grown in the USA and not shipped here from overseas. Furthermore, ask if they use Made in USA containers.

Organic Compost:

Outdoor Lighting:

Pavers:

Paver edging:

Permeable Pavers (Grass Pavers):

Root ball anchor: We couldn’t find any that were Made in USA. You can try contacting one of the tree guy companies and see if they will make one for you. Another option would be to create a nice detail for your contractor and have them build them.

Root barrier:

Sand: Available from local quarries nationwide.

Tree anchors/guys:

Tree rope & twine:

Tree stakes – metal:

Tree stakes – plastic:

Tree stakes – wood:

Trench Drains & Sub-surface (French Drains):

Weed barrier, Weed Fabric, Landscape Fabric:

-inContour Staff
www.inContour.com

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Pimp My Curb

Posted on October 12, 2011 by inContour

Fall and winter are the perfect time to start planning your spring landscaping projects. This year, inContour is offering a special service to our Bozeman and Belgrade area residential clients.

We are calling it the “Pimp My Curb” campaign.

For $350, we will meet with you on your property to discuss your existing landscape and potential enhancements. After our meeting, our staff will measure your property, and within one business week, you will receive two concept plans. You will have a few days to review the concepts and decide which elements of the plans you prefer. Following your comments then we will then provide you with a final planting plan for your home within the following workweek. Total time from meeting to final planting plan is only two workweeks total!

Requirements: Bozeman or Belgrade address and an average city lot. Payment is due upon receipt of the final planting plan.

If you property does not quite fit into this category, give us a call to discuss and see what we can offer you.

-inContour Staff
www.inContour.com

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