A great landscape sure to wow any passer-by is one that has the perfect combination of a variety of different elements – from an immaculate lawn to flower beds, hedges, trees, borders, and even a small vegetable patch. To ensure that all these elements do not look like they have been spread around without any particular order, many homeowners turn to garden edging plants. Edging plants are used to provide a natural and smooth transition between different landscape and hardscape elements, such as driveways or sidewalks.

When planning your landscape scheme, you’ll discover that the choice of garden edging plants is immense. In terms of what plants to use, it’s best to base your choice on your existing architectural and garden design, and, of course, the look that you desire to achieve. Also, consider the conditions of your landscape: Is there plenty of sunshine or more shade? Is the soil dry or moist? – Make sure to choose species that thrive in those exact conditions.

Another important consideration is how planting garden edging plants will affect the landscape elements. For instance, the presence of edging plants can certainly soften the hard lines of a stone walkpath, but it can also interfere with its primary purpose – to allow you to effortlessly get to and from your house. You certainly wouldn’t want to stumble on a liriope plant while carrying a load of groceries, do you? In that case, choose a dwarf plant when edging areas that will have a lot of traffic, like for instance, the rhoeo dwarf “Moses in the cradle”.

On the other hand, taller and more architectural edging plants can be used at the far ends of the landscape, away from the paths, where they can be used to create interesting height and foliage contrast. You can try to graduate the height of shrubs and perennials as a way to make your landscape appear much wider than it is. A great choice for tall, ornamental edging are “Mammy Croton” plants which can grow up to 1 meter in height and make a stunning impact on your garden with their year-round striking look that combines vibrant colours like yellow, orange, red, and green.

And finally, don’t forget that certain edging plants can release wonderful, soothing fragrances. So, why limit yourself only to flowers that will wither away after a season, when you can have evergreen aromatic edging plants that will ensure your garden is sweetly scented throughout the whole year? Consider plants such as mintbush, scented-leaf geranium, or the amazing lavenders which come with both scented leaves and colourful, fragrant flowers.