Bed edging

The line between bed and lawn — cut by hand, or built in stone, steel or paver.

Hand-cut edge

A crisp spade-cut trench, redone each spring. Cheapest, looks best when fresh, and needs annual attention.

Steel and aluminium

Thin, permanent, nearly invisible. Holds a line through winter and mows cleanly against.

Paver or stone edge

A mowing strip that the wheel can ride on, which removes trimming entirely along that line. The most expensive and the least work afterwards.

Whatever the material, the base under it and the water around it decide how it looks in ten years.