An edge is the line that makes the bed behind it read as deliberate. It can be a clipped hedge thirty centimetres high, a ribbon of strappy leaves or a mat of thyme between pavers, but it does the same three jobs: it defines the bed, it holds soil and mulch off the path, and it hides the untidy base of taller plants. Edges also work hardest when the planting behind them is properly graded in height, so it is worth reading how to layer plants like a professional landscaper before you commit to a border plant.
Choosing the right edging plants
Three questions settle most choices. How much sun does the edge get, including heat radiated off paving in the afternoon? Do you want a clipped formal line or a soft one that looks after itself? And how long can you wait, because a slow plant like dwarf mondo takes two or three years to close up while a lomandra does it in one. Match the plant to those answers and the edge will hold; pick for the catalogue photograph and it will not.
Types of edging plants
Clipped hedging
Classic favourites like English box give the neat formality that suits a structured garden, and Japanese box, dwarf westringia and Hip High murraya do the same job with less fuss in warm climates. All of them need trimming two or three times a year to keep the line crisp.
Flowering and scented edges
Lavender gives a grey, scented edge about a metre high that suits a sunny, free-draining border in the southern states and inland, and bees work it all summer. Where the edge is lower and drier, creeping thyme is a hardy, fragrant option that takes light foot traffic, flowers in early summer and can be picked for the kitchen; our low maintenance ground covers collection has more mat-forming plants for the same job.
Strappy-leafed edges
Where the look is less formal, a strappy-leafed plant gives the same defined line with far less work. Mondo grass forms a dense dark green ribbon that never needs cutting, liriope muscari adds purple flower spikes through summer, and our dianella care guide covers the native flax lilies that handle sun, frost and drought in the same position. For more ideas at this scale, see our roundup of low-growing plant ideas for borders.
Maintenance
A clipped edge needs its trims, a light feed in spring and water through its first two summers; after that box and murraya are drought tolerant. A strappy edge needs almost nothing: cut lomandra, dianella and liriope back by half every second winter to renew the clump, and pull the odd weed until the plants close over. Water every edge through its first summer, because the strip beside paving dries faster than the middle of a bed, and mulch to 50 mm between plants until they meet. If even that sounds like too much, our list of low maintenance shrubs for Aussie gardens includes several compact forms that hold a neat shape on their own.
Edging plants for Australian gardens
Edging sits at the hottest, driest part of most beds, right against paving that radiates heat, often in the rain shadow of a wall, and frequently in soil contaminated with lime leaching from concrete. That narrows the useful list considerably.
| Position | What works |
|---|---|
| Hot, sunny, beside paving | Dwarf mondo, dianella, Little Con lomandra, blue chalksticks |
| Sun to part shade | Liriope, dietes, society garlic, dwarf westringia |
| Shaded edges | Dwarf mondo, native violet, clivia, ajuga |
| Between pavers, foot traffic | Dwarf mondo, blue star creeper, dichondra |
| Formal clipped line | Japanese box, dwarf westringia, Hip High murraya |
| Coastal exposure | Pigface, Cousin It, dwarf westringia |
The lime problem beside concrete
Worth knowing because it explains a lot of unexplained yellowing along path edges. Mortar, concrete and paving leach lime into surrounding soil for years, raising pH sharply within about a metre. Acid-loving plants edging a concrete path will yellow persistently no matter how carefully they are fed. Test the soil at the actual edge rather than in the middle of the bed. If it is alkaline there, choose plants that tolerate it, lomandra, dianella, dietes, westringia and mondo, rather than fighting it.
One species, evenly spaced
Edging works through repetition. A single species in a continuous run creates the line that makes the bed behind read as deliberate. Mixing several species along the same edge destroys the effect. Space so plants just touch at maturity: dwarf mondo at 300 mm, Little Con lomandra at 400 mm, dianella and liriope at 500 mm. Dwarf mondo in particular is very slow, so plant it closer than feels necessary or you will be weeding between plants for two or three years.
Clipped or unclipped
A clipped edge of Japanese box, dwarf westringia or Hip High murraya gives crisp geometry and commits you to trimming two or three times a year. An unclipped edge of lomandra, dianella or liriope gives a softer line and needs cutting back once every couple of years. In Australian conditions the unclipped native option usually ages better, because it does not depend on regular attention to keep looking deliberate. Japanese box also struggles in humid Brisbane summers, where fungal problems are common.
Practical details
- Plant 300 mm back from paving where you can, so plants are not baked by radiated heat or damaged by mowing and edging.
- Nothing spiny beside a path. Agave and spined yucca belong well back from where people walk.
- Nothing that drops slippery litter onto paving; fruiting plants and heavy flower drop are a genuine hazard on a wet path.
- Mulch to 50 mm between plants until they close over.
- Water through the first summer. Edges dry faster than the middle of a bed.
- Feed natives with a low-phosphorus blend only.
Skip agapanthus near bushland
It is a common default edging plant and it is an environmental weed in parts of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. If your property adjoins bushland or a reserve, use dianella or dietes instead; both give strappy foliage and flowers without the issue.
Ready to plant?
A crisp edge is the cheapest way to make a whole garden look designed. Browse our low maintenance shrubs collection for compact border plants, and we will deliver healthy, well-rooted stock anywhere in Australia.
