The Autumn garden jobs: steel edging to the rescue

21 March 2023

Fall is a key time for gardeners to get their garden ready for winter and prepare for the colder weather. A long to-do list may not bring joy. However, using garden-edging products can help you save time and resources in the future. This can be beneficial in the long run.

5 Autumn garden jobs you need to tackle

1. Remove unwanted plants

Doing gardening tasks now helps you learn what worked and what didn't during the growing season. This is the time to remove any spent, underperforming, or overzealous plants and weeds from your garden. Old plants potentially harbour pests and diseases that can impact the next year’s crop.

2. Starting a compost

Heap is a fantastic way to recycle organic waste and create nutrient-rich soil. Your plants next year will benefit enormously from a homegrown fertiliser.

Some garden waste can make good compost, like grass clippings, leaves, and trimmed branches. But not all garden waste is suitable. Avoid adding:

Invasive weeds

· Charcoal and ashes

· Diseased plants

· Synthetic materials

· Pet waste

3. Plant bulbs

Plant spring bulbs in autumn for best results. They need cold weather to grow and bloom. The cooler temperatures provide perfect growing conditions and allow the bulbs to establish roots in preparation for spring growth.

4. Lawn care

Fall is an ideal season for repairing bare patches on your lawn. Plant new grass and give it one final cut before winter arrives. The cooler temperatures are less stressful for lawns than the heat of summer and mean less evaporation and water loss. There’s also less competition for nutrients from weeds, so your lawn will thrive in spring.

5. Mulching

Putting mulch around plants saves water, stops weeds, shields roots, and keeps the soil warm. The importance of mulch should not be understated.

How does metal landscape edging help in an autumn garden?

Installing steel garden edging is the first step to achieving a low-maintenance garden - a surprising solution to your gardening woes.

Garden edging protects and improves soil conditions.

keeps soil in place stopping it from washing away in heavy rains to retain nutrients. Garden bed edging stops soil from getting squished by people or vehicles going over the edge. Soil compaction leads to water runoff but also makes it harder for roots to establish.

With improved soil aeration the prime balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide is maintained, essential for healthy plants. Garden edging or metal tree ring edging can help keep mulch in place. This will ensure you get the most benefit from the mulch without having to add more.

Metal landscape edging visually improves the garden.

In autumn, when planting new gardens or fixing old ones, steel edging can help separate and organize the different areas. The garden looks better with straight lines and clear edges, even if the plants aren't growing right now.

Steel landscape edging restricts weed growth

Putting a barrier between garden beds and lawns, paths, or driveways stops weeds from spreading. This saves time on weeding and maintaining your lawn, paths, driveways, or beds.

Steel and Corten garden edging last a long time and require less maintenance, keeping your garden looking great year-round. Fall is a good time to put in EverEdge steel garden borders in New Zealand. The ground is still warm from summer and easier to handle, not too dry or hard.

Need help with EverEdge garden edging? Contact us at 021 925 389 for advice and support.

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Man installing edging along a lawn path in a garden.

The gardener’s guide to avoid garden edging mistakes

by Simon Mullinger • 25 August 2025

A well-designed garden isn’t just about the plants you choose; it’s the finishing touches that make all the difference. Garden edging frames your beds, pathways, and lawns, creating a clean, structured look while keeping soil, mulch, and grass exactly where they should be. But despite its time-saving capabilities, small mistakes during planning or installation can leave you with an untidy or high-maintenance garden – exactly what you didn’t sign up for. As a supplier of the best high-quality steel landscape edging products in New Zealand , EverEdge has heard it all – from shallow installs that allow grass to creep back in, to cracked or warped materials that ruin a carefully designed border. To help you get it right the first time, here are the top three garden edging mistakes and how you can avoid them. 1. Choosing the wrong edging material One of the most common mistakes is selecting edging that doesn’t stand the test of time. Plastic and timber edging might look appealing initially, but they deteriorate quickly over time, accelerated by harsh weather. Plastic warps under the sun, while timber is prone to rotting and shifting. Both often require replacement within just a few seasons. Even if you opt for the more expensive concrete garden edging it is vulnerable to ground movement and freeze-thaw cycles. By contrast, metal landscape edging, particularly steel garden edging, offers durability, flexibility, and a clean aesthetic. It can be shaped into sweeping curves or sharp angles without cracking, and it resists corrosion for decades. EverEdge products are designed for professional results and are trusted by landscapers across New Zealand for everything from garden bed edging and metal tree ring edging to driveway edging. Choosing a long-lasting material from the outset saves you time, money, and endless frustration down the line. 2. Installing at the wrong depth Even the best edging material won’t perform if it’s not installed correctly . A frequent error is laying edging too shallow. This allows mulch and soil to spill over and gives grass and weeds the perfect opportunity to creep back into your beds. Too deep, on the other hand, and the edging becomes buried, disappearing from sight and failing to give that crisp separation between lawn and border.