I have an oval flowerbed basically in the middle of the yard. I love it but have a hard time mowing close enough to keep grass out without damaging the plants. So I thought of getting those rubber envirotiles to put around it. I did this with my rose garden that is a rectangle bed and it works great. Keeps grass away from plants and you can run over it with the tires of mower without any damage to anything. My hubby really appreciates that he doesnt have to weed eat there anymore. So I wanted to do the same thing around the oval bed in the yard but can not find those envirotiles in any shape but square. Soooo any other suggestions would be appreciated. Yes we mulch heavily but the grass likes to grow up the mulch too and weed eatting is necessary. My hubs works 6 days a week from early a.m. til 8PM so he isnt home to do much yard maintance. I do not weed eat so he spends his only day off weedeatting and I would like to cut back on what he needs to do. I really like the rubber tile things but can only find squares. any way to cut them to curve around the bed or other ideas?
Thanks
My husband dug a trench around the edge of the flower beds/landscaping. It traps in the mulch so the rain dosen't wash it out into the yard. you don't have to worry about running over the rubber things with the lawn mower.
Every year I dig a 4 inch 'trench' around all my flower beds. Deep enough to keep out grassroots. But also looks nicely finished. They make a power tool for it, but I just use a shovel and a hoe. Doesn't take that long.
Sometimes I even use the sod I pull out to fill in thin spots in the yard.
:)
I tried those Enviro tiles and took them back. They seem like a good idea and the brochure says they clean easily, but they don't. Once they get dirty, no amount of hosing them off and brushing with a push broom will get them clean! They dry dirty again. Also, they will get cut up by the lawnmower blade.
I found Multy Home 18 in. x 18 in. Envirotile Stepping Stones Terra Cotta that is an irregular shape.
Maybe these could be placed in such a way as to curve around your oval bed.
According to their site:
http://www.envirotile.ca/faq.html
Here is the recommended cutting procedure:
To make the cuts accurately, measure and mark the cutting lines on the tiles or with paper patterns laid on top of the tiles
Place the mat on the table saw and proceed with cutting
For jigsaw and hand saws, it is recommended to secure the tile to the table for stability when cutting
For cutting with a utility knife, it is also recommended to secure the tile to a cutting table for better security
For jigsaw or table saw cutting, please see your local hardware sales associate for blade recommendation
Further details are available in the How-To section of the website.
I would first ask the gardening center where you buy these tiles if they can order curved ones for you. As you will not be the only customer who wants a product like this.
If that is a no, go to the website of the company and see if they make them and will ship to you directly.
If the oval is large enough you can curve the the straight edges and there will only be pie shaped pieces of dirt between grass and flower bed.
And if you dig deep enough like Theresa recommends, then it will cut down on weeding and edging too.
And if these tiles are at a home improvement center, they can cut the straights into smaller sizes to make the round edges your desire. Just ask for this in the lumber section of the store where they have the big blades.
HTH!!
well, maybe since you like these tiles so much, maybe you could change the garden since there is no changing the tile shape!
Maybe make the garden a rectangle instead an oval?
Good Luck,
LisaD (having my own garden issues: clay!!!!)
There is a website called gardners.com that will has a rubber boarder that is will go around gentle curves. Would not work with a circle but your oval may work. just wearch rubber boarder and it will come up as one of the choices. There is also a coco fiber one that will allow you to work with it a little more and does the same thing.
not sure if it would be curved enough, but there is something with the "curb" name in it - sign is outside a house a couple miles up the road so will try to check that out for you next time I'm by there and give you the name of the stuff!
