Trench Edge

• 1). Cut a 3- to 4-inch trench around your garden using a sharp, flat-edged shovel. For best results, work when the soil is moist and easier to dig.
  
  
• 2). Fill the trench with organic material like leaves, pine needles or mulch made from fallen tree limbs.
  
  
• 3). Re-dig the trench once each growing season to maintain a crisp line and keep weeds at bay.
  
  

Stone or Brick

• 1). Measure the perimeter of your garden and gather enough stones or bricks to go around it. If you have rocky soil or live near a pond or lake, you might have access to lots of rocks and stones. Alternately, living on an old farmstead could give you access to free bricks from an old building.
  
  
• 2). Dig a 2-inch trench and fill it with rocks. Set your bricks or stones on top of the trench, all the way around the garden.
  
  
• 3). Inspect your garden edging yearly, replacing broken or missing bricks and stones as necessary.
  
  

Wood Edging

• 1). Gather enough fallen tree limbs to go around the perimeter of your garden. If you live in a wooded area, walk through the woods after a storm to find branches that have fallen.
  
  
• 2). Cut off any foliage or other growth from your tree limbs. Leave the bark on or scrape it off, depending on the look you prefer.
  
  
• 3). Place the tree limbs around your garden, keeping in mind that the lines of your garden will be more eclectic than perfectly straight.
  
  
• 4). Look over your garden edging yearly to check for rotting tree limbs, replacing branches as necessary.