Rusted Steel Landscape edging DIY for novice

[horn4life 3838]

I have pretty much decided to fabricate a rusted steel flower bed along the curb in my front yard.  The grass simply endlessly battles from the heat of the street and the curb and I want to try something out of the norm.  I have priced out the material at Westbrook and the stuff is actually pretty reasonable, with 20' lengths of 1/8 thinkness running from $52 for a 4" width, to $158 for "12 widths.  So wondering if anyone has experience doing this, and I am going to use this to also delve into a maiden welding adventure if I decide to do some planters as well.  The reason I am leaning towards using steel is that the brick on my house is impossible to match and I just wanted to try working with steel. I like the organic look and the ability to make cruves for a more organic appearance is especially appealing.

My plan is to put four inch along the front edge of the curb and bury it halfway in to create a 2 inch raised edge.  I want the raised edge to help retain the gravel I am going to put into this area which will end up being a flat bed with heat resistant plants.  I have a decent downward slope in my yard toward the curve so if I cut out a 3 foot deep bed I am going to need make a retention edge at least 4-6 inches tall(haven't measured esxactly yet).   I will use either rebar or angle iron to stake the edging in place, and plan to bury one to two inches into the ground for a clean look and for additional rigidity/stability.  I am thinking that I make the top edge of the retaing area to the yard a little lower than where I will cut the grass. Unless somebody has a good reason not to do this?  Simply as I figure I can mow the grass and now worry about hitting the steel.  

I was also going to replace the remaining St Augustine with Zoysia so I figure if I am ever going to make a real chage to my yard I should bite the bullet and get it done early enough to give the grass and new plants a chance to establish themselves before the heat of summer. 

So wondering if this is a project anyone else has take on?  

[drt 645]

I helped a friend do some edging and then make some planters just like you describe.  We just pounded 1/2 or 5/8 rebar into the ground to weld the edging to, the planters we used some angle to provide an internal frame.  I'm a shitty welder and it was super easy, just tried to keep the welds from bleeding through the visible sides.  Also keeps you from having to do any grinding.

We were going to do similar but my better half decided kids and metal edging all over the front yard might not be the best idea.  Personally I didn't think it would be that big of a deal, but eh.

[horn4life 3838]

thanks DRT - that's basically what I was thinking.  And I feel sure that my welds will be shitty, but fully functional.  I am torn on the planters but I am thinking that they mignt make a good divider, in the smaller space between mine and my neighbors driveway.

I went and look at a guys house in Bacones Woods that did some work similar to what I am thinking, but without curves.  One idea I really liked was he used the steel as the outside edge of a form, and made a cement base that he sat his fence upon. Made for a level fence without leveling the ground and if you had a dog that dug, would thwart any escapes.