Custom Steel Landscape Edging
Weathering steel (Corten) edging made to your site plan for beds, paths and paving edges.
TrussMetal is a metal fabrication shop in North Vancouver that works across Metro Vancouver. This page is for landscape contractors, landscape architects and designers, and homeowners working from a plan, who need steel edging made to the site: straight runs cut to length, corners that close cleanly, stepped edges, and edges that meet paving, gravel or a planter. Send the plan and we will confirm what we can fabricate, what it is made of and what the quote covers.
Edging is usually installed by the landscape contractor as the beds and paving are formed. Our part is the metal: cut, joined, fitted with stakes or tabs and finished so it goes in the way your installer works.
When Fabricated Edging Makes Sense
Roll and strip edging from a supplier suits most garden beds. Fabricated edging is worth it when the plan needs an edge taller or heavier than stock strip, stepped runs, clean corners, or an edge that has to line up with paving, steps or a steel planter on the same site.
Edging Types We Quote
Straight runs
Weathering steel cut to the lengths on your plan and joined with welded joint plates or overlaps, so long runs stay in line.
Corners and end returns
Corners welded in our shop, and a finished end return where a run stops, so there is no loose cut end.
Stepped edges
Edging that steps up or down where the finished level changes along a path or bed. It edges each level; it does not hold back soil.
Paving and gravel restraint
Angle or flat edges that hold pavers, gravel or decomposed granite against a planting bed or lawn.
Stakes and fixing tabs
Stakes welded to the edging in our shop, sleeves for stakes the installer drives on site, or tabs for a concrete haunch along hard landscape.
Plate thickness, section size, lengths, availability and lead time are confirmed in each quote.
Four details that come up on most edging plans:
Confirmed for Each Project
These options depend on a partner’s equipment or on the finish, so we check them for your project before they go into a quote:
Curved runs
Forming steel to a radius is done by a forming partner. We confirm your radius, thickness and lengths with them before quoting curves; straight runs and corners can be quoted without waiting for that.
Hot-dip galvanized edging
Galvanizing is done by a galvanizer after fabrication. We confirm the galvanizer and the longest length they can coat before quoting it.
Galvanized with a colour finish
A powder coat over galvanizing is confirmed with the coating applicator for each project.
Stainless steel or aluminum
If your specification calls for either, tell us when you enquire and we confirm material, forming and joining for that project.
Materials and Exposure
Edging sits partly in soil, so moisture and soil contact decide the material more than appearance does.
How Stakes and Coatings Fit Together
On weathering steel there is no coating to protect, so stakes and joint plates are usually welded on in our shop. On galvanized edging, stakes and plates are attached before galvanizing so the zinc covers the joints, or galvanized stakes are bolted or driven through sleeves on site. Welding after galvanizing damages the zinc, so the connections are agreed before anything is coated. Fabrication and welding are done in our shop; CNC plasma cutting, forming and coating are done by specialist partners.
Thickness and Height
Plate thickness is chosen for the exposed height, what is pushing against the edge, and how much corrosion allowance the material needs in soil. We size each edge from your plan rather than publishing ratings. Where people walk or children play next to the edge, a thicker plate can be used so the top edge is not sharp.
Installation
- Before digging. The installer locates buried services before stakes are driven or trenches cut.
- Soft landscape. The edge is set on compacted subgrade and held with stakes or pins, then backfilled to the finished level.
- Hard landscape. Along paving, the edge is usually haunched in concrete or mortar, with the top set to the paving level.
- Drainage. Water should not pond against the edge. Low points get a slot or gap so water can pass, and weathering steel is kept clear of light paving or given a gravel margin.
- Joints. Joint plates or overlaps keep runs aligned and allow for small movement.
Tell us who is installing and how, and we will make the stakes, tabs and joints to suit. Fitting by our team can be discussed when you enquire; see installation.
Who Does What
Responsibilities that affect the quote
TrussMetal: the quote states what we fabricate, which cutting, forming and finishing are done by partners, and what is excluded.
Landscape contractor or installer: locating buried services, excavation, base preparation, setting the edge to grade, concrete haunching and backfill, unless agreed otherwise.
Designer or landscape architect: the layout, levels and drainage design. Anything that has to hold back soil is designed as a retaining wall by the project’s engineer.
Related Work
Steel and Corten planters are on custom planters, and benches, bollards and bike parking on site furnishings. Trellis and planting screens are on privacy screens. Landscape architects can read how we work from drawings on metal fabrication for landscape architects.
Questions
Will Corten edging rust through?
The part above ground forms a protective layer where it can dry between rains. The buried part stays damp and keeps corroding slowly, so the plate thickness allows for that. How long it lasts depends on the soil, drainage and thickness, so we do not quote a lifespan.
Will it stain my paving?
Weathering steel runoff stains light paving, concrete and stone, mostly in the first year or two. Set it beside planting or gravel, or ask about a galvanized finish next to light paving.
Can you make curved edging?
Curves are confirmed for each project: we check with our forming partner that your radius, thickness and lengths can be formed before quoting them. Straight runs, corners and steps can be quoted straight away.
Can you match edging that is already installed?
Send photos with a tape measure in the shot and the material if you know it. Matching size and profile is usually possible; an existing weathered colour takes time to match.
Can edging hold back soil on a slope?
No. Edging marks and restrains the edge of a bed, path or paving. Where soil has to be held back across a change in level, that is a retaining wall and needs its own design.
Request a Quote
Send the plan or a sketch with lengths and levels. Site photos help.
What to include in your message
- Length of each run, and the radius of any curve
- Height above grade and depth below, or the finished levels on each side
- What is on each side: lawn, planting, gravel or paving
- Number of corners, ends and steps
- Preferred material and finish
- Who is installing, and whether the edge is staked or set in concrete
- Site address or area, and your timing
In “What do you need?”, choose Other Custom Metalwork.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (778) 805-5333, Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 5:00.