Artificial turf edging: bender board, metal, concrete curb or pavers, and where each works

01What are the edging options for artificial turf?

“Bender board” is a loose term (Greenline uses it for synthetic and pressure-treated wood alike), so ask which a quote means. Synthetic Grass Warehouse, a distributor, calls it an important step for a clean line between beds and turf.

The no-border option: for a residential lawn, ForeverLawn’s installation guidelines allow spikes alone, with the neighboring sod or mulch pulled back and returned so the turf “dives beneath it.” ForeverLawn calls the result a seamless transition, but the edge is then held by spikes alone.

02What edge goes where turf meets rock or a planting bed?

Rock. The border’s first job is holding the rock back; K-State Research and Extension lists keeping pathway materials out of lawns among edging’s jobs. ForeverLawn fills stone up to the edge but not above the yard’s finish grade, so rock heaped higher than the border spills across it.

Planting beds. Beds bring soil, mulch and water. K-State says a raised edge keeps soil and mulch from washing out in heavy rain, and Greenline frames turf with a board to protect it from soil and debris. Frost heave needs three things at once: a soil with many fine particles, freezing that reaches into it, and water (Pavement Interactive). A clay bed on drip or spray, right against the edge, supplies all three, so keep emitters and spray off the edge line. See mixing turf, rock and plant beds for how much of the yard each should get.

03What happens where turf meets concrete or pavers?

Existing concrete is the edge. ForeverLawn cuts the turf from the back so it stops “just short (we’re talking millimeters)” of the concrete. The base is set low: SYNLawn’s DIY guidelines put it 1 to 1.5 inches below a walk or slab, depending on pile height, and ForeverLawn sets the backing 3/4 to 1 inch below a sidewalk’s edge, on a board fixed to the concrete with concrete screws or wedge anchors. That leaves no raised lip at the walk.

Along the house, the edge must not hold water against the foundation. The Colorado Geological Survey lists poor surface drainage near foundations among the landscaping problems on expansive clay.

A paver border makes a finished edge, but the pavers must be held in place themselves. The Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association says flat metal or plastic landscape edging around beds is not an acceptable paver restraint, soil backfill never is, and timber warps and eventually rots. So a paver border needs a real restraint of its own; the turf beside it and the soil behind it don’t count. Turf strips between pavers are in artificial turf between pavers.

04Where turf meets a lawn, what keeps the bluegrass out?

A barrier in the soil and a mow strip on top. CSU Extension says Kentucky bluegrass is sod-forming, with underground rhizomes, and will invade flower and vegetable gardens. Penn State Extension says those rhizomes grow beneath the surface, then turn up to form new shoots. One that slips under a shallow edge surfaces in the turf’s perimeter as a weed.

• A continuous barrier. K-State says metal and hard plastic strips give an underground barrier. Its simplest bed edge, a trench 4 to 6 inches deep angled so roots cannot easily cross, needs re-cutting once or twice a season.
• A flush mow strip. Pavers or brick set flush, or cement curbing, make a mowing strip that removes the need for a trimmer along that edge, K-State says. The mower wheel runs on the strip, not the turf.
• Not loose stone. Unless it is mortared, K-State says, spreading grasses quickly find the gaps.

CSU says buffalograss’s aggressive stolons may invade neighboring lawns too. A dormant bluegrass lawn beside green turf all winter is a looks question, covered in what makes artificial turf look real.

05How do freeze-thaw and snow shovels test an edge here?

The nearest NOAA station to Fort Collins averages 150 nights a year at or below freezing, and on about 135 of those days the air climbs back above freezing; the Longmont station averages about 178 freezing nights (1991–2020 normals). Clay is common: Longmont says its clay soils absorb water slowly, and Greeley’s water department finds hard clay sometimes just inches down. Wet clay at an edge is the fine soil frost heave needs.

An edge that holds is anchored against that lift:

• Stakes that lock. Sure-loc, an aluminum edging maker, sells 12- or 18-inch stakes and puts pockets in its edging for a stake driven at 45 degrees, to keep the edging in the ground when temperature changes shift the soil (Sure-loc).
• Boards pinned deep. ForeverLawn holds a free-standing board with rebar, typically 18 to 24 inches long, about every 2 feet.
• Base past the edge. For paver restraints, CMHA runs the base past the restraint at least as far as the base is thick, for stability in soils subject to heaving.

None of that reaches below frost: Larimer County designs building footings for frost 30 inches down (Larimer County). The anchoring, and keeping the ground at the edge from staying wet, decide whether an edge stays put.

Snow is the second test. Windsor asks residents to clear sidewalks within 24 hours of a storm and pile the snow in the yard (Town of Windsor), so the turf edge along a walk takes the pile and any de-icer in it. A flush edge gives a plastic shovel nothing to catch; Sure-loc keeps the top of its edging no more than 1/2 inch above finish grade (installation instructions).

06Can my town or HOA tell me what edging to use?

In some places, yes. Not legal advice.

Firestone writes the edge into its code: turf must be anchored at all edges and seams, and separated from other landscape areas “by a bender board, concrete curbing or similar material to conceal edges of the turf.” Its maintenance standard rules out uplifted surfaces and seam separations (Firestone Development Code 16.6.4). Whether an edge tucked under mulch counts as “similar material” depends on how the town reads it, so ask Firestone Planning. More on artificial turf in Firestone. Elsewhere, see our guide to artificial turf rules in Northern Colorado; where a code is silent on edging, ask your town’s Planning department.

HOAs and metro districts can set edging rules even where they can’t ban turf. Colorado law bars an HOA from prohibiting artificial turf in the backyard of a detached home, but lets it adopt design rules, including on the type and placement of hardscapes (C.R.S. 38-33.3-106.5, from SB23-178). Three local examples:

• Kinston at Centerra, Loveland: bed edges may be spaded or aluminum; other edging goes to the Design Review Board (design guidelines).
• Heron Lakes, Berthoud: concrete edging is recommended where a lot’s landscaping meets common-area landscaping (design rules).
• Kitchel Lake, Timnath: Serratoga Falls Metropolitan District #1 wants landscaping plans approved before installation, showing the types and locations of edging (rules).

Put the edging detail in the packet; our guide to HOA approval for artificial turf lists the rest.

07What should I ask an installer about edges?

• Which edge goes on each border? A good answer names one per border, not one for the whole yard.
• How is it anchored on clay? Look for a stake or rebar length and a plan to keep bed water off the edge.
• What holds a paver border? Not the turf, and not plain landscape edging.
• Beside a lawn, what stops the rhizomes?
• Does the edge match the town code or the HOA’s approved plan?

More are in questions to ask a turf installer; the whole job is on our artificial turf installation page.