Start with the boundary you are edging
For a rectangular bed, edging length is the perimeter: twice the length plus twice the width. For a circular bed it is the circumference, π × diameter. A path is different again: edging one side of a 5m path needs 5m; edging both sides needs 10m. A straight lawn border needs only the measured run.
This distinction matters because two gardens with the same area can have very different boundaries. Long narrow beds have more perimeter per square metre than compact beds, and a serpentine curve can use more edging than a straight line between the same endpoints.
Pieces, rolls and joined systems
Edging products are sold in genuinely different formats. Current UK listings include 5m flexible rolls at Wickes, 1.5m timber log rolls and rigid steel systems such as EverEdge CLASSIC, sold in packs of five 1m pieces. EverEdge states that its five pieces provide 4.75m of coverage once joined, which is a useful reminder that nominal piece length and installed coverage are not always identical.
The calculator therefore asks for the product length you want to plan with instead of assuming all 1m strips produce 1m of finished boundary. If your system loses length at connectors, overlaps or corners, enter the practical usable length or include a small explicit allowance based on the manufacturer's instructions.
Why gaps and open sides belong in the calculation
A bed may touch a wall, path or fence on one side and need no edging there. A circular lawn may have an entrance through a border. A rectangular vegetable bed may deliberately leave a 1m opening. Enter those excluded sections once as the total gap length. The calculator subtracts the gap before applying any optional allowance.
Curves change product choice, not the circumference formula
The circumference of a circular bed is still π × diameter, but not every rigid edging product can bend to every radius. Flexible steel, plastic and wire-backed timber rolls are marketed for curves, while some rigid pieces may require smaller segments, special connectors or manufacturer-specific minimum radii. The quantity calculation tells you how much line exists; the product's installation guidance determines whether it can follow that line.
Fixings and stakes are product-specific
Some edging kits arrive with integral spikes or supplied anchor pins, while others use separate pegs or connectors. That means a universal “one stake every X centimetres” calculator would be misleading. This page deliberately stops at the edging quantity. Use the fixing schedule and supplied components specified for your actual product.
Worked examples
Perimeter = 16m. With 2m pieces, order 8 pieces.
15m remains. With 2m pieces, the whole-unit order is still 8 pieces.
Two 5m runs = 10m total edging.
Order length = 17.6m. With 2m pieces, order 9.
Edging versus sleepers
Use this page for general linear border products — rolls, strips, log edging and similar systems. If you are building with full timber sleepers in courses, the Sleeper Calculator is more useful because it distinguishes theoretical linear length from the practical number of whole sleepers required on individual sides.