Metal Path Edging - Luxembourg Gardens, Paris

Just a couple of days ago, I posted the latest in my love letters to Luxembourg Gardens with my post about the chairs they have there.  Prior to that post, I shared a series of things that I have been drawn to about the garden including posts about the vines growing between trees by the Medici Fountain, the tree boxes, the cocoa bean shell mulch and the colors of the flower beds that inspired our own raised planter mix. 

Today comes these little metal edges.  They're half circles or little hoops and they kind of overlap each other to form an edge to the walking paths.  What's that you say?  Jake...you've been talking about a walking path in your own backyard for a while now.  That's right!  I'd been thinking about using something a little bit more formal with uniform metal edging to keep the crushed granite in place, but this little bit of whimsy via Luxembourg Gardens has me wondering if I can think about using different types of edging?  I mean, this is NOT a polished edged, but it does give a sense of place in terms of keeping you on the path. 

The one thing that I did sense from being in Luxembourg Garden was that it almost seemed like they DIDN'T WANT you on the grass.  These raised metal edges kind of reinforced that notion and kept us from wandering in too far.  During our time there, we saw people in the grass in certain areas, but for the most part, there were huge swaths of grass that were not being sat on/walked on. 

The signal that a large raised metal edge like this gives off is:  keep off.  Right?  Maybe there's a place for this kind of edging that I can replicate by curving or bending rebar.  But, I don't think I'd want to use it everywhere.