Edging for Backyard Path - Brick or Metal or Natural

Post where I initially pondered walking path edging

On my post yesterday where I scored my yard/garden activity for the year, I included some initial thoughts about what I am thinking about doing next year.  On that list was to build the first section of the backyard 'path'.  I mentioned that I also need to figure out the edging - because what I start with is what I'll end up using going forward.

I recently saw this photo from Laura at Garden Answer where she was sharing the beds out front of her chicken coop and was drawn to the brick edging that she's using.

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Chicken coop area is all cleaned up! Next thing to do is add some greenhouse plastic to the top and sides of their run to give them a warmer, dry place to move around for the winter! It’s going to look so classy... 😆🤦‍♀️ Oh well, happy chickens are more important!

A post shared by Garden Answer (@gardenanswer) on Oct 22, 2019 at 8:20am PDT

That is so simple, but looks really nice against the gravel, right?

I found this video where she shows off the brick edging in the same spot:


Earlier this Summer, I posted the hoop-like edging that the French use in Luxembourg Gardens in Paris and commented how I liked it quite a bit.  But, that's not something that I can replicate I don't think. 

In my initial inspiration photo for the 'walking path' used a thin metal edging set against the gravel/stone and I really liked that look.

I have a feeling that gardeners with a pile of bricks on hand would go that route, but I...umm...don't have any bricks hanging around.  So, that means I'd have to go out and acquire them.   Getting a big load of bricks (2 bricks per linear foot with about 300 linear feet on just the north side) is A LOT of bricks and a lot of weight.

The steel edging can be bought and transported from the garden center pretty easily.   And looks great in the inspiration photo, right?  I can see some hostas/plants planted close to the edge, so maybe you won't even *see* it after a while, right?  Then, cost should be minimized to some degree?  I only have six months to ponder the decision.