Materials · Edging
The line between a garden that looks built and one that looks like it happened. Included in every Apexscapes backyard package.
What it is
Corten is weathering steel. It's alloyed so that when it oxidises, the rust forms a tight, stable layer that seals the surface instead of flaking off — so the rusting slows almost to a stop rather than eating through the sheet.
That's the whole trick. You get the warm rust colour people want, without the material failing the way plain steel would. It was developed for bridges and shipping containers, and it turned up in gardens because designers liked the way it looked against green.
Plastic edging goes brittle and lifts. Timber rots. Corten just gets browner and stays where you put it.
| Included | Up to 8 lengths in the backyard package |
| Typical height | 100mm above finished level |
| Thickness | 1.6mm standard, heavier available |
| Fixing | Steel stakes driven behind the run |
| Curves | Formed on site, no minimum radius on standard gauge |
| Lifespan | Decades in Perth conditions |
What to expect
This is the question every client asks, so here's the honest answer. Corten arrives as bare grey steel and takes months to reach the colour you saw in the photos. It's worth knowing before we install it, not after.
Goes in as flat grey mill finish. Looks industrial and, to most people, wrong. This is normal.
Rust starts unevenly, brighter where it gets wet and holds moisture. The blotchy stage. It evens out.
Colour pulls together into a consistent warm rust. Most people are happy from here on.
Deep brown, tight and stable. From here it barely changes. This is the finish it's bought for.
Perth's dry summers slow the process down. A run installed in November may sit grey for longer than one installed in June, when winter rain speeds it along. Wetting it occasionally over the first few weeks helps it get going.
Where it goes
Anywhere two materials meet and the line matters.
The main one. Set flush to mower height so the wheel runs over it, and it keeps kikuyu out of your planting.
Stops decorative stone migrating into mulch and vice versa. The rust against pale stone is the classic pairing.
Bent on site, so bed shapes can be drawn as curves rather than the boxes that straight edging forces on you.
A ring around the feature tree, or a low raised bed. Same material, so the yard reads as one piece of work.
Compared to
Edging is one of those things people save $200 on and regret in three years. Here's the honest comparison.
| Material | Holds up | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Corten steel | Decades | Costs more up front, and it stains pale surfaces while it's weathering |
| Plastic / poly | 3–5 years | Goes brittle in UV, lifts out of the ground, and the joins pop apart |
| Treated pine | 5–8 years | Rots at ground level where you can't see it, then collapses all at once |
| Aluminium | Decades | Holds up fine, but it stays silver — reads as trim rather than a garden material |
| Concrete kerbing | Decades | Permanent in the wrong way. Change a bed shape and it's a demolition job |
| Nothing | — | Lawn runs into the beds, mulch runs into the lawn, and you weed the difference forever |
Corten stains pale surfaces while it's weathering. Rust runoff in the first few months can mark light concrete, limestone, pavers and white aggregate sitting directly against it. On a mulched bed you'll never notice. Against a new white driveway you will.
Where a run meets pale hard surfaces, we'll either set it back slightly, detail a mulch or gravel margin, or recommend a different edge for that section. We'd rather raise it at quote stage than have you ring us in March about a stained path.
In your package
Every Apexscapes backyard package includes up to 8 lengths of Corten edging — cut, curved and staked, set flush to mower height so you're not trimming by hand every fortnight.
Most 50m² backyards are comfortably covered by eight. If your bed shapes need more, we'll price it at quote and you'll know before we start.
Next step
Free, on site, no obligation. We'll mark out your bed lines with you and work out how much edging the shape actually needs.
0451 401 124