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Plastic vs metal lawn edging

Updated: October 2026

You are stuck between a pegged plastic coil and a galvanised steel strip. Plastic vs metal lawn edging is that choice, not a ranking of every border on amazon.co.uk. In this saved set, plastic is the cheaper metre and the tighter curve. Galvanised steel stays straighter, at a higher price per metre. The full listing table is the [lawn edging comparison](/hub/lawn-and-garden-equipment/lawn-edging). The criteria before a model name are in the [lawn edging buying guide](/hub/lawn-and-garden-equipment/lawn-edging/sub/lawn-edging-buying-guide). Peter F. set these prices from saved amazon.co.uk files on 22 October 2026. There is no lab test. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are stuck between a pegged plastic coil and a galvanised steel strip. Plastic vs metal lawn edging is that choice, not a ranking of every border on amazon.co.uk.

Our top picks

Nicoman Nicoman scallop, grey

Best overall

Nicoman Nicoman scallop, grey
7.8/10about £47.04
View offer
Harbour Housewares Harbour Housewares 5 m steel

Best value

Harbour Housewares Harbour Housewares 5 m steel
8.1/10about £29.99
View offer
VOUNOT VOUNOT 20 m brown

Rank 3

VOUNOT VOUNOT 20 m brown
8.8/10about £19.49
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What you are actually comparing
  2. 2.Price per metre without mixing two markets
  3. 3.Curves, mowers and the failures reviewers describe
  4. 4.Rubber and weathering steel are not this decision

What you are actually comparing

On one side is a flexible plastic strip, usually 10 or 20 m, with pegs in the better kits. The clearest example here is VOUNOT’s 20 m brown coil, 5 cm high, 4 mm thick, 60 pegs of 20 cm, at about £19.49. The bullet says you place it without digging. On the other side is Harbour Housewares: 5 m of black galvanised steel in five pieces, an 8 cm face, and spikes already formed on the sections, at about £29.99. Reviews of that steel talk about a mallet, a hacksaw and clips. The plastic is a long coil that reviewers bend into curves and also watch kink on a straight run. The steel is a short run of rigid sections. A 0.6 mm rust-coloured coil is not this metal.

Price per metre without mixing two markets

Inside this amazon.co.uk set, pegged plastic is often under £2.50 per stated metre. VOUNOT is about £0.97 from the 20 m title. Velway’s 20 m black coil is about £35.41, about £1.77 per metre, and the thickness is not stated. Ergohortus is about £18.99 for a title length of 10 m with 50 pegs, about £1.90 per metre. Harbour is about £6 per stated metre for 5 m. You pay more per metre, and you receive less length, in exchange for galvanised steel and an 8 cm face.
Nicoman Nicoman scallop, grey

Testsieger

Nicoman Nicoman scallop, grey
7.8/10about £47.04
View offer

Curves, mowers and the failures reviewers describe

Plastic wins the curve. VOUNOT’s bullets say you can bend, curve or cut the strip, including circles. It loses the dead-straight border: reviewers say the line walks sideways as you hammer and that pegs snap in stone. Steel wins when the line must stay straight and meet a mower. It still loses on tight circles, on price per metre, and on the join. Choose the pegged coil when the bed curves, and accept creep under a 5 cm face. Choose the galvanised sections when the border is largely straight and you will live with about £6 per metre. This set does not contain a 20 m steel mowing edge.

Rubber and weathering steel are not this decision

Recycled rubber is the short heavy option: Nicoman’s 4.8 m packs at about £47.04 in grey or about £63.80 in earth, sharing one 4.6 from 507. Buy the grey pack if you want that scalloped profile and the lower of the two saved prices. It is not the tie-break between a coil and galvanised steel. Weathering steel sold as corten is a colour and a staining risk, not a black galvanised section. The thin coil here is 0.6 mm. Gauge and the paving warning sit on the corten steel lawn edging page.

Common questions

Should I buy plastic or metal?
Buy plastic if the bed curves and you want a long run near £1 to £2.50 per stated metre with pegs in the box. Buy galvanised steel if the line is mostly straight, you want an 8 cm metal face, and about £6 per metre for 5 m is acceptable. Metal is the better edge for that straight line, and the worse one for a tight curve at the coil price. Check the fixings before you treat either headline price as complete.
Which is cheaper per metre in this set?
Pegged plastic. VOUNOT is about £0.97 per metre from a 20 m title at about £19.49. Velway is about £1.77 and Ergohortus about £1.90, using their title lengths. Harbour galvanised steel is about £6 per metre for 5 m at about £29.99. Garden Ninja’s £7 to £14 steel band is his trade experience, not these shelf prices. Do not calculate a metre price for a listing whose title and bullet disagree on length.
Which holds a straight line?
Galvanised sections are the straighter product in this comparison. Plastic coils are repeatedly described, in United Kingdom reviews, as kinking, walking off line as you hammer, or needing to be unrolled before they will lie. Steel still depends on clips and on cuts with a hacksaw, and Harbour reviews call that join awkward. A straight plastic line is possible on a calm run. It is the failure reviewers mention when the soil is hard or the coil still remembers the roll.
Can I mow over either?
You can mow beside a low top. You should not assume either listing has proved the blade can ride the face. One plastic review warns you off mowers and another disagrees, so the point is unsettled. A strimmer has scratched a taller plastic strip in a saved review. Keep the lawn side flush enough for the mower you actually use. Steel’s extra height is useful only if that top does not become a new lip.
Is galvanised the same as corten?
No. Harbour’s listing is black galvanised steel with integral spikes. Corten, or weathering steel, is sold for an orange-brown surface and it keeps rusting. The corten-style coil in this set is 0.6 mm, ships with gloves rather than a named stake, and shows 3.8 from 696 reviews. Galvanised steel in this comparison does not bring that staining question. If the rust colour is what you want, leave this page and read the thickness and the paving warning first.
Where does rubber fit?
Rubber fits a short, heavy border when you want a softer scalloped edge and you will pay about £10 to £13 per stated metre for 4.8 m. It is not the cheap curve, and it is not the galvanised mowing line. Nicoman’s two colours share one review pool, so the grey pack at the lower saved price is the rational one if the profile is the same. Concealed spikes have confused buyers who could not see them at first.

Related pages

Best lawn edging

Lawn edging

UK lawn edging buying guide: pegs, height and length

Corten steel lawn edging: gauge, patina and stains

How to install lawn edging: pegs, spikes and mower

Sources

Public UK sources from the research digest. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts on these twelve listings are the saved figures, scored on 23 October 2026.

  1. RHS: How to create a lawn edge (retrieved 23 October 2026)
  2. RHS: How to maintain lawn edges (retrieved 23 October 2026)
  3. Garden Ninja: How to install lawn edging (retrieved 23 October 2026)
  4. GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 2 (retrieved 23 October 2026)
  5. HSE: Excavations and underground services (retrieved 23 October 2026)
  6. LinesearchbeforeUdig (retrieved 23 October 2026)
  7. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22 (retrieved 23 October 2026)
  8. Straightcurve UK: Corten and weathering steel (retrieved 23 October 2026)