This invention relates to an assembly of parts adapted to be employed in landscaping. In particular, the invention is concerned with a divider construction adapted to be employed for dividing a lawn or other area from another area such as a flower bed.
The use of dividers for landscaping purposes is well known. In the past, dividers were formed of wood, concrete or metal. Wood dividers were considered unsightly and bulky and they required relatively frequent painting. In addition, they had to be replaced periodically due to the fact that they would readily rot under most conditions.
Metal dividers were subject to corrosion, and/or they could also be readily bent or otherwise damaged, particularly when stuck by mowers, edgers, spreaders, wheelbarrows or other lawn care equipment. Thin sheet metal dividers were also a hazard because they presented relatively sharp cutting edges. Concrete dividers were and are still satisfactory from a performance standpoint; however, the installation of such dividers remains prohibitively expensive in most cases.
Rynberk U.S. Pat. No. 3,387,786 describes a divider which constituted a significant breakthrough in the art. This invention was directed to elimination of various problems encountered when employing dividers, for example in situations which involve the use of beds formed outside the walls of a building to catch water dripping from the eaves. Such beds eliminate damage to the sod and they avoid the splashing of mud on the sides of the building. Shrubbery is often planted within the beds to suit landscaping plans.
Dividers were preferably employed in such arrangements since they reduce the amount of displacement of dirt or gravel onto grass areas and they prevent the growth of grass into the bed.
The Rynberk patent, in particular, disclosed a divider defining the limits of a landscaped plot comprising an extruded length of plastic including an enlarged upper section. An integrally formed flange extended downwardly from the upper section and was adapted to be substantially completely inserted in the ground whereby the upper section was located immediately above the top surface of the ground while the flange acted as a barrier to the growth of grass, roots and the like into the plot. The flange means comprised a relatively narrow portion extending substantially completely along the length of said upper section, and a projecting portion attached to the flange adjacent the bottom edge thereof assisted in securing the flange in place. Stakes could be driven through the projecting portion to hold the divider firmly in place, and gravel or soil would be used to bury the flange and stakes.
The Rynberk patent also described means allowing the separate lengths of dividers to be assembled. For example, one end of the upper section could be provided with a larger diameter extension for interfitting in telescoping relationship with an adjacent divider whereby separate lengths of dividers were interconnected. Later innovations involved the use of plugs interfitting with and interconnecting adjacent divider sections.
Various attempts have been made to improve upon the Rynberk divider but these have been largely unsuccessful. For example, a divider was designed by Drainage Industries of Appleton, Wis. which consisted of an enlarged upper section and integrally-formed flaps. These flaps could be placed in an overlying position on the ground and stakes driven through the flaps and into the ground. This arrangement is, however, quite insecure when compared with the buried flange and stakes used by Rynberk.