Topping mix garden path

I have spend the last few months deleting my front lawn and replacing with mulched garden beds and natives, and a couple raised beds for fruit and veg

I want to have a path that runs through the middle and beteeen my raised beds so I have left that space until now, and stating to dig it down slightly

I intend to use a topping mix, probably Tuscan topping. I will put weed mat down but do I also need to have a border/edge in for containment? I don’t really want strong lines through the garden like steel edging or other border types would give, and instead wanted a soft looking border where the pine bark meets the gravel.

Am I setting myself up for future pain if I omit the edge and just lay down the topping mix and then tamp it? I’m going for rustic, not formal.

I also have a patio I am working on in the back that I have dug out to accommodate 100mm of crushed rock (intending to do 50mm road base and 50mm topping) but for the front I wasn’t going to go as far as that with the base and was just going to do topping since it’s a path and not really for dining/activities. The back patio will probably be edged with weathered steel