When building a garden path, use edging to keep it in place.
Here’s how to install various types of edging in your yard.
Matthew Benson
Edging is a quick and easy way to form a stable edge for a pathway.
Credit:Matthew Benson
And depending on the chosen material, edgings do more than keep patio and path materials inside their boundaries.
They also become an integral part of the landscape design, adding color, form, and texture.
Set brick in a concrete footing for increased stability.
Credit:Gene Johnson
you’ve got the option to also give it texture.
Plastic and steel:Flexible plastic edging will conform to almost any curve.
It’s easy to install by anchoring it to the ground with spikes driven through integral lugs.
Wood/landscape timbers:Use only wood edging made of naturally resistant species or pressure-treated stock rated for ground contact.
Backfill the edges with topsoil to hide the stakes.
Stone:Both flagstone and cut stone make excellent edging, especially for wide walks.
Credit:AndreasTrauttmansdorff
you might purchase precut stone or cut the pieces yourself from paving stones.
When cutting your own, keep the width consistent so the stones don’t look mismatched.
Precast edging:Many manufacturers make precast edging or tiles to match paver patterns.
Credit:Peter Krumhardt
They come in straight or curved shapes, many with sculpted designs.
you’ve got the option to also use precast blocks by themselves as borders for planting beds.
Drive 2x4 stakes every 3 to 4 feet.
Credit:Scott Little
Attach 2x forms to the stakes below ground level and spread the gravel base.
Then spread the sand base and tamp it.
drop in the brick edging, setting one or two rows of paving as you go.
Credit:James T. Kascoutas
Then backfill the edges of the site.
Spread the gravel base and tamp it.
Set the edging along the contours of the site and anchor it with landscape spikes driven through the tabs.
Credit:Jay Wilde
Then spread and tamp the sand bed, lay the paving material, and backfill the trench.
Include the width of the timbers in your layout.
Predrill 4x4 or 6x6 landscape timbers for 1/2-inch rebar at 3-foot intervals.
Spread gravel and set the timbers on it along the edges of the excavation.
Excavate a trench along the curve to the depth required for the base and paving materials.
Then drive stakes along the trench and prepare the edging by sawing kerfs in 3/4-inch stock at 1-inch intervals.
The kerf depth should be about half the thickness of the stock.
Fasten the edging to the stakes and excavate the remainder of the site.
Spread and tamp gravel and sand, then drop in the edging and paving.
plant the staked forms and spread and tamp the gravel subbase.
Pour the concrete, screed it on the forms, and finish the edge.
How to Install Plastic Edge Restraints 101393525.tif
Jay Wilde
