Banish Lawn "Edging!"

As I get older I look for ways of cutting down the work necessary to keep on top of the garden. One thing I hated was edging the lawn. It's hard to do it without the border creeping into the lawn. So, I decided to do this.


What follows is what I did over two days, it wasn't difficult, one for laying a bit of hardcore followed by some fine mix concrete to set the bricks and pointing up the following day.

I bought these from B & Q they're really for block paving. But they've been down for nearly ten years and it's dead easy to wizz over them with the Flymo.














They lend themselves to making curved borders or even tight circles.


I took the opportunity later, having bought enough bricks, of removing these camellias. (I saved one and it's in the long border now) and reducing the bed considerably.










I chose the bricks as they're just coloured concrete and thus hard wearing.

If anyone wants to attempt this it isn't at all difficult, even if you've never done any "brickying."

You need to create a sharp edge to the lawn with a trough about 6" deep and about 7" wide. Then put in about two or three inches of hardcore, or broken up brick or stones or large gravel. Then lay three inches of fine concrete mix. It's easier to buy it by the bag, but more expensive. This needs only to be slightly damp.

Then lay the bricks, butting them hard up against the edge of the lawn pushing them about three quarters of the way into the concrete mix and flush with the lawn. Use a straight edge over the brick you are laying and at least the nearest two of those you've already laid. "You should stand back and admire your work frequently," to make sure you're getting it right, as the concrete mix is only damp you can correct mistakes.

Let it go off overnight. The following day, point up the bricks with mortar mix. I used yellow cement die to darken it down. Again use only a damp mixture. Create a ramp up from the border edge of the concrete mix to near the top of the bricks for additional strength. After a year they'll "dull down" and you won't notice them so much.

Get as many bricks as you're likely ever to need for borders at the same time, as ranges change and the following year you might not be able to get more of the same type.

 

really informative and useful @Doghouse Riley

not forgetting to say
results and garden too

 

Thanks for your kind words, we're all here to try to help aren't we?

 

That looks very smart indeed.

Btw that japanese ( ? ) teahouse at the bottom of the garden looks fabulous.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Like my lanterns I made it over thirty years ago and there's still no rot.


I probably posted this on here years ago.

It's on my "YouTube Channel." (you get given a "channel" if you post more than one video, I've got 67, covering various hobbies)

It's my "How to build a Japanese Tea House"

There "might be one near you," as it's had over 64,000 hits.



There's a couple for "How to Make a Japanese Lantern."

They aren't so popular, only 35,000 hits between them.

 

Thank you very much, DR, for your useful post. This is exactly what I've been wanting to do to make tending the lawn round borders easier, so I am very grateful for your advice and will be having a go later in the year. I also like the look of the lanterns, so another project in the pipeline!

You ae exactly what Gardeners' Corner is all about. At the moment all I generally do is look for advice, but I aspire to being able to help others one day too.

 

Your garden looks lovely @Doghouse Riley , the edging is a lovely addition and will save time and effort in the future nice work .