Gardening Garden Design How to Build a Curved Brick Garden Border Boost your curb appeal with low-cost garden bed edging that can be installed in one weekend. By Holly D'Anna Holly D'Anna Holly D'Anna is a food and home writer who has been writing for Better Homes & Gardens for over four years. Her work has also been featured in the Epoch Times. Learn about BHG's Editorial Process Updated on May 28, 2022 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Kritsada Panichgul Project Overview Working Time: 4 hours Total Time: 2 days Skill Level: Beginner Give your flowerbed a clean and polished border with an edging of brick pavers, which has a classic look, is relatively inexpensive, and is fairly easy to install. But edging does more than simply decorate. It also keeps mulch in place, saves trimming and weeding time along a border, and blocks your lawn from invading your flowerbed. This design also makes it simple to mow along the curve—the wheel of the mower will glide along the lower bricks. What You'll Need Equipment / Tools Paper, pencil Garden hose, for bed shaping Garden spade or edging tool Digging fork Materials Spray paint, flour, or sand 80-100 bricks for edging, for a small entryway garden like ours Mulch Instructions Kritsada Panichgul Sketch It Out Sketch a plan of what you want your flowerbed to look like. Try to keep everything in the sketch to scale to ensure accurate measurements. To get a better picture of your plan, include a detailed landscaping layout of which plants will go where. Kritsada Panichgul Make an Outline Use a garden hose to lay out a gently curved outline for your flowerbed, according to your sketched plan. Mark your line with spray paint, flour, or sand. If you are drawing the outline the day before you plan to install the border, use spray paint to ensure the line won't be disturbed by water or pets. Kritsada Panichgul Dig a Trench Following your line, dig a trench slightly deeper than the height of your bricks when they are lying flat (usually about 3-4 inches). Loosen soil, then make clean cuts, using a digging fork or a bed-edging tool (designed with a sharp, curved blade specifically for this task). Scoop out the excess soil and grass. Kritsada Panichgul Install Outer Layer Install the outer layer of brick edging. Following the curved outline, dig a shallow trench so the flat-laid bricks will rest just above the existing soil. Position your bricks end to end, pushing them tightly together to discourage grass from growing in the cracks. Related: Build a Beautiful Brick Pathway or Patio Kritsada Panichgul Install Inner Layer Add a vertical line of bricks inside the first row. As with the outer layer, push the bricks close together to prevent grass from growing between. Take a step back and look at the border a few times throughout the process to make sure the bricks are level—adjust trench depth as needed. Landscape and Garden Edging Ideas That Make Your Yard Look Sharp Kritsada Panichgul Plant and Add Mulch Plant landscaping plants inside the new border and add extra soil as needed. Layer mulch around plantings and fill up to the brick line. Adding mulch will help keep the dirt inside the border in the case of heavy rain.