How To Install Brick Garden Borders…The Easy Way!

Updated 3.27.20

I’m going to show you how I… well, actually, Hubby and I installed this brick border,
the EASY way!!

Easy Brick Garden Borders
I went to Home Depot to purchase a skid of bricks!

bricks

I wasn’t sure I was going to make it home with that skid of bricks, they were insanely heavy! But lo and behold I did! They were on sale for $.25 each! I just couldn’t pass up that kind of deal.

I want to do brick borders around all of my gardens.

All three rings

Now, this isn’t even the half of it…we have a backyard, a side yard and a few others here and there. I see a LOT of brick laying in my future. 😅

Hubby helped me with the first one, he’s had quite a bit of experience with concrete. Back in the day, he drove a cement mixer for a living.

The front light post seemed like a good place to start, with a simple 36” ring.

Beginning to dig brick border

I searched and searched the internet for the easiest way to lay bricks. I really didn’t want to mix a bunch of wet concrete.  That just seemed like a TON of work and believe me I’ve already put in a TON of work digging! Our dirt is hard clay and rocks. I felt like I was digging in a rock quarry.

So, Hubby and I decided to lay the bricks dry. We felt that would be the easiest way. And it WAS!!😍

Let me explain the process... First, I would dig a trench where I wanted the border, then clean out the extra dirt.

Next, we shoveled in dry concrete mix. It was about 3" thick in some areas, maybe more in others.  We used the concrete to fill in the gaps.

Setting bricks in place

Let me tell you, those 80 lb. bags of concrete are not light! Poor Hubby’s back has been on the fritz, so I slid those bags from the work van into a wheelbarrow. Worked like a charm! 👍

So, we’d shovel in a bunch of concrete, smooth it out, then measure.

measure bricks

Hubby gave me a great tip! Always measure the corners, that way your bricks will be circular and the gaps between will be even. We tied a string to the center light post and used that to go around and measure each brick.

You can see it better in this picture.

Making process brick border

Just look at the progress we’re making!!

While you are measuring and placing bricks, you want to make sure that the bricks are level.

Making bricks level

Now, we weren’t actually using the leveling bubble, because we were dealing with the slope of the yard as well. We just wanted them to be even with each other and the grass level. So when a brick was off we'd shovel a little more concrete under one corner or the other, or under the whole brick. It's a process with each brick.

Then we started back filling the outer edge. This ring will be needing some grass seed complete it.

Backfill around brick border and leveling

Then on the inside of the ring, we filled in with a bit more dry concrete and stones here and there.

Adding more stones and concrete Inside

Hubby and I were crossing our fingers this was going to work using dry concrete.

A storm was coming, so we backfilled the inside of the circle with dirt as well.  There is too much dirt in this ring, so I’ll be removing some before we plant and mulch this garden.

Almost done with brick border

Make sure you brush off the dirt and any cement powder. Cement powder will make the bricks look gray, if it dries on them.

Brush off Bricks border

Lastly, we wet the garden border. Yeah, we knew a storm was coming, but we still wanted to wet it down. If a storm wasn't coming, we'd be making sure it was nice and damp. Possibly wetting it down the next day as well. We want that concrete to be rock hard!

Wet garden brick border

It’s been about 4 days since we did this job. I’ve already tried to wiggle those bricks… They aren’t going ANYWHERE! It worked beautifully. Now time to start another one!! 😊

And that’s how you lay bricks the easy way!!

How To Install Brick Borders

I planted some petunias, can't wait to see them fill in!

Planting Petunias in brick garden ring

Planting Petunias in brick garden ring

Here is the brick garden ring months later!  They still are holding up great!

Petunias in full bloom in brick garden ring

One to pin for later!

Easy Brick Garden Borders

Blessings!


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38 comments

  1. I love this! I am starting a garden in the area where there used to be railroad ties, but they were old and crumbling so I had to take them out. Now, I'm left without a border and have been trying to think of options... this looks like something I could manage. Love the tip about measuring the corners. Looks really good!

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    1. Thanks, Eliesa! I just finished my second one, and I'm actually getting better and quicker at it! Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Looks so good!! I like the string-measurement idea.

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  3. Your border looks great and your tutorial is really helpful.

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  4. Looks great! My first house project once the weather is nicer. Thanks for this blog

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  5. It looks great ! what brand of cement did you use ?

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    1. We just used what they have at Lowes. Quickrete, I think. It was a yellow bag. Hope that helps!

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  6. Lori,
    I love this tutorial so much!!! We've replaced all of our fescue (sadly) because it just wasn't doing well with the heat of summer. We've replaced with zoysia which runs so this is a great idea for keeping the grass out of the beds. PLUS it looks so amazing!

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    1. Thanks, Christy! That sounds like a huge job! Gardening is so much work, but anything to keep the maintenance down is worth it!

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  7. So, I learned something new today - add dry concrete when doing this! I laid a small brick path many years ago and it really needs to be redone! When I do it, I will be using the dry concrete to set it

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  8. Lori, this looks SO good!! You guys have the prettiest yard on the block! ;)

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    1. Thanks, Cristina! I have a lot of competition in my neighborhood! :)

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  9. You didn't fill in cracks with anything?Just wondering,looks great!

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    1. Thanks so much!! Nope! Dirt has filled in, but I keep it weed free with Round Up. 😊

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  10. Do you remember which color Pavestone you used? Love the garden areas, thought about using cement but I like this better. grandmommyandgranddaddy@gmail.com

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    1. Hi Bess! Thanks so much! We just used the regular red brick from Home Depot.

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  11. Do you remember how many bricks you used and if someone from Home Depot helped you load them?

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    1. Hi Brittany! Oh Boy! I couldn't tell you the exact amount... but a lot! After all the gardens we probably had about 30-50 bricks left. We purchased a whole skid! Yes! Home Depot did help load them up!

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  12. Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Debbie! So much work, but so worth it!

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  13. This is so helpful! We're going to use this technique in our yard this spring. I appreciate your sharing your experiences.

    And just an FYI because you use Round-Up, some people think it causes lymphoma. You can research it and decide for yourself if you want. I use a cheap non-toxic alternative: vinegar. Just spray the weeds close-up with vinegar on a hot day and it will kill them. You might have to do it twice but it has worked like a charm in our yard. Don't try to do it without the sun on a hot day though. The heat/light of the sun and the vinegar work together. There are also more complicated recipes you can find on the Internet that add dishwashing soap and salt to the vinegar but I found we haven't needed those. :-)

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    1. Oh! Thank you so much! I will definitely try the vinegar method! I appreciate you sharing!! And I appreciate you reading!! Blessings to you!!

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  14. This is a great idea, Dealing with wet cement has always held me back from a project like this. I am going to try it. So glad I googled brick garden edging and found your side. Thank you.

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    1. Thanks! I'm so glad you found this helpful! I'd love to see your finished project! Good luck!

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  15. I have done literally 100’s of meters of brick garden edges over my years of landscaping .
    My secret to success was to use pvc pipe as a template on the outside of the garden edge. This give you an exact template to work off . I lay the bricks on a footing with mortar just like laying bricks with mortar inbetween. As you go along clean the excess mortar off with a wet sponge

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  16. How do you wet the cement underneath without everything shifting?

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    1. I know it sounds strange, but once in place and you spray water over everything the cement just soaks up the water and hardens!

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  17. How do you wet the cement underneath without the bricks moving?

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    1. Like I just said in the last comment.... it just soaks it up. Of course, you need to give it time to soak up and harden. It really does work! It needs a really good soaking!

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  18. How does this hold up to frost heave in the winter months? Not really sure where you’re located so maybe you don’t have to deal with that but thought I’d ask.

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    1. We live in PA where we get plenty of cold and snow. I did not notice it affecting the brick border.

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