Paved bed edgings are not only easy to maintain, they also prove to be a very durable and practical solution. A paved edge at least 20 centimeters wide is ideal, as you can easily drive and walk on it with one wheel of the lawnmower. With a little manual skill, you can lay this bed border yourself in a weekend. We show how to do it.

For the experienced do-it-yourselfer it should not be a problem to pave a bed border

The material needed

  • Paving stones to match the other coverings of the garden
  • gravel and grit
  • Quartz sand (15.85€) or pavement joint mortar

tool list

  • rubber mallet
  • Leveling board for the gravel bed
  • folding rule
  • level
  • hand pounder
  • strips and cord
  • hoe
  • shovel

preparation

To ensure that the patch lies well, you should first mark the course of the bed edging. A batter board is suitable for this, which you stretch around slats that have been beaten to the ground. Fasten the string in such a way that you indicate the later height of the paved bed border.

Now cut the lawn and dig a pit that should be at least 15 centimeters deeper than the thickness of the stones. Compact the substrate well so that it forms a permanently stable base.

How is it paved?

  • Fill in a supporting layer of coarse crushed stone.
  • Compact with a hand tamper.
  • A layer of grit (€46.95), which is also compacted, levels out any unevenness.
  • Pull them off evenly.
  • Place stones with a joint width of about 5 millimeters in the bed.
  • Tap gently with the rubber mallet.
  • Check the straight position with the spirit level.
  • Then sweep fine-grain joint sand diagonally into the joints.

Can the stones also be placed in mortar?

Alternatively, you can set the stones in a bed of mortar. To do this, fill a layer of concrete about five centimeters thick on top of the layer of sand, which you roughly smooth out with a shovel. The paving stones are laid in these. You can stabilize the joints with thin-bodied joint mortar or joint mud.

Towards the lawn, the concrete is just being scraped off. Here topsoil is filled in after it has dried completely. This allows the lawn to grow up to the paved edge of the bed. Towards the bed, they form a sloping back support that gives the pavement the necessary support.

tips

If it is necessary to split a paving stone, this can be done very cleanly with a cut-off grinder or a stone cracker.

Category:

Garden design