Paved flower bed borders are not only easy to care for, they also prove to be a very durable and practical solution. A paved edge that is at least 20 centimeters wide is ideal, as you can easily drive and walk on it with one wheel of the lawn mower. With a little manual skill, you can lay this bed border yourself in a weekend. We'll show you how it's done.
How do I pave a flower bed border?
To pave a bed border, mark the route, dig a pit and compact the subsoil. Fill with gravel and chippings, place paving stones in the bed and tap them into place. Fill the joints with sand or mortar and stabilize the edges.
The materials required
- Paving stones, matching the other surfaces in the garden
- Gravel and grit
- Quartz sand or paving joint mortar
Tool list
- rubber hammer
- Strip for the gravel bed
- Inch rule
- Spirit level
- Hand tamper
- Strips and cord
- Hoe
- Shovel
Preparation
So that the paving lies well, you should first mark the course of the bed border. A batter board that you stretch around slats that are attached to the ground is suitable for this. Attach the string so that you indicate the future 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 subsoil well so that it forms a permanently stable base.
How to pave?
- Pour in a supporting layer of coarse gravel.
- Compact with the hand tamper.
- A layer of grit, which is also compacted, evens out unevenness.
- Peel these off evenly.
- Place stones in the bed with a joint width of around 5 millimeters.
- Tamp carefully 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 place the stones in a bed of mortar. To do this, add a layer of concrete about five centimeters thick to the sand layer and roughly smooth it out with a shovel. The paving stones are laid in this. You can stabilize the joints with thin grout or grout.
The concrete is being scraped off towards the lawn. After it has completely dried, the topsoil is filled up here. This allows the lawn to grow up to the paved border of the bed. They form a slanted back support towards the bed, which gives the paving the necessary support.
Tip
If it is necessary to divide a paving stone, you can do this very cleanly with a cut-off grinder (€180.00 on Amazon) or a stone cracker.
