If you dream of creating an outdoor space you love, you know that every detail counts. The base of your garden bed edging is a detail that is easy to overlook and may seem small, but it actually makes a big impact. A well-laid base for your garden bed edge will help ensure the longevity and cleanliness of your garden or flower beds.
At WI, we are all about making difficult hardscaping tasks into something manageable—as we like to say, we take the hard out of hardscaping!
In this blog post, we’ll guide you step-by-step through the process of laying a base for garden bed edging. It is essentially the same as building a long, very thin paver patio. Let’s start at the beginning…
The first thing you will want to do before laying your base is establish a layout. Ideally, you should use white marking paint to mark out where you want the base to be.
To square your corners, set a 3-4-5 triangle. If you prefer round corners, you first need to square them and then find your pivot point, which is equal distance from both corners, and then imitate a compass motion.
If you want to be extra intentional about your grade, you can do this step. However, with a garden bed edging base you can use the natural contour of the land.
Once you have decided on the grade, you need to excavate the dirt and debris to 5–7” below what you want the finished grade to be.
Once the area is excavated, lay down geotextile to eliminate weeds and improve structural stability. Ideally, you should use a nonwoven or woven geotextile fabric. You should avoid using regular weed fabric. It is not the same thing as geotextile, and even though it might keep out the weeds, it will compromise the structural integrity of your base.
You are now ready to spread gravel. Put in gravel to a level slightly above where you want it to end up. Once it is in place, use a hand tamper to press it down every 2”. If you dig a 6” trench, you should add 2” of gravel, then tamp, then repeat the process until you’ve reached the desired height.
If you do not care how level your edge is (particularly if it is not a patio or walkway), you can easily skip this step. However, if you want extra clean lines and easy installation, try using 2” of paver sand or 1/4”-10 washed aggregate. Gravel can be difficult to level, and using sand can make the process easier.
Finally, you’re ready to lay your paving stones. Use a level and mallet to settle your pavers into the sand or aggregate.
If you are wondering how to find the right paver for your project, check out our article about the Best Pavers to Use for Edging a Garden Bed. It will walk you through everything you need to think about to select the best paver for your project.
If you want to make sure you have the best plan in place for your DIY project, check out our Project Planning Guide. You can download it for free and use it to document and design your vision for your new paver installation.
Choosing a paver can sure feel overwhelming. You have to consider size, style, thickness, color, and more. That’s why we made a short and simple quiz that asks a few questions about what you’re looking for and, at the end, provides a recommendation, or two, you can start with.
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