A New Flower Bed

We decided to make a flower bed in our yard this spring.  We had an area in our yard where the grass had been struggling for a couple of years so we decided to put a flower bed in the space.  The most interesting part of the project is the border.  It is made from left -over bricks.

If you have any left-over bricks, this is a great way to use

them to make an attractive, durable and inexpensive border for your flower beds

or other landscaping projects. 

 The border is also a great weed/grass barrier. 

So if you have bricks like this, you can turn them into the border like we did.

We used this same idea about 11 years ago when we built our home.  We have used bricks to make borders for all our planted areas in our yard.  My husband said he has even bumped one with the riding lawn mower and the border didn't give way so they are durable.

Here's our problem area as we got started with the project.  We have red clay.  It is very hard and unpleasant to use for gardening.  My husband dug up the area by hand with a pick ax and shovel.

We had already decided on the shrubbery we were going to use.  We selected Helleri Holly (they look like a boxwood-not a prickly holly). We already had some of these growing in our yard and they seem to do well in the clay.  We also wanted to add some summer color, so we got these knock-out roses.  They bloom all summer and many of our neighbors have them, so we felt like they would do well in the new flower bed, too.  Our other purchase was a Japanese bloodgood maple.  We have two of these in our back yard and they have done well.  We have been composting for several years and we used all that wonderful compost to mix into the clay. 

Here's my husband finishing up the planting in the afternoon sun.

The next task was for me to haul bricks from the back of our property.  I know my husband

was going to do this himself, but I don't mind doing things like this. 

After I got the bricks moved to the area where we were

 going to be using them, I needed to get them

placed just right.  This is the most tedious part of the project. 

 You need to put the person who has

an eye for detail on this job (I'll volunteer). 

The better the bricks look now, the better they will

look when the project is complete. 

You will need a hand trowel to help

even the soil up under the bricks.

  A little scoop there and a little scoop scraped away here. 

The bricks need to be about a finger apart.

This is what ours looked like when I was done. 

Yes, I did continue to tweak them before we finished.

 

Then, a day or so later, when the ground isn't too wet or soft....you walk on them.

  Don't rock your feet, just walk across them.

Then, get some cement. Do not get the kind with the little rocks in it. 

Get a few of the plasti-cor campaign signs and cut them into two or three strips.

Place the sign strips on either side of the bricks. 

They should be flexible enough to use with curves.

Then, shovel the DRY cement onto the bricks.

We used to be very careful and exact. We would use a trowel to

put the cement onto the bricks and try to be so neat and tidy.

Nope! Not any more!!

Over the years, we discovered that you could just

shovel that cement in--it looked the same

when the border was complete

and was a lot easier and quicker.

Then, get an old paint brush and brush the cement into the spaces between the bricks.

Your bricks should look like this when you're done.

Now,take your hose and set the nozzle to mist and lightly mist the top of the bricks.

Your bricks will look like this when you're done.

Don't over mist.

Wait about five minutes....move the wheel barrow, have a sip of water, wipe your brow.

Then you remove the sign strips.  Move on and reuse and repeat the steps.

This is what the bricks look like in less than an hour later. 

I did use a large putty knife to scrape off the excess

 cement off the ends before it dried. Remember--details!

I was happy to garden in an area that has full sun.

When we first built our home, we had a lot of

sun in our back yard.  Now, the trees adjacent to our

property block the sun and I'm planting hostas.

 I was delighted to find some Shasta daisies this year. 

Gotta love a daisy--especially since they are perennials.

I planted a few Stella de Oro day lilies, too.

I also added some jonquil bulbs that

I hadn't planted that still seemed pretty healthy.

Now, a couple of weeks later and
everything we planted is doing great.

Here are the pink double knock-out roses.

I moved this garden bench from another spot in our yard. 

I like it here so much better

The brick border cost under $25.00--

the price of five bags of cement.

That's a pretty good price to pay for a border

 that will be enjoyed for years to come!

Joining the Party:

The Great Outdoor Linky Party

The Polohouse Party

Cozy Home Scenes Party