How to Edge Flower Beds with Wood

What You'll Need
Stakes
Tape measure
Lumber pencil, paper, and calculator
Flat shovel and spade shovel
Tamping tool
Chain saw
Half inch drill motor
1/2 inch by 12 inch drill bit
Saws all
Baby sledge hammer
Pilot drill bit one size small than spikes
Landscape timbers
3/8 inch steel reinforcing bar
Landscape timber spikes

Edging flower beds with wood landscape timbers is quick, easy and ideal for square or rectangular flower beds.

Step 1 - Lay Out

    Untreated waste makes great firewood.

    Step 2 – Cut in Foundation

    Cut out sod and create a trench along the perimeter about 3 inches deep and the width of the landscape timbers you are using. Pack the soil with a tamping tool or the butt end of a landscape timber.

    Step 3 - First Course

    Begin in a corner and lay two timbers in the trench creating a corner butt joint. Draw a cut line on a timber that is too long for the flower bed segment it is laying in. Cut the timber with a chain saw. For a timber that is too short to complete its segment, add an additional timber creating an inline butt joint. A timber that almost completes its segment, but not quite, should be cut back to two thirds the length of the timber. Continue this process around the perimeter until the first course is complete.

    Use a lumber pencil and lay out holes to spike down the first course of timbers with. Measure and mark locations, centered on top of the timber, 12 inches in from each timber end and at about 4 foot intervals in between. Drill ½ inch holes down through each mark.

    Cut the re-bar with a saws all and create 24 inch spikes. Stake down the first course of timbers with a baby sledge and the re-bar spikes you made.

    Step 4 - Second Course

    Begin in a corner again and arrange two timbers in the opposite corner butt joint configuration from the corner butt joint below in the first course. Proceed with the second course as the first. Do not allow joints from the second course to fall on or near joints from the first course. Staggering the joints as much as possible will make your flower bed stronger.

    Lay out holes to spike the second course down to the first. Measure and mark locations, centered on top of the timber, 18 inches from each end and about four foot intervals in between. Pilot drill holes using a bit one size small than the timber spikes. Spike the second course down to the first using the baby sledge hammer and timber spikes.

    Step 5 – Finish

    Mix up some soil, plant your favorite flower and enjoy.