How to Install Landscape Timber Edging

house with timber edging
  • 1-40 hours
  • Beginner
  • 100-4,000
What You'll Need
Landscaping Timbers
Tape Measure
Shovel
Gravel
Saw
Drill with 3/8-inch Drill Bit
Level
12-inch spikes
Sledgehammer
Gardening Gloves
Goggles
What You'll Need
Landscaping Timbers
Tape Measure
Shovel
Gravel
Saw
Drill with 3/8-inch Drill Bit
Level
12-inch spikes
Sledgehammer
Gardening Gloves
Goggles

Landscape edging adds a little more character and accentuates the design of your garden. It sets the borders of your garden and further highlights its design and beauty. It is also an inexpensive way to make your garden look better and more interesting. They also last for a long time and little or no maintenance is required. They can be bought in any gardening shop or some hardware stores. Installing them is quite simple and you can do it yourself.

Step 1 — Preparation

Measure the perimeter of the area in your garden that you wish to enclose with the timbers. Buy enough edging from your local garden store to line the perimeter of the garden twice. Make sure to purchase all-weather timbers since they will be exposed to the elements. Cut them down to size according to your measurements using the saw. Make sure that you're wearing your protective gear when doing this.

Step 2 — Dig a Trench

Dig a trench around the area about 6 inches deep and about 2 inches wider than the timber edging that you purchased. Once you've dug your trench, use your shovel to smooth the walls and the bottom. Use the gravel and fill the trench around 2 inches. This will serve as the foundation of the landscape timber. Be sure that the gravel is evenly spread at the bottom of the trench.

Step 3 — Laying the Timber Edging

Lay down the timber edging over the gravel and make sure that they are even by using the level. Lay them down in such a way that the corners are joined together in clockwise order. They must also be planted flat over the gravel in order to ensure stability and steadiness. Place another layer of timber over the first ones that you laid down and now the corners should join together in counter-clockwise order. This avoids the timber from being exactly on top of each other.

Step 4 — Joining the Timber Edging Together

Get the drill and drill some holes through both layers of the landscape timber edging. Drill holes on all four corners and more holes every 4 feet. Once you've made all the holes, drive the 12-inch spikes into the holes, but make sure that the diameter of the spikes is larger than the holes that you just made. Use the sledgehammer to nail in the spikes. Keep on hammering the spike down until the heads are level with the surface of the wood and nothing is sticking out.

Step 5 — Finishing

Now that the edging is secure, there will be gaps around the wood. Fill these gaps with more gravel and pour an even distribution over the perimeter of the enclosed area of the garden. Once done and before clearing the place, just re-check the gaps. Once all are filled properly, clear any excess gravel that may have been poured over the timber edging. With that done, you have successfully installed the landscape edging.

WARNING:

Always wear full protective non-absorbant clothing when cutting and use the utmost precaution to wear heavy leather work gloves whenever handling lumber treated with creosote as it can cause severe burns on contact with exposed skin. Wash any affected areas immediately and thoroughly with a degreasing detergent or another strong solvent and treat the area with aloe vera lotion. Also note, if you cut a creosote timber in your yard with a chainsaw every growing thing around the area will be dead the next morning. Cutting 2 creosote dock piling killed a client's entire back lawn that way and burned us badly.