Here ’s how to build a raised brick garden bed for a cosmetic and long - lasting accession to your landscape .

Dave Toht

Building with brick can be pleasant employment , but it choose some practice before you become proficient . This handsome rampart will be strong enough for a planting bottom up to 2 feet high . Anything higher demand adouble brick bulwark . It will take a couple of weekend to become competent at bricklaying , but the results will be well worth the crusade . The complete project will be a permanent landscaping feature of speech you could be proud of .

finished brick raised flower bed illustration with bunny

Credit:Dave Toht

Choose brick that will survive well in continually wet weather . Common brick may not be strong enough . Be prepared to give your material provider the length and height of the paries you plan to build . If the brick have holes in them , buy special detonating machine brick for the top course . Arrange to have the bricks rest on a strong pallet near the job site .

Make a narrative celestial pole — a duration of 1x2 with evenly spaced lines marking the height of each course of bricks . instal a level concrete foothold , unite a 12 - column inch - deep , reinforced , and concrete - filled trench twice as wide as the brick wall will be with concrete footing every 4 feet that extend beneath the frost line .

What You’ll Need

Equipment / Tools

Materials

Instructions

Lay Out Wall

Chalk a guideline to position the brick on the center of the foothold . Make a dry runnel : place out the bricks without mortar , spacing them evenly . This will assure you if you ask to sneak in a shortsighted brick near the end of the run . If necessary , increase the blank to avoid set in a very small man of brick . Mark the location of the first and last brick .

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Set First Bricks

ruffle a small wad of mortar . Set the first two brick , one at each end , laying down a 1 - inch - heavyset layer for each . Check for level in both directions , tapping gently with the handle of your trowel to make adjustment . String a mason ’s line to mark the stratum of the first course of brick . Hold the pedigree in topographic point with brick .

Lay First Course

To set down a bed ofmortarfor a course of bricks , first full adulterate your trowel . Then , with the trowel faceup , set the tip of the trowel at the beginning of the line . As you take out back toward your body , splay the trowel so that you lay a bed of trench mortar about 1 - inch thickset , intimately as extensive as the brick , and about three bricks in length . Furrow the howitzer by softly feed the trowel tip , facedown , along the meat . bricklayer call this step throwing .

Assemble Corners

Build the lead — the commencement power point for your courses . This is six courses high , with each course half of a brick light than the one below it . ( Remember that a brick is half as panoptic as it is long . ) story and plumb bob each course , and use a fib pole to check for height . Lay down mortar and add the first course . Butter the end of each brick where it abuts another . Add the mortar by realize a swiping motility along all four edges of each face .

Fill Each Course

repeat the lead on the other end of the paries . String a mason ’s line as a course guide , using wrinkle cylinder block to hold the occupation loaded with the face of the bricks . Using the billet as a guide , fill in each course , commend to cast , furrow , and butter . baseball swing brick by first scoring a telephone line around the brick . Then check the brick using a mallet and a brick set .

Check for Level

Continually adapt for level and straight courses , tapping gently with a beetle and 2x4 . As you proceed , scrape off supernumerary trench mortar with your trowel , taking care not to smear the bricks . Every so often , press the mortar with your thumb . If it feel firm and your quarter round stamp does not change frame , the joint can be finished .

Finish Joints

Using a pointing shaft , first polish out the vertical marijuana cigarette , then the horizontal . softly sweep away excess as you work on . Wash any blur spots cautiously with a moist tabloid – once the howitzer has pose , it will be difficult to remove .

lay brick illustration brick raised flower bed

Credit:Dave Toht

mark path illustration brick raised flower bed

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prepare illustration brick raised flower bed

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stack illustration brick raised flower bed

Credit:Dave Toht