How to Decorate Gardens With Bricks

Use a garden trowel to dig a small footer trench around the perimeter of the garden. The trench should be about 3 inches deep. Starting at one corner of the perimeter, lay one brick vertically down into the trench but angle it to the right or left to a 45-degree angle. Repeat along the perimeter, laying the bricks flush to one another as you go, to create a small decorative "wall" around the garden. For oval, round or irregularly shaped gardens, simply begin at any point laying the bricks into the trench to build the wall.

Use a shovel or a soil tamper to beat a level walking path in the garden that goes in between main flower beds or rows of growing vegetables. Water the small path you made sufficiently until it's quite muddy. Push bricks down into the mud in a staggered side-by-side pattern to mimic footprints. Once dry, this creates an interesting visual as well as provides a walkway through the garden.

Dig square or rectangular patterns in the soil, around groups of existing plants or mounds where you'll be planting seeds for flowers or vegetables. Place a level in the bottom of each 3-inch-deep trench to ensure each is as level as you can get it. Fill the trench about a one-fourth full with gravel and cover with a row (also called a "course") of bricks. Use the trowel to shovel some pre-mixed mortar over the bricks and lay another row over the top. Continue this method to build small rustic-looking retaining walls that double as raised beds.