How to Build Flower Beds With Bricks

Remove existing vegetation from the selected area in your garden or yard. Pour boiling water or vinegar over the plants to remove them organically, or spray a nonselective herbicide over each plant at least five days to a week before building the flower beds. Rake the dead plants and discard.

Spread powered chalk over the area in your garden or yard where you want to build the flower bed, in your desired shape. Keep the outline of each flower bed as straight as possible.

Dig a 6-inch-deep trench over the outline using a shovel. Keep the width of the trench 1 to 1 1/2 inches wider than the width of the paver bricks you are using. Level the base of the trench so the soil is even.

Add water to concrete and mix with a hand trowel until it is a workable consistency. You can also add 1 part cement, 1 1/2 parts sand and 3 1/2 parts gravel to water and mix thoroughly.

Pour the concrete mix into the base of the trench until it lies 2 to 3 inches below the top. Level the surface of the mix with a trowel and leave it to cure for three to four days. This concrete footing forms the foundation of the flower bed.

Spread a 1-inch thick layer of mortar over the cured concrete footing with a trowel. Place a brick directly above the mortar, starting at one corner of the trench. Push it down gently so a 1/2-inch-thick layer of mortar remains between the footing and the brick. Remove excess mortar from the sides with a trowel.

Add mortar to the two ends of a second brick and place it in the trench, 1/2 inch away from the previous one. Press this down so excess mortar squeezes out from the sides, and remove this with a trowel. Repeat the procedure of laying the first rows of bricks for the flower bed. To break a brick in half at any point, position the tip of a chisel over the point on it and pound it hard with a sledgehammer until it breaks in two pieces.

Add mortar to the lower surface and two ends of a brick and place it over a joint between two bricks directly below. Placing bricks in a staggered pattern is aesthetically pleasing. Place mortar to the sides and base of other bricks, in turn, and place them over the previous layer to form the second row. Keep adding rows of bricks until your flower bed reaches your desired height.