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Flowerbed Stone Border

Posted by yardenman z7 MD (My Page) on
Sat, Aug 4, 07 at 19:27

Last year, I dug a shallow trench between my plastic flowerbed edging and the lawn to reduce turf grass invasion and for appearance. I expected I would be able to drive my rider mower on the wall stones I used. Since I had used wall stones simply set into the soil around a small pond and they seem very solidly set, I assumed this would work well.

Unfortunately, the border stones sometimes tilt slightly as a mower wheel moves onto one edge of a stone and then the other. Naturally, I'm worried that one will tilt enough to contact a mower blade.

I don't want to set them in concrete, as I tend to gradually reduce the lawn area over the years. It seems to me that the edges of the stones don't have enough support. Obviously mere soil isn't doing the job. But I don't see why sand would do any better (it has been very dry here all Summer, so it's not that the soil is muddy).

So, I'm trying to figure out what material I can put between/under the stones to discourage them from moving. The local home project store suggested stone chips, and I've read that rough sand does provide some structural support, but I have been researching polymeric sand too.

I've read what I could find here and elsewhere about each, but most discussion is about patios or paths of close-fitting pavers that only have foot traffic.

So, if you were to build a stone border at lawn level that you could run a riding mower over and wanted to be able to pull it up in 3-5 years, what would you do?


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Flowerbed Stone Border

I've had great success creating mowing strips with stone. Like you, I did not want to use anything like concrete that might hinder future garden expansions.
I simply dug a small trench about 12" to 15" wide, by about 5" deep. Dumped coarse sand (concrete sand) in about 3" deep. Then I used stones that were 3" minimum, and up to 5" thick. I chose to use "Pennsylvania River Pavers". I selected stones that averaged all about the same width (12"), and juggled them around to get the tightest fit possible on the ends. They were then tamped down firmly into the sand with a 4lbs rawhide mallet.
Once the grass grew in snugly to the stones, I could run my 48" commercial walk behind mower right over top, with no movement problems.


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RE: Flowerbed Stone Border

WOW! Thanks Stoneguy. It is now obvious I tried to get away with too little prep work (much as it seemed at the time). I guess I will turn all the stones up on the lawn (to preserve the fairly good fit pattern) and dig the trench deeper in the way you described.

I was sure hoping for an easier solution, but sometimes the only right way to do something is the hard way.

I don't have a rawhide mallet, but I do have 4"x4" pieces and a deadblow hammer. Do you think those would work?


 
 

 

 


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