Thursday, June 2, 2011

DIY Curbing for the Backyard

Since we moved in to this house almost two years ago, we've added a lot more plants and trees.  There is a vinyl fence around much of the backyard which is very nice for privacy, but vinyl fencing is kind of ugly and harsh to look at!  I knew it needed to be softened up with some plantings. 
This picture was taken in early spring of 2010 before I'd planted anything new in the backyard.  It also shows how horrendous bare things can look in the winter!  :)




So off I went to Home Depot to get several arborviteas.  I was happy with the look of them, but knew I needed some edging to keep the grass out.  The rest of the yard was edged in curbing.  I called several places and the minimum for any of them was $150.  That was certainly more than I wanted to spend for 30 feet of edging!  I originally used some extra pavers, but the mower would hit them and move them around.  It wasn't the long term look I was going for. 



So last weekend, in the middle of all of our daughter's Graduation activities, (yes, we are crazy!) we decided to tackle the curbing job.  We used bender board that my husband cut into four inch strips for the back and three inch strips for the front.  We had to be careful not to make the planter too wide, as there's a wall on the other side and needed room for the lawnmower to fit through.





We needed to make sure to keep the width consistent, so used these pieces of wood as guides before screwing the stakes to the bender board.



Those 80 pound bags of concrete mix were lifted into the wheelbarrow and mixed by me.  Yes, that's why there aren't any pictures of me doing this project.  I was the 'brawn'.  I can't wait for a project where I get to be the brains!  haha


Lots and lots of smoothing of the concrete.





And it's done.  It really transitions well with the old curbing.  I mowed yesterday and there's enough room to get the mower through there.  I consider the job a big success, especially since it cost us $30 instead of $150!

Thanks for visiting! 

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