07 May 2026

brick edges

I've been doing a lot of work the past few weeks to replace old rotting wooden edges (railroad ties and fence posts) from beds 7 and 8 with concrete bricks to match the rest of the garden. First was all the work to waterproof seal and paint the bricks- two layers each on all sides, with time to dry between and periodic shifting into the house to avoid rain. Then waiting days for another dry spell to do more painting. Finally was able to set them in place. Here's a few work-in-progress pictures.

Bed 7 on the right is already redone, bed 8 on the left kinda out of picture has the old edges pulled off (long sides- the short ends previously had bricks)- and in the corner here you can see my pretty purple clematis!
Bed 8 with the sides removed and the mulch heaped up out of the way-
and complete!
7 done and 8 incomplete-
7 and 8 both done-
Here's bed 8 with lettuces and peas in the foreground (of bed 6)
I finished the job on a morning sprinkling rain but due to thunderstorm heavy in the afternoon- didn't want the raised built-up-with-riches soil to start washing away so I worked in the mud. Thus the bricks got dirty.
7 and 8 redone in the background, 9 in the foreground with young collard greens, leeks and turnips- and rosemary right up front. (It's the only one survived the winter- my other rosemary plant on the opposite end of the garden died).
So nice to have the beds all finally matching! And solid, and will last for decades. They are not perfectly straight, but much tidier than the old bricks- as you can see in some of the photos where the wobbly edge of bed 6 is across the way from bed 8- but that's merely asthetic, not a functional issue and it's easy enough to level them out when I care enough to find time.

Next structural project for the garden is to actually put the fence in- hence the red flags marking where an underground wire lies.

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