How to Install Paver Edging Restraint

Pavement failure rarely starts with the bricks themselves; it almost always begins at the edges where gravity and freeze-thaw cycles push your pavers outward. Without a rigid restraint, your beautiful walkway or patio will eventually look like a crumbling puzzle, with wide gaps opening up and weeds claiming the territory. Installing proper edge restraint is the difference between a project that lasts a decade and one that needs resetting every two years. Done well, an edging system becomes an invisible frame that locks every individual paver into a single, monolithic unit. You want the restraint to sit slightly below the finished height of the pavers so it stays hidden under your final layer of polymeric sand or topsoil. If you take the time to set these flush against the base material and pin them deeply into your sub-base, your patio will remain tight and uniform regardless of the season.

1. Excavate the perimeter trench. Excavate a narrow trench around the entire perimeter of your paver installation. The trench should be wide enough to accommodate the base of the edging and deep enough to sit on the compacted gravel sub-base.
2. Position edging against pavers. Place the L-shaped edging segments into the trench, pressing them firmly against the vertical edge of the pavers. If you have curves, use a pair of snips to cut the support flange, which allows the edging to bend without losing its structural integrity.
3. Anchor edging with spikes. Use a heavy-duty dead-blow hammer or mallet to drive 10-inch landscape spikes through the designated holes in the edging base. Space your spikes every 8 to 12 inches, and use additional spikes at the joints where two pieces of edging meet.
4. Verify edging depth and level. Use a level to ensure the top edge of the restraint is at least one inch below the surface of the pavers. This ensures that when you apply edge mulch or grass, it hides the plastic completely.
5. Compact soil behind edging. Backfill the space behind the edging with the soil or gravel you removed during the excavation process. Tamp the soil down firmly to provide extra support against the back of the edging wall.
6. Lock pavers with final compaction. Once the edging is secure, sweep polymeric sand into the paver joints and vibrate the entire surface with a plate compactor. The locked-in pavers will now push against the restrained perimeter rather than spreading outward.