How to Edge a Driveway

Whether you are in need of edging your driveway for a enhanced look or because you are having problems with drainage from water, then please read below for a step by step guide on how to edge your driveway. I recently had to do this myself to correct a drainage problem in my yard onto my driveway and I want to offer my recent experience with you so you can edge your driveway in a quick and efficient way.

Step One:
Gather all your tools you will need before you start your project. Some items that will be used are a shovel, hoe, rake, border, ground cloth cover, hammer, gloves, scissors, measuring tape and a flat edge. There may be more items that you will need, however, you will only know that as you begin to work because each yard is different.

Step Two:
Decide how much of your driveway do you want to edge. Some people will do all the driveway, some will do one side, and even some will just pick a section of the driveway that will help you out. For instance, I only did about 60 feet of one side of the driveway because that is what I was needing to be edge to fix the problem I was having. I measured the distance from start to finish that I would need and then the distance from the side of the driveway out (width) in the grass that I went. I only went out about 6 inches in width because the edging I used was not as thick and I did not want to create a huge muddy mess with more ground being tilted up. I marked each spot that I measured with a spray of white spray paint. I used this because I had an extra can laying around and the color shows up the best!

Step Three:
Take your shovel and dig down into the ground next to the driveway about 6 inches. You do not want to go to low. If you need to dig out more later on you can dig out more if you need to with a small hand shovel.

Step Four:
Smooth out the sides of the shovel cut and the bottom of the ground with a small hand shovel and a flat edge. If you run across and big rocks then use your hammer to smash them or lift them out with the nail remover side.

Step Five:
You will then take a small hand hoe, and loosen the dirt up on the bottom once again to make sure you have removed any debris.

Step Six:
You will now use a ground cover to cover the dirt on the bottom. Make sure the ground cover you use has the tinniest holes in the cloth as possible. The best thing to use is a heavy duty plastic cloth. You want to use the cloth so the dirt never comes back up onto the driveway! This is the main point of edging.

Step Seven:
The next step that comes in edging has to be the one of your choice. Home depot makes a black plastic driveway/yard edger that is about 6 inches in length and 60 feet long/ It is just like a small wall that will be placed against your driveway and filled in with the excess dirt behind it to keep the edger in place. Or, you can really go all out and create a landscaping edging that will wow you and your guests. All you need to do is place the black plastic edger against the back of the ground that is about 6 inches away from the side of the driveway, To keep it standing up you will then place rocks in front of it. The rocks will go between the black edger and the driveway and on top of the ground cloth you just laid down. The type of rock is up to you and your budget. Home depot has many different selections.

Step Eight:
The last thing you will have to do is clean up the mess. Make sure your rake away any clumps of dirt that you dug up that may be on your yard. You may also need to sweep away dirt from your driveway. You may decide to wash down the driveway after wards, and this will be okay, just make sure when you do to wash the dirt away from the edging. You do not want the dirt to go back to the ground you just covered up.

A few tips you may need to take into account when you are doing this are: try to pick a day that is sunny out but you will also want to do it on a day that has had rain recently. If it rained on Monday and you are doing your project on Tuesday then that is a good thing when it comes to digging up dirt. Another good idea is to make sure there is rain in the forecast with in the next few days after your project. This will help you to see if you need to fix any spots that may cause you a problem.

If you need any further help make sure you contact Home Depot at any time or your local yard and lawn care business for any questions you may have.
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