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What is the Best Way to Edge a Paver Patio? Our Favorite Ideas

Just as an intricate picture frame can enhance a work of art, framing your paver patio can create a stunning visual effect. However, patio edge ideas aren’t only critical to research for their aesthetic features, but learning the best way to edge paver patio areas, walkways, or driveways will also help your surfaces to be more durable.

Why is the Best Way to Edge a Patio So Important?

Paver patios, walkways, and driveways are installed in an interlocking fashion. Before pavers can be laid, ground is excavated, stone and/or sand are carefully added and graded, and the pavers set atop. Joint materials such as polymeric sand are swept into the paver joints to lock them together.

However, when you would walk towards the edges of these surfaces, it would become very easy to displace the pavers on the edge without some means of preventing them to shift horizontally.

A common yet unfortunate sight on a DIY paver project is where the novice installer didn’t realize the best way to edge a patio. We frequently see these edges leaning or sinking, and joints between paving stones separating. These transitional areas add complication to paver installation projects as pavers, irrigation, lawns, and/or planting beds intersect.

Patio Edging Best Practices for Southern California

Unlike many areas in the country that experience significant ground freezing and thawing in winter, Southern California soil doesn’t pose that particular challenge. If you lived in an area where soil froze regularly, you would need to have the stone and sand base under your patio extend 12” underground, past where pavers are seen.

However, in Southern California the ground does not substantially freeze, so the foundation under patio, walkways, and driveway edges are treated differently in most circumstances. After the main surface of the patio is laid out and all the cuts are made, a trench approximately 8” wide and 8” deep is dug around the paver area. Concrete is then poured to provide a sturdy base that will not shift. The pavers used to border the patio are then either laid into wet concrete or attached with construction adhesive.

This edge provides a fixed edge that won’t allow edges to shift easily when weight is applied to them. The patio, walkway, or driveway surface appears the same in all of these areas, but with a different base.

Best Way to Edge a Patio Near a Retaining Wall

Feature

Small retaining walls are often a part of landscape designs to provide decorative accents, separate areas, and to address slight grade transitions. The best way to edge paver patio areas in those areas, is to continue the base under the wall.

The vertical wall actually begins below the grade. The heavy weight of wall block can, in most circumstances, provide the horizontal restraint to keep paver patio edges from moving.

Paver Edge Ideas for Distinctive Landscape Design

While making the right decisions for the best way to edge a paver patio or other surface, a great design opportunity arises. These transitions are a great way to incorporate unique and decorative paver edge ideas into your design.

These choices can take the same materials and create a one of a kind look for your property. You and your landscape designer may work together to define your preferences for your project to keep things subtle or make a bold statement.

Subtle Paver Edge Ideas

Patio edge ideas or the areas at transitions of other paver surfaces can be treated the same as the rest of your surface. One, continuous pattern of pavers can be laid right to the edge.

If your project will look better with a texture change, while continuing the same colors, pavers in a similar color blend can be chosen, only with a different size, or arranged in a different fashion.

Subtle paver edge ideas often use border effects such as a random, sailor, or soldier course of similar stones used to frame in the area.

Paver Edge Ideas that Accent Surfaces

Patios

In many cases, a couple colors of paving stones are used on projects we complete here in Southern California. Ideas for patio edges may be inspired by pulling in colors of your structure or a unique color you choose for an accent.

Your patio, driveway, or walkway surface may have used 2-3 colors of pavers randomly throughout the design. Unique ideas for patio edges or walkway borders can emerge when picking one of those colors to frame and highlight one specific color.

Even when choosing subtle paver edge ideas, these accent lines can be incorporated further into the patio, with a band of contrasting color being displayed 6” to 12” in from the patio edge.

Materials can even be mixed together for even more design flexibility. Pavers can be mixed with natural stone such as travertine. The possibilities are almost endless!

Getting Unique Paver Edge Ideas AND Using the Best Ways to Edge a Paver Patio

Your project is a substantial investment to enhance your property. You shouldn’t have to choose between getting a gorgeous design or a proper installation. It’s possible to make sure your paving contractor knows the best way to edge a paver patio all while finding unique paver edge ideas.

Your project is a substantial investment to enhance your property. You shouldn’t have to choose between getting a gorgeous design or a proper installation. It’s possible to make sure your paving contractor knows the best way to edge a paver patio all while finding unique paver edge ideas.

Take some time and browse galleries of our work. Pay close attention to the various paver edge ideas we used in projects and take note of which ones are your favorites. When you’re ready to get a free consultation, contact us via our website, or call us at (818) 275-8613.

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