Do It Yourself Brick Landscaping

Hammer stakes in a rectangular shape where the walkway will be, and measure to ensure both sides are the same length and perfectly parallel. Tie twine from one stake to the next to make a rectangular box. This will be the outline of your walkway.

Dig down 8 inches inside the outline, using a shovel. Slope your walkway a fourth inch per foot away from your house to allow for drainage. For example, if your walkway is 8 feet long, your bricks should slope 2 inches from the beginning to the end. Remove large clumps of dirt and debris from inside the area.

Practice laying your brick. Put down a test layer of brick in a basket weave pattern. For this pattern, you will lay two bricks vertically, followed by two bricks horizontally, repeating this pattern until the walkway is laid out.

Lay your edging. This is the process of inserting the brick on the edges and shoulder to shoulder, making an outline around the test bricks you have laid. Tap the brick edging lightly with a rubber mallet to set it firmly in the ground. You now have a frame around your brick walkway.

Remove your test bricks, leaving the edging brick in place. Fill the space 4 inches deep with crushed stone. Tamp the stone and lay landscape fabric over the stone.

Pour 2 inches of sand over the landscape fabric. Starting at one end, smooth the surface in a back and forth motion, using a 2-by-4 or another device. This is known as screeding. Ensure the sand is placed at the appropriate slope needed for drainage. Once complete, the sand should be 2 inches below the top of the brick.

Lay your bricks back in the depression, pressing firmly to plant them in the sand. The brick pattern should be even with the edging all the way across. Some bricks may require light tapping with a rubber mallet to secure them in the sand. Use a level to ensure that the bricks are even and smooth.

Spread sand over the bricks and brush or sweep it into the cracks until the cracks are filled.