A neat brick edging can help to clearly define a path, keep gravel in place and prevent soil from spilling onto it. It is essential to use frost-resistant bricks, as ordinary house bricks will simply fall apart over time.

If you are edging an existing path, dig out a trench on each side of the path, deep enough to hold the brick plus 2.5 cm (1 in) of mortar. The depth will obviously depend on how you intend to lay your bricks - horizontally to show their face, or vertically to display their end.

This will also apply if you are creating a path from scratch. However, in this case, simply start to lay the edge when the trench is at the right depth - this may be before you have added any sub-base materials if you are placing the bricks vertically or it may be after you have added the hardcore layer if you are laying the bricks horizontally.

Compact the base of the trench with the back of a garden rake, and then place a 2.5 cm (1 in) layer of mortar along the base to bed the brick in. Place the bricks into position, filling in the sides of the trench with more mortar. Make sure that you do not spill any mortar over the parts of the bricks that will be visible.

Use a spirit level to check that the tops of the bricks are level. Finish off the mortar in the sides of the trenches by smoothing it with a pointing trowel so it slopes away from the bricks.