Property Projects That Will Make Your Shrine ShineProperty Projects That Will Make Your Shrine Shine

If you have an asphalt driveway, you can improve its appearance by adding landscape timbers to create a border. A landscape timber is a long piece of rounded or square lumber, and works particularly well for defining borders. To ensure that this mortar will last a long time, make certain that you purchase landscape timbers that have been pressure-treated to protect them against wood rot or that are made out of rot resistant woods like cedar. You can use a simple line of timbers to delineate your border, or you can stack the timbers to build a short wall.

What You Will Need

• Landscape Timbers

• Tape Measure

• Edger

• Shovel

• Electric Drill with Bits

• Level

• Rubber Mallet

• Sledgehammer

• Circular Saw

• 12 Inch Steel Spikes

Step 1. Measure the height of your landscape timbers and the height of your driveway relative to the ground surface. Using these measurements, determine how deep the trench needs to be to allow your landscape timbers to stick above the driveway as much as you want. For instance, if you want the timbers to be 1 inch above the driveway, while your timbers are 5×5 inches and the driveway is 1 inch high, you will need to dig a 3 inch trench next to the driveway.

Step 2. Use an edger and a shovel to cut your trench to the required depth you arrived at in step 1. This trench should be roughly 2 inches wider than your landscape timbers. Again using the above example, the trench would need to be 7 inches wide.

Step 3. Shovel the soil into place around the timbers and pack it in tight. Make sure the soil in the trench is perfectly level, adding more soil or removing it as needed.

Step 4. Use an electric drill to drill half-inch pilot holes exactly 4 inches from the ends of the timbers.

Step 5. Start laying the landscape timbers down into the trench. Drive the ends of the timbers tightly together with a rubber mallet. If you need partial lengths of timber at the ends, use a circular saw to cut them to fit. Make sure that you also drill pilot holes at the ends of these timbers as well.

Step 6. Position a long level on the landscape timbers to ensure that they are level. If they're not, adjust the soil below them as necessary.

Step 7. Use a sledge hammer to drive 12 inch steel spikes through the holes to hold the landscape timbers in place. The heads of the spikes should be flush with surface of the landscape timbers.

Step 8. If you are choosing to build a wall, place a second course of timbers on top of the first course, but stagger them to ensure that the ends of the timbers are not lined up with one another. Then drill pilot holes at the ends of these timbers that pass through the next layer of timbers as well. Use a sledgehammer to drive 12 inch spikes through these holes so the heads are flush with the surface. Repeat this step to create additional levels in the wall. Keep in mind that the higher you make it, the more unstable it will be.

For more information, contact Cumberland Valley Tree Service & Landscaping or a similar company.