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Materials and tools
Bricks, cement, sand, small stones or gravel, shovel, trowel, brush, hoe, a level (if you have to prepare a stone base and need to check the level of the walls), chisel and hammer to cut the bricks, square, cord, large nails or wooden stakes.

Choosing the spot
� The first task is to choose the exact spot where you are going to build the flowerbed. Size, both length and height, is also an important consideration.
� Size will determine how much building material you must buy.
� Once you have decided on a kind of brick, you must calculate how many to buy, taking into account the dimensions of the flowerbed.
� You can sketch a model on paper if you are going to do several beds together with stone chippings or with a separating wall.

Marking off the base or foundation
� The base on which you build the flowerbed is essential. You will need a good foundation because this is a typical masonry job involving mortar and bricks.
� If the chosen spot is in a garden or an area of soil, you will have to fashion a small foundation or prepare the surface.
� Trace your design on the ground. The most typical shapes are rectangular or square, although you can pick any one you want. Mark off the shape with cord and wooden stakes.
� With a small pick or hoe, remove soil or sod, and fill in the spot with a mix of mortar and gravel or stones.

� Once this is dry you are ready to start the walls.
� For the walls to be straight, assuming you want them to be, use cord, stakes or a yardstick to mark off the line you want the bricks of the walls to follow.
� For the corners also use cord and a square to make sharp right angles.
� Lay the first row of bricks in a bed of mortar you will have prepared beforehand by mixing cement, sand and water. There are fast-setting mortars and pre-prepared mortars with which you need only add water.
� Pay close attention to the corners because they are the starting points of the four walls.

Careful with the joints
� Cement is good for setting bricks but it can�t do everything. The joints between the bricks are very important so that the overall structure will hold up.
� Pour mortar over the first row of bricks and start placing new bricks. Start at a corner: place the new brick perpendicular to the one below it on the other wall making up the corner.
� This strengthens the structure by distributing the force over the entire wall, not just on the joint. It is called a bond. There are many decorative ways to do it.
� In this way they alternate so that the vertical joints never line up on top of each other.

Finishing off the walls
� If you want the bricks of the outside wall to remain visible, all you need to do is finish off the joint with the end of the shovel.
� It is best to cover the inside wall with mortar. You can use the same batch you have already mixed up.
� Allow to dry and the flowerbed will be ready to fill with soil and plants.

A TIP
Good drainage is essential. Flowerpots always have a small hole at the bottom for water to drain, and flowerbeds need them too.
Depending on the side of the flowerbed, place one or more plastic or rubber tubes between the bricks of the base. They will become set in place when you pour the mortar.

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