It's time now to determine the trench depth for the concrete paving mower strip. Take into account that the Edgestone™ instructions call for 1 or 2 inches of sand to be laid in the trench, as a base; we'll go with the larger figure (about 2 inches of sand).
To begin planning the trench, I had to take into account the fact that the depth of the concrete paving product itself is 2 1/2 inches. Furthermore, since we're using the concrete paving as a mower strip, we'll want the blocks to stick up about 1/2 inch out of the ground (they will eventually, settle, anyway, and become about even with the ground).
Consequently, we'll want to excavate 4 inches, lay down about 2 inches of sand (packed down), then lay the concrete paving on top of the sand base.
Having figured out the trench depth needed for the concrete paving, go ahead and excavate those 4 inches. I found the easiest way was with a wide garden trowel and a rubber mallet, as shown in the photo above (I have a sandy soil; for heavier soils, a mattock might work better). You can use them like a hammer and chisel to scoop out the trench, as the width of the garden trowel will be close to that of the trench itself.
On Page 7 the mower strip really starts to take shape....
