Upgrade Your Driveway Edge Using Simple Concrete Bags

Folks have been using bags of concrete to build retaining walls for years, but if videos popping up on social media are any indication, applying this trick to driveways is a fairly new concept. A handful of YouTube and TikTok videos have emerged showing the concrete bag approach used as a driveway border idea to boost curb appeal. One DIYer explained that he wanted to use the bags as edging to keep stones from blowing off his gravel driveway while using his leaf blower. In the process, he ended up with stylish and unique driveway edging.

Your exterior entryway is the first item on a home tour, and your driveway is part of that, so you want to make a good impression. The concrete bag trick gives your driveway a finished look. Working with concrete bags on this upgrade is not difficult to do and results in a driveway that looks like it's bordered with large, smooth stones. It's a simple matter of placing the bags, wetting them, and letting nature take its course to transform them into credible stand-ins for cobblestones. The cost, of course, depends on the length of your driveway, but it can be comparable to or cheaper than using pavers.

To make this novel concrete bag border for your own driveway, purchase 50-pound bags of pre-mixed, ready-to-use concrete (be sure you're not confusing concrete with cement). One of the video DIYers used 40-pound bags, but these may be harder to find. Be sure the bags are paper with no plastic liner. You'll likely pay $4 to $8 for a 50-pound bag at a home-improvement store. 

As you get ready to line your driveway with the bags, you'll want to take the side that was facing down on the store's pallet and place it facing up on the ground where you are building your border. That's because during shipping and handling, smaller, heavier particles of cement powder sift through the gaps and settle at the bottom of the bag, leaving the larger stones at the top, and you don't want this stony mix to sit on top of your hardened bags.

Lay the bags down along the edge of your driveway, pushing them as closely together as you can. Then use a hose to squirt water on the bag, wetting the paper bag thoroughly. Some DIYers take the extra step of poking holes in the bag to ensure the concrete gets saturated. The bags will also absorb moisture from the air, so they'll definitely harden. Tamp the bags down lightly with your foot or a flat board after watering them.

In 24 hours, your bags should feel hard when you touch them, and if you intended them to be walked on, they'd be strong enough for light foot traffic. They will be fully cured and at their maximum strength in 28 days. Luckily, they don't need much strength as driveway edging.

Yes, the paper bag that contains the concrete mix is still there after you wet the bags, but it will decompose before long (as long as you haven't used a product with a plastic liner), leaving the driveway bordered by attractive faux rocks or stones. If you want to get rid of the paper faster, you can pressure wash it off once the concrete is set or burn it off with a torch. What if you need to move one or more stones? It's not easy, but you can do it with a shovel.