Mortar vs cement vs polymetric sand - Need advice on product to use

[Wanna B. Handy]

Hey folks! I'm new to this forum and to landscaping in general. I have a front flower bed edged with a green metal edging that I don't really care for. My house has a ton of leftover bricks, so I thought I could make a nice flower bed border with the brick. I'm laying the brick "soldiered" with about a centimeter gap (the approximate size of my pinky) between each brick depending on curvature of the edging of course. I have watched some online videos where others have used polymetric sand, so I bought some. It seems to work fairly well, but I have spots where my bricks are flush with the grass in front of the bed and other spots where it is raised. I'm incling a link to a photo.
The photo only shows the part that is higher than my grass,
so you'll see some temporary black edging that I'm trying to use to keep the polymetric sand from just spilling out and not holding its shape. Image located at https://flic.kr/p/Ue1est

Am I going about this all wrong? Should I just mix some mortar or concrete and use it instead? The sand sure is easy to use; just pour it on, brush it off, etc. But I'm having to use so much that I don't think it's turning solid all the way through. After 24 hours of curing, I was still able to poke through it with my finger. If I use mortar, I'm thinking I'll have to remove all the bricks again and replace them one at a time as I add mortar to them. I've never used mortar before and only used concrete once, so I'm new to that as well.

Looking forward to your suggestions. Thank you.

[lutonlagerlout]

personally I would bed those bricks on concrete (dry mix and haunch them with a wetter mix, and maybe lay with a sand cement mortar between each brick as you go
polymerics are not the best in this instance
where abouts in TX. are you wanna be?
LLL

[Wanna B. Handy]

The DFW area.

[Wanna B. Handy]

haunch

Pardon my ignorance, but what does "haunch" mean in terms of masonry?

[lutonlagerlout]

haunch is when you have a kerb or another object bedded on a dry mix,you then use a wetter mix at a slope of 45 degrees to hold it in place once it has gone hard
I will look for the link
know a couple of fellas in friendswood houston but thats a long way from DFW :;):
cheers LLL

[lutonlagerlout]

this page is similar to what I would advise
edgings
cheers LLL

[Wanna B. Handy]

Thanks! I'll take a look at this. I'm learning a ton... unfortunately it's all the hard way.