Question
Hi Sean,  I have about 2 ft. of dirt on one side of my patio, and every time it rains water and mud seeps between the edgers and onto my patio.  The pavers on that side have begun to sink, so now they have to be repaired.  What can I do to stop this from happening?  Is there something that I can put in back of the edgers, or can you come up with another solution?  Hope so, as this has to be fixed before the snow comes.  If the snow covers the sunken pavers, they could fall very easily.  Thanks in advance.

Answer
Karen:
You have two separate issues:
1. Storm water washing mud into your patio.
2. Ground water washing away the sub-base of your patio.

The solution for both is the same. You must stop or significantly reduce the water from traveling over or under the patio. You can do this by regrading the area above your patio and or constructing a swale (shallow wide and gently sloped ditch) to guide water around or away from the patio. If the current edge of your patio is being over-topped then anything you might put behind the edger will also eventually get over-topped by surface water as soon as debris build up.
Other solutions include regrading your yard, installing drains of various types, etc.

Sorry, there is no magic trick, its all about the water.

Best of Luck

Sean J Murphy
www.seanjmurphy.com