How to Design and Build a Dry Creek Bed

A dry creek bed gives your yard or garden the illusion of a water feature without the need for actual water and all the problems that can arise with that. Planting native plants around it makes it appear that an actual creek dried up on your property; they are easy to take care of, too. Plants surrounded by rocks need mulch to retain water, as the stones retain the sun's heat and dries the soil.

Things You'll Need

• Shovel
• Landscape fabric
• 6 boulders, 1 to 2 feet in diameter
• 4 cubic feet cobble or river stones, 1 inch in diameter
• 4 cubic feet cobble or river stones, 2 inches in diameter
• 4 cubic feet cobble or river stones, 3 inches in diameter
• 1/4 ton pebbles

Instructions

1. Dig a trench where you want your dry creek bed to be. The trench should be about 3 inches wider and 3 inches deeper than the desired finished product. For the most natural-looking creek bed, let the trench meander, rather than form a straight line.

2. Lay landscape fabric in the trench. This will keep weeds from growing up into your creek bed.

3. Pour pebbles over the creek bed. For a 15- to 18-foot finished product, 1/4 ton will do the job. Next, set six 1- to 2-foot boulders around the outside edges of the creek bed, settling them into the pebbles.

4. Lay 1-, 2- and 3-inch cobble or river stones in place in the trench. For a 15- to 18-foot creek bed, 4 cubic feet of each stone size will do. Set the stones into the pebbles.

References

• Sunset: Build a Dry Creek Bed
• Growing the Home Garden: How to Make a Dry Creek Bed for Downspout Drainage
• Home Depot Garden Club: Add a Dry Pond or Creek with Green Landscaping Stone