How to Build Dry Creek Beds
Dry creek beds most often are built when there is a sloping decline on land where excess water flows downward. This water can cause erosion as well as a serious drainage problem. In addition to water drainage functionality, dry creek beds actually can add value to a home. Contractors charge quite a lot for this project that you can do fairly easily. The visual attraction of a well-manicured stream of stones is well suited for almost any outdoor area. Identify the area to build it, and allow yourself one complete day for construction of your dry creek bed. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Landscape paint
- Shovel
- Roll of landscape fabric
- Box of garden staples
- 400 pounds of small sand pebbles
- 8 1-foot rocks
Instructions
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Your Very Own Creek
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1
Use landscape paint to delineate each side of the creek. The course of your dry creek should not descend in a straight line. Start the creek at the base of gutter drainage pipe where the water currently flows down from and commence grading there. Disguise how your creek begins with decorative stones and high grasses. Make sure there are no existing zoning ordinances regarding the flow of water into a street at the bottom of your creek.
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2
Dig the creek bed about 6 inches deep. Place the soil that you dig out along the sides of your dry creek bed, and dig from the top of the creek bed down. This is the most labor-intensive aspect of your project so enlist some help. Place landscape fabric over the piles of dirt on both sides of the creek bed and in the creek bed itself. Use ordinary garden staples to hold the fabric down.
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3
Pour small sand pebbles down the middle of the creek bed from the creek bed's top. Get some help to place heavy rocks along the creek bed sides, beginning at the top. They will channel the water as well as be decorative aspects.
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4
Add landscaping such as colorful shrubs and plants, for example, along the dry creek bed edges. Consider adding a bridge or gazebo effect over the middle of the creek bed. Your dry creek bed can easily look like a picture in a glossy home and garden magazine. In fact, some homeowners who don't even have a water drainage problem build dry creek beds just for the ambiance they help create.
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