How to Design a Dry Stream Bed
The dry stream bed, the path of sand, pebbles and stones left after the water in a stream dries up, is both visually and architecturally interesting and useful in landscape design. Situating the dry stream bed properly to look natural and determining its course and rock layout are vital to its successful design. Utilizing the natural terrain and grade in a garden allows a dry stream bed to have a practical drainage use as well as providing visual beauty. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
Selecting the Site
-
1
Look for an area in the landscape that needs visual interest. Note the approximate area a potential dry stream bed project would cover.
-
2
Choose a swale or low part of the landscape for a stream bed to assist in natural water drainage. If a low elevation in a lawn always floods after rains, converting it to a dry stream bed eliminates maintenance issues associated with muddy lawns. Create a dry stream course for the bed guided by the current drainage plain in your garden.
-
-
3
Consider a flat area of the garden for a wide, meandering stream bed. A large sweep of rocks and pebbles can make a visual impact in either a snake-like course or as an irregular, amoeba-like dry pond bed.
-
4
Note the basic plant-growing conditions in the locale selected for the dry stream bed. Sun exposure and soil type are most important, as they guide what plants will grow best in the garden.
Creating a Design
-
5
Use a garden hose or brightly colored rope and mark out the edges of the stream bed. Move the hose around as needed to create the central course of the stream as well as the bed's edges. Alternatively, use marking paint or flour and sprinkle it like chalk atop the ground to mark the parameters of the bed.
-
6
Sketch on paper the base shape of the bed. Add measurements if desired. Drawing to scale does make material purchase easier once the project moves into its construction phase.
-
7
Expect to use at least two differently sized rocks or pebbles in the design to create the dry stream bed. The more variation in size, the better. In a real stream, the sand and smallest rocks occur in the middle of the stream, where the water flow is fastest. Larger accent rocks are found on the outer edges, on the stream bank. Mimic this effect.
-
8
Add circles to the drawing where larger rocks will anchor the stream bed edges. Very large rocks can stand alone and become major focal points. Cluster medium-sized stones in groups of three, five or seven for a natural look.
-
9
Create areas for vegetation in and/or along the dry stream bed course. A lone large rock may look nice with a clump of ornamental grass or a shrub next to it along the bank. Or, in the middle of the dry stream bed, a small sedge adds interest in a small rock cluster where moist soil may linger.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Seek out photos of dry stream beds, natural or artificially created, in books and on the Internet for inspiration.
Use stones and sand native to your area for the most realistic look and to ensure that the stone color looks natural with your native soil. The rock used should be in the same color family, such as all shades of white, beige and tan or gray, slate and black.
Rounded stones will look more convincing if a naturalistic dry creek bed is desired. Water erodes rock, so coarse and jagged rocks may not look the best.
Avoid using fine sand, as it shows debris quickly. Pea gravel is fine in texture but helps mask leaves and small twigs better than a pristine carpet of beach sand in the stream's central course.
Note if any utilities are in the design area for the stream bed. Septic tanks, buried phone lines or a water meter can affect access points. If a large repair is needed on utilities masked or incorporated into a dry stream bed design, be warned that digging may necessary.
