Stormwater a problem? Many homeowners struggle with managing heavy rainfall in their landscapes. One solution might be a dry creek bed. Beauty is the bonus.
A dry creek bed simulates a natural creek. At times, it will be anything but dry as it channels large volumes of water through the landscape during heavy storms. At other times, it may collect rain water before filtering it back to the groundwater ecosystem. Your landscape becomes more useful when you can move water off the property or to a single location in the landscape. Dry creek beds can: Collect water for a rain garden Serve as a filter preventing pollutants from entering creeks or municipal storm drains Eliminate erosion of soil and mulch from hillsides through placement of various sized boulders
Convert a wet portion of the yard to a beautifully landscaped area
Add beauty to your landscape with gentle curves of stone and plantings for color and contrast
This dry creek bed flows beautifully with the landscape.
Rainwater in this dry creek bed will flow away from the house.
When to build your own dry creek bed
This is a project that requires careful planning and more than a little heavy lifting.
"We recommend that homeowners carefully observe their property during times of heavy rain," says Daryl Hennessy, president of Hennessy Landscaping. "Note where water goes, where it stays and what damage it causes."
Creating a dry creek bed can be a great do-it-yourself project for some homeowners. But before you get too far into it, remember that you'll be moving boulders and other big rocks.
"If you feel up to it, great," says Hennessy. "If not, give us a call. We've created many beautiful, functional dry creek beds in central Ohio."
Tips for constructing your own dry creek bed
Carefully choose your location, based on the path of stormwater.
Use some spray paint to sketch out the path. Remember, you want to simulate a natural creek bed, so create some curves and variations in width.
The ends of the dry creek bed should be obscured to create some mystery about where the creek bed begins and ends.
Dont dig too deep. Generally, the dry creek bed is about two to three times wider than it is deep. Save the soil you remove to establish raised landscape beds around the edges.
Install weed prevention fabric to reduce to reduce weed growth.
Fill with rocks of various sizes. Hennessy Landscaping generally uses at least three different sizes boulders (18 to 24 inches in diameter) at the start, end and curves in the creek bed; river jacks (6 to 12 inches) along the edges and occasionally in the middle of the creek bed; and decorative gravel (2 to 4 inches) at the bottom of the creek bed and around the larger stones to hide the weed prevention fabric. To finish the project, you may want to install some plantings in new landscape beds to soften the impact of the stone and add color. Then, bring on the rain or just sit back and enjoy the compliments youll be getting from family, friends and neighbors.
Serving our central Ohio customers since 1988. P.O. Box 528, Galloway, OH 43119
