How to Create a Dry Creek Garden

Create a dry creek, a meadow and an easy water garden.

Within three days the Wynns will look out onto their own private "creek," complete with the sound of running water.

All About

Product Ideas

Northern California homeowners Steve and Joanie Wynn have a small brick patio in their backyard, but the view is of an ugly, overgrown hillside. The perfect solution, landscape designer Jamie McMurray says, is to install a meandering dry creek bed, with meadow plantings on the banks and a container water garden at the base to lend the sound of a babbling brook. The Wynns love the idea; it will give them a place to read and relax while listening to the soothing sound of water.

McMurray explains that it's important to design the creek bed so that it winds and curves, just as brooks do in nature. Also, he advises using rocks of varying sizes to form the bed, and carefully hiding the beginning of the creek so that it curves out from behind a tree or a group of plantings. The total cost of this project would be $3,500 if done professionally, says McMurray; with the help of the homeowners, the cost can be pared to $750, and that includes plants, rocks and boulders, and supplies for the water garden.In terms of difficulty, the project is rated a 5 on a scale of 1 to 5. "We're talking about two tons of rocks and boulders," says McMurray. He recommends bringing in help to haul and place the large stones for the creek bed.

Step One: Laying Out the Dry Creek

First, clear and remove any debris from the intended creek area.

Figure B

Lay down a strip of weed cloth to prevent plants and weeds from emerging in the trench (figure B). Use special staples to hold the cloth in place.

Cover the weed cloth with a layer of sand to form a solid base for the rocks.

Figure C

Step Two: Laying the Stones

Now it's time to lay the rocks and stones that will form the dry creek bed. Use a variety of sizes, and try to place them in a way that imitates nature; that is, put larger, heavier stones on the sides of the creek bed (figure C), and place smaller stones so that they "flow" down the middle of the creek.

Avoid organizing the rocks in any pattern, and when you reach the lower end of the dry creek bed, spread fine, gold-colored decomposed granite (figure D) to create the look of natural sediments.

Planting Plan

With the rocks in place, it's time to fill in the meadow. Again, the idea is to create a natural look (McMurray calls it "planned wildness"). In California that would mean using plants that are native and drought-tolerant. Here is McMurray's strategy:

Keep the design simple; repeat colors, forms and textures within the given area.

Make sure both sides of the creek bed are balanced.

Create focal points by placing a few unusual plants, such as large ornamental grasses, at the top and bottom of the bed.

Choose a color palette: warm colors (oranges, reds, yellows) are lively and can make a large area feel intimate; cool colors (blues, purples, greens) are relaxing and create the illusion of depth.

McMurray's plant choices for the Wynns' new meadow include verbena (Verbena bonariensis), miscanthus (Miscanthus sinensis), Mexican primrose (Oenothera berlandieri), yarrow (Achillea x taygetea) and black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida).

The Final Steps

To introduce the sound of water into the garden without a lot of hard work or expense, McMurray builds a water garden in half a wine barrel. Construction is easy and costs about $225.

Materials:

half wine barrel

rubber liner

hammer

tacks

recycling pump

aquatic plants

fish

Steps:

Lay the rubber liner in the wine barrel, and use a hammer and tacks to secure it to the barrel rim. Cut off the excess liner.

Fill the barrel with water.

To prepare the water for the fish, add a dechlorinating solution or let the water remain undisturbed for 24 hours.

Install the pump.

To reduce algae growth, cover approximately 70 percent of the water's surface with a mix of oxygenating plants and lilies.

Add the fish. If temperatures go below freezing in winter, take the water garden inside and temporarily house the plants and fish in an indoor aquarium.

Resources

Guests
- Jamie McMurray
  Landscaper/Owner
  Simply Green Landscape Design and Installation
  Phone: 310-403-1925
  Fax: 310-388-1019
  E-mail: smplygrn@aol.com
  Website: www.simplygreeninc.org