How to Build a Wet or Dry Creek Bed

Landscaping projects that include wet or dry creek beds have become popular for many reasons. For some, controlling water drainage in the yard is a necessity. For others, a dry creek bed is simply a creative addition to the yard. Perhaps you have an area in your yard that is useless because the area always floods or the space is difficult to landscape. A dry or wet creek bed is an ideal solution.

Step 1

Plan the course and location of the creek bed. If you are constructing a wet creek bed spend some time watching your water runoff during a rainstorm to determine where the runoff starts and ends. The creek bed does not have to be a straight line. You can construct it to look like a meandering stream; it will still capture the runoff and carry it away. You can build a pond at the end of the creek bed or have it end in the woods further from the house or toward a drainage ditch, depending on your yard options and personal preference.

Step 2

Use marking paint to spray the outlines for your creek bed on the ground. Spray both sides of the creek bed from start to finish, measuring the width as you go to keep it within the desired range. The marking paint shows how your creek bed will look and gives you an outline for digging. Most hand-built wet or dry creek beds are approximately 3 feet wide and 1-1/2 feet deep.

Step 3

Excavate the area between the spray-painted lines to remove grass, weeds and debris.

Step 4

Pile along the edges of the creek bed the dirt you remove to create the depth of the bed. In this way, you are building the banks for the creek bed and at the same time creating the foundation of the creek bed. Tamp the mound of dirt with the back of the shovel to pack it down.

Step 5

Lay the weed barrier fabric down the creek bed with the edges lying over the mounds of dirt on the sides. Use weed barrier pins or large rocks along the edges of the landscape fabric to hold it in place.

Step 6

Fill the bottom of the creek bed with a layer of medium size round pebbles. Use larger stones and boulders along the sides of the creek bed against the side of the dirt mounds. If you have a wet creek bed with a bend, be sure to put a large boulder at the bend to force the water to follow the meandering stream. Use medium size round pebbles between larger stones and boulders.

Step 7

Trim the landscape fabric until it is just under the uppermost row of boulders where it will not be visible. Add plants along the sides of the dry or wet creek bed to soften the edges.

We have many types of Gravel to help make your landscape look great. Call us at today 1-800-541-8996.