This weekend project can fit into almost any outdoor space- in between walkways, as part of an island, even next to your driveway. Re-creating a creek bed is an easy way to bring some interest to your property that’s perfect for beginners!
Materials List:
- Large Rainbow Rock
- Medium Rainbow Rock
- Boulders
- Your Favorite Perennials
- Weed Barrier
- Edging
Provide us your bed dimensions, and we’ll help you calculate the perfect amount of materials and number of plants for your space!
Instructions
- Draw out your landscape bed ideas on paper, then transfer them to your outdoor space using a water hose or rope to create the outline.
- Install stone edging, digging a trench to partially inset the stones into the ground if needed
- Place your creek bed stones in a natural looking pattern beginning with the largest stones and working down to the medium size stone to fill in the main field of the creek bed
- Sprinkle small coordinating gravel to fill in some of the gaps while leaving others open to create a very natural look
- Be sure to define the edges by grouping larger stones in small groupings of odd numbers, don’t make a line of rocks (Mother Nature wouldn’t do it that way!)
- Place your larger shrubs and ornamental trees at least a few feet away from the edge of the creek bed to avoid them taking over the space
- Plant colorful and textural perennials and grasses along the banks of your creek bed to send it to the finish line
- Sit on your porch and graciously accept the compliments on your new landscape addition- great work!
Xeriscaping
This project could create a xeriscape landscape, which is a low-maintenance and low-water landscape design that utilizes native plants and ground cover instead of a lawn. Specifically request native and drought-resistant plants when you go plant shopping.
The plants will require water the first year as the roots take hold, but after the first year, just ensure the garden gets watered if it hasn’t rained in a few weeks.
