The creation of an artificial stream in a summer cottage or a personal plot is a rather laborious task. It is especially difficult to establish a continuous circulation of water. An alternative to water flow is a dry stream, which is much easier to do. In addition, it has other advantages, for example, the absence of insects that like to gather near the water. And if the family has small children, such a body of water will not pose a danger to them.
Arguments for a dry creek
You can lay the trajectory of a dry stream on any part of the garden, it does not matter whether it is a hill or a depression, a sunny or shady place. In contrast, the bed of an artificial stream must have a slope.
In addition, in an open place, water evaporates too intensively, which is why it constantly needs to be replenished.
A dry stream is often used as part of a drainage system, and the cost of building it is much reduced.
Another advantage is ease of maintenance: there is no need to monitor the purity of the water and the condition of the bottom. Since the mechanical part is absent (pumps and filters), there is no need for its purchase and maintenance.
Another important plus is that any vegetation can be used in the design of a dry stream. Near ordinary water bodies, only moisture-loving plants can grow.
Dry Stream Planning
First of all, the trajectory and width of the channel are determined, and a suitable material is selected to simulate it. The length of the stream depends on the possibilities of the garden plot, but, regardless of the size, it must include the mouth and source. Usually, the mouth is located at any point, and for the source it is preferable to choose a small hill so that the composition has a more expressive appearance.
An imitation of a source laid out in the form of a stone well will help to give the stream a natural look. You can also make a slide from large stones, creating the illusion of a stream coming out of the rock.
Advice! If it is difficult to independently decide on the design, it is easy to find photos of finished landscapes with a dry stream on the Internet, and take them as a basis. An example can even be a sketch of a natural stream, if slightly modified.
Pebbles and fine gravel are the most popular materials for creating a dry stream. They can be found in nature, for example, on the banks of a river. Basalt and shale are often used to create a channel. Large stones, colored granite, glass blue-blue granules will help to accentuate the composition.
How to make a dry stream
Stages of creating a dry stream With the help of sand, the channel is marked. The delineated area is freed from weeds and deepens slightly. It is advisable that the notch is not too deep, otherwise the stream will look unnatural. The next step is to lay a layer of sand and anti-weed material. It is best to cover the sand pillow with agrofibre.
It permits moisture well, but weeds do not break through it.
The coastline is laid out with large stones, and the interior space is filled with rubble, pebbles and small stones.
Bright blue shards of glass tiles, evenly scattered along the entire length of the channel, will help create the impression of water reflections.
Vegetation is selected depending on the landscape. It is not recommended to use rapidly growing shrubs, which in a few years will cover the entire composition with green mass.
If the style of the site allows, singly planted low-growing perennials are used in the design. The main part of the plants used in the landscaping of the dry stream is ground cover herbaceous vegetation, planted in the space between the boulders.
Sometimes a dry stream settles on a green mowed lawn. In this case, he attracts all the attention to himself, therefore, the selection of stones must be approached with greater care.
Having decided on the landscape design of the future dry stream, it is necessary to mark the channel on the site. You can do this with sand, or stretch the rope along the intended stream. It is more convenient to work with sand, the composition looks natural, it is easy to make corrections by sketching a different path. The next step is construction.
A small pit should be dug along the bed of the future stream; the ratio of the width and depth of the channel should be approximately 2: 1. If your stream width in some place is 1m, then the depth of the pit in this place should be 0.5m. We level the surface of the pit with a rake.
At the bottom, it is necessary to put some kind of cover, for example, geotextile, which allows water and air to pass through, so that weeds do not grow in the future stream. You can also concrete the bottom, use a plastic film or roofing felt. If you are afraid that the water will wash out your stone bed over time, you can concretize the bottom layer of pebbles into the bed, and add more stones on top so that the bottom is not visible.
Then stones can be laid out on the surface, starting from the banks. Large cobblestones are placed along the edges, interspersed with small pebbles. The brightest and lightest stones are used to imitate waterfalls and rapids. You can also put glass stones at the bottom of the channel to simulate water.
Flat stones - plates, placed on the edge, create an imitation of the movement of water. The same effect can be obtained by using stones of blue shades. If you put a boulder in the middle of the "water" channel, you can use the pebbles to create the illusion of a "whirlpool" around it. The main thing is that the composition of stones looks natural.
A bridge will be a good addition to a dry stream. If you have a large solid stone on your site, you can lay it across the stream so that the "water" runs under it, as it were. If there is a desire and material, you can make an imitation of a bridge made of wood, and with your own hands. A wooden bridge and a dry stream in landscape design will go well together.
The next step in creating a dry stream is to decorate the banks with plants. When selecting them, it is necessary to take into account the climate of your region, as well as the composition of the soil on the site, the presence of sunlight, humidity and temperature.
From flowering plants, preference should be given to species with blue, blue, purple flowers. You can also plant such perennials as loberia, primrose, periwinkle, silver lily of the valley, etc. Plants that grow in nature along the banks of water bodies look good: sedge, calamus, blue oatmeal, lily, cereal herbs. The streams will be decorated with tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, lilies.
You can give individuality to landscape design by planting conifers on the rocky banks of a dry stream - dwarf species of junipers, fir, mountain pines. Light sandy or loamy soils are well suited for them.
Planting shrubs with small leaves should be approached with caution, since during the autumn leaf fall you will have to pick fallen leaves from your stream that get stuck among the stones. If you purchased a garden vacuum cleaner to harvest the leaves, you can safely plant dogwood and barberry bushes near your dry stream, a beautiful landscape due to the changing color of the leaves of these wonderful shrubs will be provided to you all year round.
Dry stream care
Dry stream maintenance is usually straightforward. It will be necessary to periodically weed, removing weeds, watering the planted plants. It should be remembered that ants like to settle under stones, you will also have to get rid of them regularly so that your dry stream does not turn into an anthill over time.
But, in addition to its decorative functions, the dry stream also performs important tasks of landscape design:
- Serves as a kind of drainage system that ensures the outflow of rain and flood water from your site;
- Helps to retain moisture under stones, saving you time and reducing the frequency of watering planted plants;
- Visually separates the site, allowing you to emphasize individual zones of landscape design;
- Helps to reduce soil erosion;
- Visually expands the territory of your garden area.
Calculation of pebbles to create a dry stream in landscape design
To calculate the approximate volume of pebbles needed to equip a dry stream, you need to take several measurements. After you have decided on the trajectory of the bed of the future stream and marked it with sand on the site, use a tape measure, measuring tape or rope to measure the length of the stream in meters. Then mark the average value of the channel width (approximately 50-80 cm), translate into meters (0.5-0.8 m). The thickness of the pebble layer of your future channel will be approximately 5 to 8 cm, that is, 0.05-0.08 m. Now you need to multiply the obtained values.
Suppose the length of the stream is assumed to be 25m, then the volume of the required amount of pebbles will be equal to:
Pebble volume = length * thickness * average channel width;
25m * 0.08m * 0.8m = 1.6m cube.
If you plan to perform additional branches, highlight a source or mouth, you need to take this into account when purchasing materials to create a dry stream.
The element of water has long attracted a person with tranquility, an atmosphere of harmony and unity with nature. When ennobling the backyard territory, there is often a desire to create an artificial reservoir. If the conditions are not conducive to the placement of the pond, then the best solution would be a dry stream. There is not a drop of water in the composition - only cobblestones and stones imitating the mouth and channel of a dried-up reservoir. It is quite easy to plan and lay out the "stone stream". The main thing is to show creativity, imagination, correctly choose the shape of the composition and follow a simple technology for laying out stones.
Landscaping: do-it-yourself dry stream. The merits of composition.
The classic method of decorating a Japanese garden is increasingly being used in summer cottages and adjoining territories. In Japan, the water element is associated with the desire for life and purity of thoughts, and the murmuring streams - with the transience of time. If the arrangement of a reservoir in the garden is impossible for certain reasons, then oriental decorators use a special technique - a dry stream. Stone reservoirs convey the feeling of a dry river bed, which will be filled with long-awaited moisture with the onset of rain.
The indisputable advantages of creating a dry stream with your own hands on the site include:
Varieties of dry reservoirs on the site
There is no specific classification of dry streams into subspecies. Conventionally, the design of such a composition is divided into three types.
Winding body of water... A simple option for creating a dry stream with your own hands. One channel flows over the site, then expanding, then narrowing in length. The landscape composition imitates the movement of an ordinary river. When planning the shape, it is necessary to take into account the relief, directing the reservoir along a plain or a small slope.
Cascade... The beginning of the waterfall settles on any hill. You can create a symbolic display of a rock, a wooden or stone well, a large jug. The water stream falls down and forms man-made rapids.
Branched channel... The natural confluence of the sleeves requires a competent location and compliance with the natural forms of the reservoir. The stream looks beautiful on the winding hills. For the sake of authenticity, the source of the channel is often hidden behind a decorative bridge, dense vegetation or a fence. Sand jets are made from fine pebbles or sand. Wave imitation is achieved by creating curving shallow grooves.
DIY dry stream: step by step instructions
Every summer resident and gardener can make a dry stream with their hands. There is no need to attract specialists, use expensive equipment and carry out large-scale preparation of the territory. The main task is to represent the plan of the proposed stream as accurately as possible and beat the existing section.
Site selection and site marking
The dimensions and configuration of the reservoir should be selected taking into account the size of the site, the location of the house, additional buildings and the features of the terrain. When planning, you should take into account some of the nuances:
The marking of a stone reservoir is done with sand. A sandy path is laid along the boundaries of the future "water" stream. In the process, the shape can be easily corrected, bringing the sketch to an ideal representation of the stream. Sometimes the borders are marked with pegs and ropes. However, this method is more time consuming and less mobile.
Dry Stream Laying Materials
A dry stream in the country with their own hands is created using various stone rocks. By experimenting and combining all kinds of fractions, textures and colors of stones, it will be possible to achieve an illusory effect. Useful in work: shell rock, crushed stone, limestone, pebbles, etc.
Some points of choosing and placing stones:
- the bluish-gray color of the water surface will provide a mixture of shale, gneiss and basalt;
- the brown-red tone of the composition will be set by marble, granite, and limestone;
- the illusion of the shine of a water flow is created by adding small glass balls or painting concrete elements with mirror paint;
- flat pebbles are suitable for simulating stream dynamics and flow effects;
- the coastal zone is distinguished by large details of light colors - dark elements create clear unnatural boundaries of the reservoir.
Advice. Coating the stones with lacquer gives the impression of a “wet surface”. An interesting option is the treatment of elements with waterproof luminous paint. At night, the stones will shine and resemble a "moon path".
Of the tools you will need:
- sand for marking;
- geotextile - a substrate for a stone can be replaced with a film;
- shovel;
- rake.
Arrangement of a pit for a "reservoir"
The procedure for preparing a site for laying stones:
- Dig a channel with a depth of about 20-25 cm along the marked contour.
- Tamp the bottom area and cover with geotextile or dense film. The material will prevent the germination of grass between the stones of the stream.
Sometimes the protective film is replaced by pouring cement mortar. However, this method has disadvantages: higher cost of construction, increased labor costs and the complexity of redevelopment of the site.
The order of the placement of stones
- Large cobblestones are placed along the edges, medium-sized stones in the middle. Small fractions will fill the depths of the reservoir.
- Stone steps of a cascade or reservoir, river rapids are laid out from large flat boulders. This approach will help transform a calm stream into a fast flowing mountain river.
- Sharp rock fragments imitate a mountain grotto.
- Crevices are laid with large or medium elements.
- Elongated oval stones create the feeling of running water.
- The island effect is achieved by placing a large cobblestone in the middle of the channel.
- If a dry stream serves as drainage for storm water, then it is advisable to "plant" stones on a sand-concrete mortar. Otherwise, under the influence of water pressure, they will shift and the composition will lose its expressiveness.
After laying the stones, the coastal area should be equipped. Fill the perimeter of the reservoir with crushed bark or sand layer.
Decorating the stream and its banks
It will be possible to bring a dry stream as close as possible to a real reservoir with the help of plantations. Deciduous, flowering and shrub plants are suitable for decorating a stone structure. The main requirement is a harmonious combination of the color of the stones and the "green" frame.
It is better to choose plants that, in one way or another, resemble a water element:
- bush with bluish elongated leaves and shoots;
- blooming plantations with bright blue flowers: obrietta, lobelia, blue fescue, bearded iris, creeping tenacious and brunera;
- exoticism will add to the meadow: reed, pampas grass, sedge, daylily and hosta.
Do-it-yourself dry stream: photo-diagram of plant seating
Designations for the scheme:
- - bamboo leaf grate;
- - blue, yellow, blue bearded irises;
- - undersized lobela;
- - creeping tenacious;
- - Polskharsky bell;
- - gabriet;
- - large-leaved bruner;
- - green bryozoan;
- - tenacious red-leaved creeping;
- - arundo reed type.
How to make a dry stream with your own hands: a photo of the layout of three different compositions
Advice. When planting plants, the main thing is not to overdo it. The abundance of grasses and flower beds will oversaturate the coastal zone and turn an exquisite oriental element into a boring flower bed or an analogue of an alpine slide.
- Lamps. The use of lighting along the stream will allow you to admire the compositions in the dark. Under artificial lighting, the stones begin to "play" and shimmer with a new shade.
- Garden figurines. The general perception of the reservoir will largely depend on the choice of decor. An installed heron or a frog planted on an island will give the landscape a natural look, and gnomes and funny characters will take you to a fantasy world.
- Bridge over the stream. The object itself does not fulfill any practical tasks, but it gives the landscape a special charm. The ferry looks harmonious, painted to match the plants growing nearby.
Do-it-yourself dry stream: step-by-step creation of a composition. Video
- Branches and beams can be laid along the banks to support boulders. This solution makes the whole composition look natural.
- You can beat the mouth of the stream in different ways. It can smoothly transition into a cobbled area or patio, hiding behind a fence, wide fern leaves or liana.
- An impromptu shallow of flat boulders looks organic on wide stone reservoirs.
- The idea of a quiet, calm water flow is conveyed by stones of the same color. Add a bright accent using contrasting shores.
- A homemade stream made from local minerals, it blends in with nature in an optimal way.
- Medium-sized flat cobblestones, lined with ribs, simulate the rapid flow of water.
- An alternative to a dry mineral reservoir is a flower arrangement. A stream can come from an old jug, an overturned barrel, or a chest.
Features of the care of an artificial "reservoir"
Maintaining the stream in its original form does not cause any particular difficulties. Care measures:
- with the arrival of spring, the land along the banks must be fluffed, the plants should be fertilized;
- control so that ants do not start in the crevices between the stones;
- periodically, during the hot season, the stream should be watered - this will improve the microclimate near the dry reservoir and will contribute to the normal growth of "coastal" plants;
- after a while, moss may appear on the stones; so that the composition does not become gloomy, you should control its quantity;
- shrubs must be cut off periodically, and plants that prefer a warm climate must be covered for the winter.
Do-it-yourself dry stream in the country: photo ideas
Natural minimalism performed by a "dried" reservoir looks very harmonious against the backdrop of majestic mountains and old tall pines.
The illusion is created that the porch of a country house overlooks the bed of a dried-up river.
Dry stream flowing along dense thickets. Some of the stones are covered with varnish, due to which a “wet” effect is achieved.
Arrangement of a stone reservoir on the site allows you to combine several traditions and styles from different world cultures.
The longitudinal arrangement of thin stones imitates the murmur of a stream. The realism of the composition is given by the relief of the area - the "water" flows from top to bottom.
A summer cottage is not only a place for a vegetable garden. Often, the owners equip a place for recreation, and in order to make it the most pleasant, you can show your imagination and decorate the site. Various beds, lighting and decorations will help with this. A dry stream looks very beautiful and requires little effort for arrangement, therefore it is an ideal way to decorate a recreation area.
Dry Stream is a decor that illustrates the flow of water right in the middle of the site. The arrangement of a real stream requires special knowledge, costs and subsequent care. A dry stream is easy to build and, if desired, you can always remove it, replacing it with something new. In addition, a dry stream can also perform a practical function: in rainy weather, it serves as a drainage system.
In addition, unlike real water, a dry stream will never contribute to the reproduction of mosquitoes and midges, who are very fond of reservoirs.
This decor is no more dangerous for young children than an ordinary garden path and it is difficult for it to cause irreparable damage. This makes this decor very versatile and irreplaceable for summer cottages.
How to make a dry stream with your own hands
First of all, you need to determine the location of the decor: where the stream will flow, where is its beginning, where is the end. The future stream needs to be placed on the site. This is a very important stage, because the future appearance of the entire structure depends on it.
The second step is the choice of material for "water". As a rule, these are small stones. Their color is determined by the idea. For the shore, you can use large stones, for the flow - small flat pebbles, you can also diversify it with different highlights with the help of colored stones.
After the location of the stream has been determined and all the materials are ready, you can proceed to the arrangement. Where the flow is planned, you need to dig a trench no more than fifteen centimeters deep. Then you need to cover it with material, which will protect the kidney from the sun. This is done so that the ready-made stream is not spoiled by sprouted weeds. For this purpose, lutrasil, geotextile or similar materials are suitable.
Then you need to lay out the stream bed with stones. You can use waterproof paint to give them the desired color. The stream will look more natural if the stones in it are similar to the stones on the site. In addition, you can experiment with its width - a non-standing stream will have blurred edges, and not perfectly straight.
Best Dry Creek Ideas
To decorate this element, you can use a bridge - this will give believability to the idea. A bridge can be made on the path of the garden path - to cross the stormy stream. The latter can be made by hand or purchased in a store - it depends on the size.
You can show your imagination in the design of the stream and use various objects to decorate it. For example, it can flow out of a large jug. To do this, put the jug on its side and pour a little "water" into it.
Any garden figurines will also decorate and complement the decoration: small statues, frogs, storks, waterfowl will perfectly fit into the composition.
In nature, life appears next to water: plants and animals. You can use this ability of water and attribute the merit of the emergence of lush vegetation to the dry stream. Suitable for decorating the stream: lobelia, bison grass, forget-me-not flower, blue fescue, funkia, mosquito cereal, bells, tenacious.
Reeds or bamboo can be planted to create a pond atmosphere. To decorate a small stream, it is better to use small plants - large ones will look disproportionate and visually crush the decor. Small plants against the background of a large stream will look awkward and are unlikely to be visible.
With the help of large stones, you can give the stream the desired shape and make the illusion of a waterfall.
At the foot of the stream, an alpine slide - a flower bed that imitates mountain vegetation or plants growing among stones - will look very harmonious and naturally.
To create a stream, you can use not stones, but multi-colored sand, this technique is used to create an arenarium - a garden of sand. She came to our country from the east.
