Help with dry creek bed

9 years ago

I am building a small dry creek bed in my front yard. I have a rain downspout there and it keeps this flower bed very wet. I live in ohio and have clay soil so the water seems to collect there and it is near my foundation. I have no place to run the water to that will make the dry creek bed look good. If I use a combination of small to medium river rock will it slow the water absorption down enough that the bed will not be so soggy? I originally used plastic under the rocks, but read it could be bad the the plants I am planting around it. Also I have hostas around it... It and will be planting other things as well. Are hostas ok to be planted near it? Or does that seem unnatural? Any ideas of what else I could put there?

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Comments (6)

lazy_gardens
9 years ago
You need a place to run the water to, to get it away from the foundation.

No amount of river rock can make up for bad grading and the lack of a slope.
annie60004
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for your quick response. Would it seem odd if I made sort of a "turnoff" from the main bed and still continued the original direction? It hard to explain... The downspout is at the northern edge of the bed. I ran the creek bed forward (east) a bit, then turned and ran it south to the other edge of the bed. Would it look odd if I ran the bed both north and south? It would only be a 1/2 foot to the north and like 5 feet south so it would be off symmetrically.
dekeoboe
9 years ago
Why did you decide to do a dry creek bed rather than a rain garden?
annie60004
Original Author
9 years ago
Because the bed is near the foundation of the house and I thought the rain garden stayed super wet and would hurt my foundation over time. I don't really know much about rain gardens. Do the stay super wet? What kinds of plants to you use?
duluthinbloomz4
9 years ago
No, near the house foundation is not a good spot for a rain garden. Contrary to some beliefs, rain garden plants do not suck up excess water or help dry out the soil. The rain garden plants are those that thrive in, or are at least able to withstand, wet conditions.
ricksample
9 years ago
What about a french drain to take care of standing water? I had standing water on the right side of my house, I put in a french drain and it solved my water problem beside the house. My land is mostly flat... french drains can work just with a slight slope. My french drain is 120' long going from my house to the street... it only drops about 1". It takes a long time for it to drain after a hard rain, but I can see water coming out the pipe so I know it's working. Plus water stands their for 2-3 days after a hard rain, now it only stands their for a couple yours while it drains.