The addition of round, smooth river rock to landscaping is always appealing and often quite affordable.
The rainbow of colors that magically appear when water meets stone is amazing.
Below is the Sand & Sisal homestead.
It’s a beautiful home that we’ve put a lot of work into to make beautiful inside and out, but it is lacking one important item…
GUTTERS.
The rooflines all seem to drain to one spot in the front, left of the front door.
It’s a virtual 20 ft. double waterfall each time it rains, cascading into a pool of water around the tall holly tree.
It’s safe to say drainage is a problem.
The rain was splashing so much dirt on the bricks, and eroding the soil, so in lieu of a major gutter system purchase,
we decided on a river rock dry bed.
We added additional soil, that had previously washed away with the rains, and sloped the grade away from the house.
We dug out shallow channels, layered the areas with crushed pea gravel, and landscaping fabric.
Then 1.5 tons of river rock was brought home from the garden center (that’s 2 Toyota Tundra bed loads).
The rock was $180 for 1.5 tons.
The whole family went to work unloading and layering the rocks in all the prepared dry beds.
I added interesting plants between the rocks such as liriope and creeping jenny.
Don’t you just love the chartreuse color!
Hens & Chicks succulents are worry free, add beautiful texture.
All of these plants are self multiplying perennials, which is so very kind to the wallet.
Any corner that receives run-off is a candidate for a faux riverbed.
Keep the rocks trailing in a natural, meandering form, curving and bending.
And here’s a special DIY TIP for those who find themselves watering the rocks because you love the gorgeous wet color…
spray the rocks with clear Thompson’s Water Seal!!!!!
The dry beds are functional, inexpensive and add another organic element of design to your landscaping.
Kim
Beautiful!!
We have friends w/ river rock…wait until I tell them about the Thompson’s Water Seal!! Thanks for the tip. Beautiful landscaping, lovely home!
Oh, I’m so glad you told me what that plant was (my plant expert!) Creeping Jenny! I got some at a plant swap. Love it.
I also like the landscape rock. Nice job, thanks for sharing.
Brittany
The river rock looks great! I showed my husband this post cuz we’re working on landscaping around our house. Thanks for the inspiration!
Wow! This is a beautiful landscape! I love the succulents!
Love it. River rock is so pretty and of course it’s natural.
Love the thompson water seal tip! I recently brought home some wet beach rocks that are not as pretty dry now I know how to get that color back! ¸Thanks! Love your website!
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I can’t seem to find that rock up here in Southern Maine. I did find it once, but before I finished my project, the company went bankrupt. 🙁
Thompson’s Water Seal….THANKS!!!! We’ve got river rock lining our modern deck (in Santa Monica, CA.) I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how to keep the “wet look”. Awesome!
When do you and how do you spray the rocks with the water seal? when they are dry or wet? I have not found info on this. Can you help me out? Love the concept.
Hi Patti,
We put the watersealer in a pump sprayer (like the kind you use for spraying yard weeds, etc).Then we just sprayed the dry rocks, avoiding any nearby vegetation. It lasts about 4-6 months.
Thanks!
KIM
Thanks for this information! Was it the Thompson’s WaterSeal multi-surface or the regular wood protector?
Thanks,
Mark
Hi Mark!
I’ll be totally honest, I have no clue. This post was written way back in 2011 so I’m guessing we bought the regular wood protector since I’m suspecting the multi-surface is a more recent product. If you are trying this today, then I’d go for the multi surface. It will last a summer season but then needs reapplying.
Hope that helps!
KIM