If you like how they look and want one in your yard, go ahead with building one. I incorporated them into many designs over the years, whether they were needed or not. The Dry Creek Bed Formĭry creeks are one of my favorite design elements. That’s when the dry creek bed concept began to evolve from form to function. In the 1950s and 60s, we began in earnest to modernize and improve upon methods to repair and prevent surface runoff and soil erosion. It remained largely decorative until the “dust bowl” era of the 1930s when soil erosion became a bonafide issue. The country’s first rock garden would not be constructed until 1890 at Smith College Botanic Garden in Northampton, Massachusetts, so rock gardening was unknown here until the early 1900s. It would take hundreds of years for the concept of rock gardening to reach America gardening of any sort did not start until the 1600s. Winter rock garden by Lorianne DiSabato / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 The Tsukiyama Japanese garden style followed Karesansui, and it continued the use of rocks and dry creek beds to mimic the look of a meandering stream.Ī current shot of the first rock garden in the U.S., constructed at Smith College Botanic Garden in Massachusetts in 1890. Also symbolizing water is sand, which recreates the rippling effect of water with a stylized raking technique. The style uses large boulders, placed upright, to represent mountains, smaller boulders to represent islands, and even smaller rocks laid out to represent rivers and streams. “In a place where there is neither a lake or a stream, one can put in place what is called a kare-sansui, or dry landscape”.
FRONT YARD DRY RIVER BED LANDSCAPE DESIGN MANUAL
The gardens are commonly thought of and referred to as Zen, but that is not quite right Zen came to Japan after the Heian period as the 12th century was winding down.Īt the end of the 11th century, Sakuteiki, the first manual on Japanese gardening (and likely the oldest manuscript about garden planning in the world), spoke of these gardens for the first time. The style is known as Karesansui in Japanese, which means dry landscape or dry mountain stream, depending on the source.
In the Japan Heian period of 794-1185, when Buddhism was at its height, early Japanese rock gardens came into existence and rose to popularity. Today’s dry creek beds are inspired by ancient Japanese dry gardens, which use various kinds of rock to mimic the appearance and flow of water. As with the dynasties that marked specific periods of monarchical regimes, gardening styles follow suit and coincide with defined historical time frames. More expansive representations produce the desired effect from a specific point along a path located within. They were made strictly for their beauty, meant to be decorative and admired from specific vantage points.Ī veranda is an ideal place to view smaller gardens, and they keep this vantage point in mind. In ancient times, garden artists of Japan began creating mini-versions of famous landscapes from their country. Today they are most commonly known as dry creek beds. It’s worth noting that for all intents and purposes, the terminology refers to the same element. So, if I was building a river rock or rip rap dry creek bed, it went in the proposal or estimate as a “rip rap river run” (or “river rock river run,” depending on which material we were using). Back in the day, in Arizona, we used to call them river runs. In some areas, they go by arroyos, and you will often hear swale or landscaping swale as well. Terminologyĭry creek beds are also known as dry river beds or dry streams. The amount of rock and plant material put it on the higher maintenance end of the scale. It is a highly detailed design and is well-suited for those who like to keep the eye busy. Several different elements, and different styles of the same element, are incorporated. This dry creek design marries softscape and hardscape in an intricate combination.
Today we’re going to talk about dry creek beds, which consist of different types and sizes of non-organic rock, making them a hardscape element.
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