The Truth about Dry Streambeds
February 6th, 2006 
by Susan Harris
Have you noticed the sudden appearance of dry streambeds in the gardening media? And don’t the photos of them always look great? Ya can’t beat that plant-stone combination, if you ask me. And isn’t it a dandy way to manage the run-off on your property?
NO, unfortunately it’s exactly the wrong thing to do with run-off. The streambed just quickens its journey into your watershed and we’re starting to learn that slowing the water down should be the goal. That way, the water saturates into the soil, which filters out the chemical pollutants. So after this streambed turns the corner behind a large tree, it branches out and disappears and becomes a series of rain-garden-type catchbasins, and it seems to work. See how complicated it is to be an environmentalist-gardener in 21st Century America? You bet I’m whining.
THIS SCENE - ONLY 6 WEEKS AWAY
That’s the point of this photograph, really. A printed and framed version of it caught my eye this morning and it made my sad winter gardener’s heart go pitty-pat. Buck up, friends, it won’t be long.
Posted in Uncategorized | 
| Permalink
February 6th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
Dry stream beds.
I have a five foot cut through a border that is a dry stream in self defense. I was continually losing mulch in that spot, and rather that do an extensive fix on the grading of the site (which would require some interesting work, since we are nearly flat and only about 12 inches off the water table…) I dug the swale, lined it with discarded carpet, and then put down a combination of river rock and 3/4 pebble.
Looks picturesque, and creates decent short-term workaround for an annoying problem.
February 6th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
Oh, I should add that I am in an sub where our run-off goes to a local sports lake - a series of ditches and canals carries the water away.
This place was developed in the early seventies. I’m pretty sure before then it was wetland. Sigh.
But at least our run-off stays local and doesn’t disappear down some storm drain.
February 7th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
I can’t wait till spring!
I also wish there was a local site like yours for our area. I’m still discovering the local nurseries and so that’s an especially good feature.
Another suggestion- Current events that might interest gardeners. If there’s a lecture coming up, a show at the botanical garden, volunteer events, a good program on public TV, etc.