A neighbor in Austin put in a dry creek bed and it looks great

I was walking my dog near the greenbelt last week and saw a house with a new backyard feature. They dug a shallow trench about two feet wide and filled it with smooth river rocks. It runs along the side of their patio and has a few small native plants tucked in around the edges. It looks really natural and must help with drainage when it rains. Has anyone here tried something like that and did it work to stop water pooling?

3 comments

3 Comments

robin59127d agoMost Upvoted

My cousin did that in San Antonio and it fixed their soggy yard completely. Just make sure you lay down landscape fabric under the rocks to keep weeds out. Did they use local limestone with the river rock?

william86427d ago

Landscape fabric can actually trap moisture and make drainage worse over time. A gravel base without fabric works better for soggy yards.

avery_flores1727d ago

Yeah fabric is a bad call. Did my own yard last spring, just gravel over dirt. Weeds still pop up but it's way better than that mud pit I had. Water actually drains now instead of pooling. Took a weekend and some sore muscles but it worked.