Dry stream - idyll in the garden

Properly designed landscaping will transform any personal plot. Among many ideas, ponds are especially popular. Using this element, it is easy to divide a site into zones or to design its central part in an original way. Moreover, the organization of the brook does not necessarily have water. Today we will talk about such an original element of landscape design as a dry stream. This unusual idea has a very interesting history and a lot of advantages, which will be discussed later.

Despite the fact that today a dry stream has gained immense popularity relatively recently, its history began in ancient Japan about seven hundred years ago. The source of such decor was philosophical stone gardens. Indeed, you must admit that the illusion of a dry stream, which stands in anticipation of rain, leads to rather deep thoughts about life harmony. And it was the spread of the Eastern religion that contributed to the fact that this element of landscape design became so popular in the West.

In Eastern philosophy, a dry stream that starts from a small source and, meandering throughout the site, expands like a funnel, helps to attract positive energy, prosperity and harmony to the home. Small smooth pebbles, such as pebbles or crushed crumbs in such a composition imitate water, but large white boulders play the role of rapids and small waterfalls. Additional decorative elements, like bridges through a stone stream or trees and shrubs hanging over a stream, also look original.

The main advantage of this landscape element is that it does not require any special care, will easily fit into any style of decoration for a personal plot, and will look attractive at any time of the year.

When you design a dry stream, you can solve several problems that may arise due to the features of the terrain or location. If there is a slope on the site, then the flow of stones falling from the hillock will look very organic. And the flower beds and flower beds located along it will make the stream even more expressive. At the same time, flower arrangements will not seem out of place on a slope, but rather will look very original and harmonious.

Another rather important positive function of a dry stream is that using a mound of stones imitating the flow of water, it is easy to mask some communications. And at the same time make them easily accessible.

A dry stream, in addition to its decorative purpose, may well be functional, namely, serve as a drainage to drain excess rainwater in the gardens. And if you ate such an original storm ditch along the paths and paths, you can be sure that even during a heavy rain there will not be puddles on them.

Planning a site is one of the most difficult stages of landscape design, because it can be quite difficult to determine the quantity, shape and location of individual decorative elements. And sometimes without experience to cope with the task is almost impossible. However, no matter how difficult it is to create a harmonious composition on the site yourself is quite possible. The main thing is to include imagination and stock up on patience and drafts, on which all possible layout options should be drawn. Then it remains only to implement the invented project.

The choice of materials for creating a dry stream is also a very important stage, at which all possible options should also be considered.As already mentioned, smooth dark pebbles are suitable to simulate a water stream, but in order to create thresholds, light stones should be used.

To design a composition in light blue tones, one should give preference to a stone such as gneiss, basalt or slate; for a greenish or reddish-brown stream, it is necessary to select granite of the corresponding color. For light accents, you can use white marble or limestone. To create the flickering effect of a dry stream, glass balls or glass pebbles are scattered among the stones. Such an element will add mystery and originality to the composition.

It should be noted that winding streams that either narrow, expand or divide into two three streams look much more interesting than straight embankments. Flower islands in the middle of a stone stream also look good.

In order for the stream of stones to look as natural as possible, it should be surrounded by plants that are associated with water. For this purpose, miscanthus, bamboo leaf grouse, reed arundo or Chinese reed are well suited. Flowers for the design of the stream are best selected in blue shades. To enhance the illusion of water flow, blue shades of flowers, shrubs, and herbs should be used in the composition. These include loberia, Poskharsky’s bell, large-leaved forget-me-not, hybrids of bearded iris, blue fescue, buffalo grass and mosquito cereal.

Originally, along the dry stream, multi-tier flower beds from various plants will look, which in combination with a pebble and glass balls will create the effect of a living brook.

Speaking about the exterior as a whole, including the style of the facade of the house and the landscape design of the adjacent territory, it should be said that such an element as a dry stream fits perfectly into any style, regardless of whether it is a classic design or a trendy high-tech. As for the location, a dry stream can be framed both in front of the structure and in the depths of the garden. Also, bends of the flow of stones can wriggle throughout the site, dividing it into separate zones. For example, a recreation area and a zone with garden trees.