Concrete Landscape Services,
is in the process of completing a complete Renovation of Double Tree By Hilton here in Rancho Cordova. The hotel renovation spans over 4 acres and has a total of 1200 plants and 300 yards of bark. The General Manager of the hotel had requested that we find a way to enhance his property outside of transitioning his sod area to planters and his pop ups to drip line.
Many homeowners and individuals looking to transition their property to more efficient landscaping run into this problem. Wanting to conserve water but at the same time not wanting a sea of bark or even rock. Still wanting their landscape to catch the eye of passing motorists. Wanting to have their home stand out from the rest on the street. What we did for Doubletree here in Rancho was installed A Dry River Creek Bed. A Dry River Creek Bed is typically installed within the landscape and can actually be any type of rock or bark ground cover. For this particular project we actually used 3/4″ River Rock, with the dry river creek bed starting at one side of the property and running along the face of the whole property giving the property an eye catching look as passing motorists enter into the property.
A Dry River Creek Bed is a very simple design that has very few rules if wanting to incorporate into your property.
- Typically has 2 different type of ground covers, whether it be rock and bark or 2 different types of rock. Rarely do you see 2 different types of barks. If you use 2 different types of rocks, an added feature is to have the dry river creek bed be larger rocks/boulders and the smaller rock be on the outside.
- Another option that can vary depending on the installer is whether or not you have plants within the dry river creek bed. At our project at DoubleTree we have all plants on the outside and only 30 year old redwoods within the Dry River Creek Bed. (A little hint, the reason we came up with this reason on top of the attention it would create is because the redwoods root system makes it very hard to plant any type of material nearby. With us creating the dry river creek bed, we can have the rock material cover the areas that would be hard to plant. Keep that in mind when planning your new landscape renovation).
- Do you have an installed boarder, such as bending board, or do you let your material flow together? I personally like to have bending board separate my material. It creates a clean finish for each material and prevents mixing of materials. However with a 2 rock, dry river creek bed. The larger boulders actually can create this boarder for you without needing the added material. Installing Bending Board, does cost more due to the added material and the added labor and might actually not create much of a difference to the purchaser. Of course this is all personal preference!
Installing a Dry River Creek bed helps create an added feature that allows your home or commercial property stand out. For your next Landscape Project consider making this a thought and if you are ever in Rancho Cordova. Check out our Dry River Creek Bed at DoubleTree By Hilton. (11260 Point East Dr. Rancho Cordova).
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