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Landscape design gained recognition and spread at the end of the twentieth century, primarily in the densely populated countries of Western Europe, where there are very few corners of wilderness. Landscaping includes the design and landscaping of land plots surrounding modern buildings, the creation of water decorative elements (fountains, artificial lakes, streams), the creation of ensembles of planted plants (flower beds, paths, rabatki), etc.

There are a lot of techniques for transforming the landscape design of modern summer cottages and household plots. This is landscaping of the territory, and the creation of artificial reservoirs, effective lighting of the territory, the introduction of various decorative elements (benches, gazebos, bridges, various decorative figures, landscape lamps, etc.). All this allows you to create an individual and unique corner for walks and relaxation on the territory of your summer cottage or country house.

There are many proposals from masters for landscaping land plots, creating original landscape design, but if you have free time and a desire to improve your land on your own, you can test your strength in creating simple elements of landscape design, for example, making a dry stream in the country.

A dry stream, unlike real reservoirs (pools, lakes, streams), is an imitation of the bottom and channel. This element of landscape design came to us from the Japanese islands. The Japanese respect the water element, which evokes associations with the purity of life and the transience of time. In Japanese tradition, this element of landscape design is very popular, especially in those areas where it is impossible to recreate real water compositions. A dry stream evokes associations with the water element, it seems that the water in the spring has dried up only recently, and the very first rain will revive the stream and fill it again. No wonder a dry stream in landscape design takes its rightful place. There are many design options for how to make a dry stream in the country.

Strengths of Dry Stream :

Saving money, the relative cheapness of work and the ability to make a bed of a dry stream with your own hands, without using the help of expensive masters of landscape design;
Minimum construction time (to carry out the main work in 2-3 days);
Uncomplicated care in the future, unlike a real reservoir. It is necessary to destroy weeds in a timely manner and monitor the support of the channel shape;
The ability to use any plants you like for design and decoration, not necessarily moisture-loving, as is the case with a natural reservoir;
Complete safety for children. In addition, the absence of mosquitoes, which love to settle in places with high humidity.

How to choose the shape of a dry stream

When choosing the shape of the bed of the future dry stream, be sure to take into account the terrain. The source should be located on a hill, the channel, as in the natural version, should run from top to bottom, narrowing in places, expanding in places.

The meandering shape of the channel visually expands the space, the site will seem much larger than in reality.

You can think about the place from which the stream originates, for example, a well of stones on a hill, or a crevice in the rock, from which the stream "flows". At the source, a tilted jug will look good, from which water seems to flow out, as if your dry stream originates there.

An interesting version of landscape design can turn out if you figure out where the stream flows. It can be thickets of bushes at the end of the site, behind which it is impossible to trace the further movement of "water", a fence or some kind of decorative building. The main thing is that your landscape design looks natural, like a natural formation. You can also use channel bifurcations, branch confluences, and other options.

The combination of a dry stream and a wooden bridge in landscape design looks very beautiful. Garden sculptures, wooden fungi, masonry and others are used as additional decorative elements of landscape design.

Materials for the floodplain and the bottom of a dry stream

To fill the bed of a dry stream, you will need large boulders, and cobblestones, and small pebbles. A beautiful combination of colors and textures of a stone channel will allow you to create unique compositions that complement any landscape design idea.

It is advisable to use local varieties of stones in your design so that the stream is in harmony with the environment as much as possible. Large stones are usually laid out along the banks, and the channel is filled with small pebbles. Flat stones are used to create a flowing effect.

To give naturalness to the landscape solution, you can make a stream with gray-blue shades, if you use basalt, slate. Ponds made of granite, limestone and marble have reddish-brown hues. If desired, the design of the stones can be enhanced with waterproof paint or varnished, shimmering in the sun, they will create the illusion of a current source.

Sequence of work when creating a dry stream

Having decided on the landscape design of the future dry stream, it is necessary to mark the channel on the site. You can do this with sand, or stretch the rope along the intended stream. It is more convenient to work with sand, the composition looks natural, it is easy to make corrections by sketching a different path. The next step is construction.

A small pit should be dug along the bed of the future stream; the ratio of the width and depth of the channel should be approximately 2: 1. If your stream width in some place is 1m, then the depth of the pit in this place should be 0.5m. We level the surface of the pit with a rake.

At the bottom, it is necessary to put some kind of cover, for example, geotextile, which allows water and air to pass through, so that weeds do not grow in the future stream. You can also concrete the bottom, use a polymer film or roofing felt. If you are afraid that the water will wash out your stone bed over time, you can concretize the bottom layer of pebbles into the bed, and add more stones on top so that the bottom is not visible.

Then stones can be laid out on the surface, starting from the banks. Large cobblestones are placed along the edges, interspersed with small pebbles. The brightest and lightest stones are used to imitate waterfalls and rapids. You can also put glass stones at the bottom of the channel to simulate water.

Flat stones - plates, placed on the edge, create an imitation of the movement of water. The same effect can be obtained by using stones of blue shades. If you put a boulder in the middle of the "water" channel, you can use the pebbles to create the illusion of a "whirlpool" around it. The main thing is that the composition of stones looks natural.

A bridge will be a good addition to a dry stream. If you have a large solid stone on your site, you can lay it across the stream so that the "water" runs underneath. If there is a desire and material, you can make an imitation of a bridge made of wood, and with your own hands. A wooden bridge and a dry stream in landscape design will go well together.

The next step in creating a dry stream is to decorate the banks with plants. When selecting them, it is necessary to take into account the climate of your region, as well as the composition of the soil at the site, the presence of sunlight, humidity and temperature.

From flowering plants, preference should be given to species with blue, blue, purple flowers. You can also plant perennials such as loberia, primrose, periwinkle, silver lily of the valley, etc. Plants that grow in nature along the banks of water bodies look good: sedge, calamus, blue oatmeal, lily, cereal herbs. The streams will be decorated with tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, lilies.

You can give individuality to landscape design by planting conifers on the rocky banks of a dry stream - dwarf species of junipers, fir, mountain pines. Light sandy or loamy soils are well suited for them.

Planting shrubs with small leaves must be approached with caution, since during the autumn leaf fall you will have to pick fallen leaves from your stream that get stuck among the stones. If you purchased a garden vacuum cleaner to harvest the leaves, you can safely plant dogwood and barberry bushes near your dry stream, a beautiful landscape due to the changing color of the leaves of these wonderful shrubs will be provided to you all year round.

Dry stream care

Dry stream maintenance is usually straightforward. It will be necessary to periodically weed, removing weeds, watering the planted plants. It should be remembered that ants like to settle under the stones, you will also have to get rid of them regularly so that your dry stream does not turn into an anthill over time.

But, in addition to its decorative functions, the dry stream also performs important tasks of landscape design:

Serves as a kind of drainage system that ensures the outflow of rain and flood water from your site;
Helps to retain moisture under stones, saving you time and reducing the frequency of watering planted plants;
Visually separates the site, allowing you to emphasize individual zones of landscape design;
Helps to reduce soil erosion;
Visually expands the territory of your garden area.

Calculation of pebbles to create a dry stream in landscape design

To calculate the approximate volume of pebbles needed to equip a dry stream, you need to take several measurements. After you have decided on the trajectory of the bed of the future stream and marked it with sand on the site, use a tape measure, measuring tape or rope to measure the length of the stream in meters. Then mark the average value of the channel width (approximately 50-80 cm), translate into meters (0.5-0.8 m). The thickness of the pebble layer of your future channel will be approximately 5 to 8 cm, that is, 0.05-0.08 m. Now you need to multiply the obtained values.

Readers have come with us a long way from studying the most common mistakes that are made in the construction of reservoirs, to the rules for creating a pond in a natural style. The continuation of the topic will be especially interesting for those gardeners who prefer not calm water, but its movement and sound.

You can find the previous articles in the series at the links:

What is good about the stream

Take my word for it: the stream makes an absolutely extraordinary impression and is effective in a garden of any size, but it is especially good in a landscape style garden.

Its width and depth are usually small, but the length matters. The stream flows in the most natural way where it is height difference, but you can arrange it on a flat area. There are many options for composition: you can accentuate the source, that is, the highest point, or you can - the mouth, where the stream flows into a certain body of water, or you can do neither. These key technological points can be deliberately excluded from the artistic composition and simply admired by the stream itself, and where and where it flows from and where it flows from will remain a mystery. You can organize the bed of the stream in such a way that it will seem as if it goes into the sand.

Number of thresholds- that is, height differences - will depend on the length of the stream. The longer it is, the more justified a large number of rolls will be. And there may be three, seven, and so on. If we are talking about a strongly pronounced relief, it makes sense to arrange not a stream, but a small waterfall or even a cascade of waterfalls. All of these options are different images of moving water.

The choice, of course, should be determined by the characteristics of the site. In any case, do not forget that the movement of water is always accompanied by sound, this is often overlooked. And in vain: in a small area, the noise of a stormy stream can interfere, especially at night.

Choosing the style and image of the flow

Whichever variant of moving water you choose, the principle of operation will be the same: looped water. It is fed through a hose from the lower storage tank (it can be a pond, or it can be just a dug into the ground and decorated with a barrel) by means of a pump to the upper point of the stream channel (waterfall, cascade) and from there it flows under pressure or by gravity, overcoming thresholds, back to the drive.

Circulating all the time the same volume of water, therefore, all the links in the chain must be arranged in such a way that water is not wasted on the side, otherwise you will have to constantly pour it into the reservoir. Therefore, the longer the stream, the higher the thresholds and the greater their number, the greater the volume of water should initially be in the reservoir and, accordingly, the more power the pump needs.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble and mistakes (it is better to avoid them than to correct them), it is important at the preparatory stage develop a project(sketch, drawing to scale, top view and sectional view) in relation to a specific site, taking into account the artistic and stylistic solution of the garden.

At the preparatory stage, it is necessary to develop a project - it will help to avoid unnecessary mistakes (Fig. 1)

Materials for arranging a garden stream

The choice of materials and technologies must be justified and rational. And before starting work, all the necessary materials must be in place.

What can we need to make a garden stream in the image of a natural one?

1. Of course PVC film... We are quite satisfied with a section thickness of 0.5 mm or 0.8 mm, black, it can be cut and glued with special glue, it is more convenient to work with it in warm, dry weather.

2. Special submersible pump which we will place in the lower storage tank.

3. Special pond pump hose section (depending on the situation) ½, ¾, 1 or 1 ½ inches. The section of the hose is determined by the length and the required flow rate. As we have already said, the water can barely rustle over the pebbles, or it can roll over the rapids in a swift, wide veil. With a long bed, there will be a frictional loss of power as the water flows through the hose.

4. We will also need sand or geotextile as an underlayment and cushioning material and stone for decoration.

The choice of the latter will be determined by the stylistic decision. Small and not very large stones are suitable for an elegant stream: gravel, pebbles, river and lake boulders in cold or warm colors. More serious stones will be needed for the waterfall and cascade: medium and large lumps with character, with a torn structure, as a rule, in a cold scale.

5. We will definitely need some moisture-loving plants for planting near the stream and in the channel itself. Their species and varietal diversity, again, is determined by the artistic image of the flow. These can be irises, sedges, marigolds, candelabra primroses, or collectible arizems and ferns, and so on.

Particular attention should be paid to the choice material for the storage tank... Your artistic idea will determine the technology, and therefore the rational material.

Ground work

Let's build a long, slightly winding stream on a mild terrain. It originates from a key in the depths of the shady part of the garden, slides between spireas, rhododendrons and ferns under the shade of maples and aralia. In some place it goes out into an open area and, ultimately, flows into a small rounded pond, in which there are no large aquatic plants, but only deep oxygenators, but fish, frogs and newts live. The absence of a large number of plants in the pond is explained by the fact that, despite its small size (a little more than 2 m in diameter), it is surrounded by classic garden plants, and in general the composition is quite rich in details.

Project of the future stream (Fig. 2)

So, we have chosen the place of the future stream, drawn its configuration and proceed to earthworks. Our task is not only to dig the channel, but also to structure the elevation differences that will determine the levels of the stream.

For the implementation of our idea, it is quite suitable trench 20-25 cm deep, width and length according to the project. In some place, the width can change, somewhere you can arrange a kind of dam, but it is easier and cheaper to make a stream of the same width along the entire length of the channel. It can be visually complicated by rolling, bending, including large stones in the composition and using other techniques.

When digging a trench, it is advisable to leave small earth embankments- they will subsequently become a support for stones on the rifts and will not allow water to completely drain from the stream when the pump is turned off (see Figure 1). The locations of such points are determined by the project and compositionally can be tied to the bends of the channel. If the project provides for a sharp turn (loop), it is better to place it on level ground without rifts.

After the main groundwork is completed, you need tamp the bottom, walls and edges of the channel. If the soil in the immediate vicinity of the future banks is excessively porous (light, loose), it is better to immediately replace it with a heavier, clayey one in order to avoid the possible capillary effect of the soil. If this is not done, serious water loss can occur in the future, especially if the stream is long. Before laying the film, it should be poured over the entire bed of the stream a small layer of sand or use geotextile.

Sand is poured under the film along the entire bed of the stream or geotextiles are underlain (Fig. 3)

Roll up the pre-heated and sun-softened film in a convenient way and place it at the upper point of the channel, leaving an edge sufficient for decorating the source. Roll out and carefully spread the film along the entire channel, forming bends, laying folds. To prevent the film from shifting during operation, it can be pressed down in several places with stones. The bottom edge of the film should drop freely into the reservoir tank. If it is a film pond, you can glue the joint with glue. Whichever option you choose, you need carefully arrange the place where the stream is drained so that water does not leave the reservoir.

On the spread film, again pour a layer of sand or lay geotextiles. On the one hand, they will protect the film from damage, on the other hand, they will serve as a support for decorating materials: pebbles, gravel, etc.

Be aware that loose material of the same size, such as fine gravel, will inevitably fall off sloping surfaces. It is better to use here material of different fractions: coarse sand, fine gravel, overflow gravel, with the inclusion of larger individual stones. Different-sized stones will "help" each other to stay on sloping surfaces.

Care must be taken to select key stones, that is, those that will go for finishing the source, mouth, for decorating the places of rifts, that is, weir stones. As a rule, they should be wide and flat, have a nice structure and strength. For example, some shales and sandstones can quickly erode. With constant humidity, this process will go faster.

For many, the financial issue in the selection of stones is of decisive importance. It is clear that stone is the most consumable item in the whole undertaking. But it is not at all necessary to choose the most fashionable and expensive breeds, just approach this issue creatively. You can work with local, cheap breeds. It is important to think over the composition, skillfully group stones of different sizes and guess the preferred tone: cold, warm or white, dark or light. Please be aware that color selection has a very significant effect on artistry.

Water devices and finishing works

In parallel with the arrangement of the stream channel, work is being carried out on the device of the reservoir into which the pump is submerged. Whatever it is, the pump is installed at a depth of at least 50 cm from the surface of the water, but if it is a landscape pond, then not at the very bottom, in order to avoid clogging of the filter with turbidity and silt, but on a specially prepared horizontal platform (see Figure 1 ).

As we have already said, the volume of the accumulator is determined by the length and width of the flow and the power of the pump. One end of the hose is rigidly attached to the pump bell. If the cross-section of the hose does not coincide with it, you will have to use special adapters-fittings. The hose rises to the surface and is discreetly decorated with stones or plants. Further, it must be carried out in the immediate vicinity of the channel to the highest point of the stream.

Leave as much of the hose as is necessary to decorate the source, and dig the entire hose along the stream shallowly, marking it on the diagram or taking a picture for memory. If necessary, it can be easily found and dismantled (for example, for repair) and not damaged, for example, when planting plants.

Take care of where you plug the pump plug. The waterproof electrical cable of the pump with plug is 5 or 10 m long, depending on the model. Your task is to provide dry and safe place to turn on the pump to the network. If there are buildings next to the storage reservoir, for example, a gazebo, problems most likely will not arise, but if this is not the case, you may have to make a special box-shield and take care of its decoration.

Before you even start finishing the stream, you need to test switching on, make sure that the system works, that the parameters that you wanted to achieve are achieved. After that, proceed to the final decoration of the channel.

All support and drainage stones must be rigid cement mortar(at the rate of 1 part of cement to 4 parts of sand) or cement glue, stand for at least 12 hours for the mortar to set. Only after that, you can continue to work on decorating the banks. The excess edges of the film can be cut off, the remnants are buried either at a right angle, or laid horizontally 1-2 cm above the water level and decorated with gravel, pebbles, stones and plants (see Figure 3).

You can avoid the capillary effect, which was mentioned above, by laying along the entire coast cement tape width and thickness of approximately 8-10 cm. In this case, the edge of the film and the ground are separated by a tape of cement. When the cement is dry, free-flowing fractions and individual stones of different sizes can be attached from above. Gradually, part of the finishing material will be covered with moss and creeping plants that have grown in a humid environment, such as loosestrife, creeping veronica, indica duchene and others, and the stream will make a completely natural impression. The plants planted at the last stage of finishing will add the necessary accent, and the stream will acquire exactly such an artistic "sound" as you wanted.

A little about pumps

In conclusion, I will tell you more about how to choose a pump and use it. At first, never use drainage and homemade pumps... Secondly, purchase pumps for decorative ponds in a specialized salon. Here the widest assortment for every taste and wealth and guaranteed quality. Choose the brand and modification of the pump together with the store manager, who needs to inform the parameters of your water device: its length, width, depth of the channel or height of the fountain, the power of the flow or jet of the fountain, the volume of water in the reservoir, the difference in height between the upper point of the channel and the water's edge in the lower drive.

With a prolonged absence on the site, the pump is better disconnect from the network... Not because it is unreliable, but rather because our power grids often fail. In autumn, before the onset of stable cold weather, the pump must be disconnected from the mains and the hose, lifted from the drive, rinsed all removable parts, dried and put away for winter storage. The hose is not dismantled for the winter, it remains in the ground, but it is better to close its ends with plugs so that nothing foreign gets inside, which can lead to pump breakdown.

Many pump models have multifunctional purpose and, changing the nozzles, you can use the same one for a stream (waterfall, cascade); for a fountain; for the simultaneous inclusion of both a fountain and a stream; to connect the filter system. But before using the pump's capabilities for the whole, so to speak, coil, think about whether it will be good? A cheerful, ringing stream, jumping over the rapids and flowing into the pond, and here the fountain is a typical sign of the classic, regular style?

It remains to add that the variety and availability of modern materials for the manufacture of decorative reservoirs allows you to easily and quickly implement a variety of water devices of any size and complexity. We have offered you proven technologies. Perhaps you will find simpler and more effective technological methods. But after you have followed with us what stages the work on the creation of a landscape pond and a stream consists of, I think you will not have a problem with the construction of other water devices.

In the last part of our water cycle, we will talk about the range of aquatic plants and the rules for planting them.

Dry Stream is an excellent alternative to an artificial watercourse, which requires a lot of financial and time costs both to create and to maintain. At the same time, the imitation of a flowing stream decorates the personal plot in the best way and can carry a functional load. Is a person far from landscape design able to figure out on his own how to make a dry stream with his own hands, a photo of which he liked? Or is it an art accessible only to professionals?

How to make a dry stream yourself

In fact, this decorative element does not require special knowledge to translate into reality. There are several subtleties that should be taken into account when arranging the future highlight of a summer cottage. Everything else will follow with a sufficient level of motivation and a sense of proportion. In extreme cases, if the end result is not satisfactory, the dry stream can be easily reorganized and even moved.

The structure of a stone watercourse and its advantages

One of the most difficult tasks is to create the illusion that water has flowed here just recently. Otherwise, the result may look like a ridiculous pile of stones. To prevent this from happening, it is worth studying the device of a dry stream - with your own hands, in this case, it will be possible to make it as close as possible to the genuine one.

The source of a mountain stream, as in nature, should be on a small elevation, as close as possible to a rock. It is optimal if there is a hill on the site, which is enough to decorate with stones. If the surface of the plot is flat, several large boulders can be placed on it.
The bed of a dry watercourse is meandering - in different places it can sharply expand and narrow. Using this feature, you can visually expand the space. To do this, it is important to choose a good option for the location of a dry stream on the territory. There is a classic pattern: the smaller the area of the personal plot, the more elegant the shape of this decorative element should be.
The estuary is the logical end of a stone stream, which creates the appearance of a real body of water. Alternatively, you can combine a small dry stream and a pond made of the same stone and surrounded by greenery. Unlike a stream, the pond has well-defined boundaries that can be decorated with marsh plants.

Competently arranged dry stream, being a great place to relax, at the same time veils the imperfections of the relief and zoning the space. With its help, it becomes possible to disguise engineering communications, while leaving them easily accessible. Another indisputable advantage is minimal maintenance, which consists only in maintaining the cleanliness and shape of the riverbed.

Preparatory work for creating an imitation stream

Before making a dry stream in the country, it is recommended to draw several versions of it with river sand with different directions, shape and width. Based on the planned dimensions of the future stream, it is necessary to select the appropriate stones in advance. Landscape designers consider the most suitable materials to be blue-gray and gray pebbles, blue or blue-green fine gravel, as well as gneiss, slate and basalt. Marble slabs and granite boulders will help to add color accents and add solidity to the landscape.

A ceramic flower pot or jug (perhaps artificially aged or simply worn out) will get a second life if it is placed horizontally at the source. Among the stone streams, placers of colored crystals made of safety glass or acrylic sparkling under the sun look wonderful.

Technique for constructing a decorative element

At this stage, it is necessary to dig a channel for the future watercourse. It is not necessary for the deep ones to do it - a too concave channel will look unnatural. It is enough to remove the top layer of the earth (15–30 cm) and clean the surface of sod. The resulting ditch should be tamped tightly and protected from weed germination using any water and air permeable material, for example, geotextile or lutrasil. You can also use building film and even roofing material.

It is worth starting to fill the stream by laying out the largest stones, which are usually located along the banks. After that, the entire channel must be covered with sand, expanded clay or fine gravel. Then you can start laying out stones of different sizes and shapes. To determine how to make a stone stream in the form of a stormy stream or shallow water, it is recommended to pay attention to a few tricks:

flat pebbles, installed on the edge and located in the same direction with the banks, creates the effect of a fast flow;
if you install a massive stone in the middle of the stream or pour a sandbank, and place pebbles around it with an edge, you will get a "whirlpool";
dark stones give the illusion of depth, so they should be used closer to the middle of the channel;
accordingly, the light filler is appropriate for arranging shallows and banks;
You can make a stone stream more natural by making a ferry in the form of a wooden bridge, an ordinary log or a concrete slab.

Video: dry stream options

Decorating the shores with plants and stylized figures

You can endlessly improve a self-built stream of stones. One of the most popular decoration methods is landscaping the coastal line and a small pond. The type of plants depends only on the imagination of the homeowners, but you should definitely take into account the location of the reservoir, the composition of the soil and the humidity regime. It is necessary to combine perennials with different flowering periods - this will fill the stream with colors and make it expressive at any time of the year.

Armed with spectacular photos, a dry rock stream can be built in just 2-3 days. If your own skills are not enough, it is advisable to contact professional designers who will help to avoid mistakes and uniformity. However, if a person has a desire to try himself in a new business, it is quite possible to do it on his own, in order to then get maximum pleasure from contemplating his own creation.

The dream of any summer resident or owner of a private house with the adjacent territory is to have a natural source of water on the garden plot. Therefore, if you are the lucky owner of a piece of land through which even a small stream flows, then you are incredibly lucky. In this case, there is no need to spend extra money on the creation of artificial reservoirs, but all that remains is to think carefully about how to improve the channel of a natural stream so that it not only looks beautiful, but is also as functional as possible.

How to properly decorate the water bed of a stream

Before embarking on the improvement and design of the landscape around the stream, you should observe its "behavior" in different seasons. After all, it is quite possible that a thin, barely gurgling ribbon of water during the period of intense rains will turn almost into a seething river.

A beautifully designed and well-groomed stream in the country or near the house will undoubtedly become a favorite vacation spot in hot weather

This moment should be taken into account in the process of design, selection and placement of decorative elements, so that they are simply not washed away by the stream at the first rainstorm, letting all the efforts down the drain.

Making artificial thresholds with your own hands

If the land plot is located on a slope, and the stream flows down it, then it can easily be turned into a small copy of a mountain stream, providing the channel with homemade rapids made of boulders and stones. Thanks to them, it is easy to create beautiful cascades or waterfalls. The more relief the terrain and the stronger its differences, the more thresholds you need to equip.

It should be borne in mind that sharp steep thresholds will inevitably lead to constant noise of falling water, for this reason, if the source is located in the immediate vicinity of the house, it is better to make them stepwise.

Artificial rapids in the channel are usually equipped with carefully selected and correctly located stones of different sizes, fastened together with cement mortar.

Emphasis on the source of the natural key

If a stream flows on a flat terrain, but at the same time does not just cross the site, but originates from it, then special emphasis can be made on the source from which the water flows. One of the possible options is to dig a small reservoir around the natural spring with a diameter of no more than 1.5 m, and a depth of about 0.5–0.8 m, and decorate it with aquatic and moisture-loving coastal plants, such as water lily, water lily, calamus, three-leafed watch, cattail, plantain ditty, arrowhead.

At the same time, aquatic plants are planted directly to the bottom of the reservoir at a depth necessary for successful vegetation, and coastal plants strengthen its edges.

Proper decoration and landscaping of the shores

There are many ways to ennoble a stream by decorating its banks. An indispensable attribute in this case are stones of different sizes, shapes and shades. Smooth polished pebbles with smooth, smoothed edges give the stream more calmness and tranquility, and rough boulders with sharp, as if broken off, edges make the stream aggressive.

Landscape designers advise to choose several large picturesque stones of an unusual shape as central decorative elements, placing them in four or five places on the shore on top of small pebbles, rubble or moss. You should not use shale or sandy rocks, as they quickly lose their attractive appearance from constant interaction with water.

You can also ennoble the stream on the site with the help of vegetation that loves a constant neighborhood with a large amount of water. But before planting it, you should carefully study the already growing flora, so that the stream is not lost behind a variety of greenery, and the overall composition does not lose its appearance, becoming similar to unkempt thickets.

Usually, perennials are planted on the banks, which have an increased need for moisture. These can be Kampfer irises that bloom throughout the spring and summer season, primroses, motley golden-yellow southern reeds, black sedge, whose dark inflorescences look amazing against the background of young bluish leaves with a metallic sheen. Bushes and small trees with a "weeping" crown hanging over the water look very advantageous, under which you can install a small bench for rest.

Arrangement of fords and bridges

If the stream is wide enough to be easily crossed by both an adult and a child, you should think about creating a ford or a small bridge to cross to the other side.

A ford is made if the depth of the stream is insignificant. For this, large flat stones with a rough surface are laid across the stream at a distance of no more than one short step from each other. In other cases, you cannot do without a bridge, which will simultaneously perform both a practical and a decorative function. If the stream is long, then it is advisable to make several of them in different places of the personal plot.

Bridges can be built from planks, logs, artificial stone, metal, triplex and other modern materials, equipped with railings for greater safety. The main thing is that the appearance of the structure as a result organically fits into the overall design and design style of the entire personal plot.

Of course, you can ennoble a natural water source with your own hands, but you should first consult with experts in the study of groundwater, designers and landscape designers, since the slightest wrong intervention can cause waterlogging of the area around the stream and lead to a number of unnecessary problems, which can be solved with your own forces will definitely not succeed.