A drainage channel that looks like landscaping
Tallahassee Yard Drainage Dry Creek Bed Installation in Tallahassee
A dry creek bed is a swale lined with river rock. It carries storm water where grass would wash out, and on a dry day it looks like it was always there.
- Tallahassee, Bradfordville and Crawfordville
- Written price before any digging
- Licensed, insured local contractors
- Priced for Red Hills clay and karst sand
Tallahassee Yard Drainage arranges dry creek bed installation for Tallahassee yards where water needs a path and a plain grass swale will not hold or will not look right. It suits slopes where concentrated flow would cut through turf, shady areas under oaks where grass will not grow, and front yards where the drainage route passes right past the front door.
A rock-lined creek bed typically costs $1,500 to $6,000; the same flow run across bare red soil under the oaks will cut a gully that costs $4,000 to rebuild before the creek bed is installed anyway.
$1,500 to $6,000 for most dry creek beds
Dry creek bed installation in Tallahassee typically runs $1,500 to $6,000. A short bed of twenty to thirty feet with river rock sits at the low end. A long bed with boulders, a buried drain under the stone and a rock apron at the outlet sits at the high end. Rock is sold by the ton, so width and depth drive the price.
Get a price: (850) 604-5871When a creek bed is worth considering
- Water cuts a visible path through beds or lawn in every storm
- Grass will not grow along a runoff route under oaks or pines
- Mulch and pine straw wash off beds and pile up at the bottom
- A drainage route passes somewhere that has to look good, such as the front walk
A creek bed is a channel first
The rock is the visible part. What makes a creek bed work is the same thing that makes a swale work: a channel shaped to carry water at a steady, gentle fall, with an outlet at the bottom. A decorative stripe of stones laid on flat ground is a garden feature, not drainage.
The channel is dug, the base compacted, and a heavy geotextile laid underneath so the stone does not sink into the soil and weeds do not come up through it. Larger stones line the banks and the outside of each bend, where water hits hardest. Smaller river rock fills the bed.
Rock that suits the flow
In a Tallahassee thunderstorm, a creek bed carrying roof and lawn runoff can move a surprising amount of water. Pea gravel floats away. River rock of two to four inches holds in moderate flow; three to eight inch cobble and a few boulders anchor the steeper sections and bends. Local landscape supply yards stock river rock, granite and limestone; limestone softens and stains over time, which some people like and some do not.
Not sure which of these your yard needs? Describe it on the phone and get a straight answer.
Call (850) 604-5871Adding a drain underneath
Where the soil under the creek stays soggy, a perforated pipe in gravel under the stone turns the creek bed into a surface channel and a French drain in one. That is common in the Red Hills, where the clay-enriched subsoil keeps the ground wet after the surface water has passed. Roof water can also be piped underground and released at the top of the creek, so the downspouts become the source of the stream rather than a mess at the foundation.
Where it ends
Like any drainage path, a creek bed needs a legal outlet: a lower part of the yard, a ditch, a swale to the street or a storm inlet. The last few feet usually get a rock apron to slow the water before it spreads. Outlets touching a street or ditch involve the right of way, which the City of Tallahassee, Leon County or Wakulla County regulates depending on the address, and the water cannot simply be handed to a neighbor. Compare the options on our drainage swale and erosion control pages.
Water cutting a path through your beds?
That path is telling you where a creek bed belongs. Call and describe where the water starts and where it stops.
Call (850) 604-5871Questions people ask
How much does a dry creek bed cost in Tallahassee?
Typically $1,500 to $6,000, from a short river rock bed to a long bed with boulders, an underdrain and a rock outlet apron.
Does a dry creek bed actually help drainage?
Yes, when it is built as a channel with a steady fall and a real outlet. Rock laid on flat ground is decoration only.
What size rock should I use for a dry creek bed?
Two to four inch river rock for the bed, three to eight inch cobble and a few boulders on bends and steeper sections. Pea gravel washes away.
Do I need landscape fabric under a dry creek bed?
Yes. A heavy geotextile keeps stone from sinking into the soil and stops weeds, which matters in Tallahassee's red loam.
What are the signs a creek bed would help my yard?
Water cutting a path through beds or lawn, turf that will not grow under trees along a runoff route, and a drainage path that needs to look good by the front door.
Often done together
-
Drainage swales
A swale is a shallow, gently sloped channel in the lawn. It moves a summer storm's worth of surface water across a yard without a single buried part to clog.
-
Erosion control
A gully in a Red Hills yard gets deeper every storm. Filling it is not enough. The water that cut it has to be slowed down or sent somewhere else.
-
Downspout drainage
Every downspout that dumps beside the slab is pouring a roof's worth of rain into the soil your foundation sits on. This is usually the cheapest fix on the list.
Talk it through before anyone digs
Describe where the water sits and where it comes from. You will hear which fix fits the yard, what it usually costs, and whether you need one at all.
Call (850) 604-5871