A dry creek bed is easy to build as long as there is a place for the water to go. We routed the downspouts from our front gutters and the overflow from our water feature to drain here. This also catches all of the run off from our meadow. At the bottom of the slope in my garden above the dry creek, we have a rain garden of plants that like full sun and wet feet in winter, yet won't die in our summer. We already had a ditch, so there was very little digging. We used one pallet of river rock that was around $275 last fall. We used permeable landscape fabric underneath to control the weeds. We don't use fabric in flower beds, BTW! It took 3 of us half a day to do this, but that was with our archaeologist son looking through the stone for arrowheads (which he found). My husband and I didn't mind the slow pace! This was created in September 2006, so the plant material is new. Sidebar: The wire edging is a temporary detterent to deer to keep them from trampling the new plants. It's working so far since everything is deer resistant

Thanks for the input so far. Answers to some of your questions: -We have done our best to water. I'm out of town during the week, and DH sometimes is, but when he's home he waters daily. But we had a month plus of >100 temps and the watering only partially offset that. We have had a few rains in the past 2 weeks, and temps are back in the 80s-90s, so things have greened back up a bit and the worst seems to be over. -Those 2 trees are actually quite a ways from the house. There's a circle drive in between them and the front beds/lawn. -The dianthus have been pretty good about coming back each year, though not all of them, so I've replanted to fill in. -Good point about "well cared-for" trumping "filled up and lush." But we've still got sporadic stuff (like 2 surviving petunias) that isn't helping with the overall feel. Last night I went to check out what's available plant-wise since we're getting late in the season and pickings are slimmer. My thoughts: -Transplant dianthus from the back yard to fill in the front beds and make them more of a mass planting like the green stuff Yardvark drew. -Mass mums in the more central area that Yardvark made yellow. -Potentially one or two crape myrtles in the left bed, where the azalea is now and/or in the empty space to the left of the rock. I love crape myrtles. -A tree--or possibly another crape myrtle in the front of the expanded left bed. -There's lots of lantana available. Don't know if there's a good spot for that, or if I should bother this late in the season. Here's a rough draft plan. Feedback welcome. My other concern is what to do to keep the beds looking nice through the winter, since I've mostly got perennials that will die off. Our house is in the top 10% price-wise, and things are moving slow around here, so it wouldn't be a surprise if we're here through then. I'm thinking of getting a couple dwarf alberta spruces to put in urns by the front door. What else can I do to keep the beds from looking completely morose? I personally like the whole "spring back to life from nothing" look, but I am trying to sell a house here. :-)

Photos must be stored online at a hosting site. I like Photobucket since they store up to 5 gigs for free. It is difficult to post the command line for posting here since the computer recognizes it as a picture but, it is: greater than symbol "" The only spaces are between img and src=. I can move up to 500 pound boulders into place without equipment however, if we have access we can do a much faster job with a bobcat and small excavator. Any damage done by equipment is easily repaired by hand after stone placement is completed. The first photo shows an English style wall without mortar. The stones are simply stacked properly with a solid base and gravity does the rest. I also live in Marietta so it's no big deal to come over to take a look. I do not charge for estimates however, if you require a design (and I have landscape software for this) I do charge for the time to design and implement plant choices. Usually around $250-$500 depending on scale of the project. I use a program that allows me to take an actual photo of the area and install stones, plants and hardscape items as needed. I can also produce overhead designs as well. If you would like to discuss this further please click on my name and follow the link to my email. Gardenweb does not like solicitations on the message boards. Here is a link that might be useful: How to do everything on gardenweb

Look at the local streambeds and copy them. Unless you find local black lava streambeds, don't try to make it work in your yard unless you are going for a totally modernistic unnatural look. For a natural look, vary the size of the rocks, with some big ones anchoring the bends and interrupting the "stream", with smaller rocks. This is a good one. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/210754457531720328/ You want to avoid the drainage ditch full of gravel look.