Yes a picture would be much easier. In the picture this is looking up a hill. Its decieving but to the right of the drain is another hill. The tree on the left of the drain has a 4 inch root going under the drain. I need to do something here and because of the slope I can't go much further to the right and can't go deeper without cutting the tree root. Thats why I was wondering if that stretch I could put a pipe in the very bottom for unobstructed water flow, but I have never seen that done and can't find an example online. So that makes me wonder if its a dumb idea. Ideas are appreciated. Thanks.

Hey there! Thanks for responding! I built the dry creek bed to deal with major storm run off. However, now the weeds want to grow (crabgrass, dandelions, etc.). I want it to look nice so I was hoping to spray something like round up that isn't harmful to fish/wildlife. Rodeo looks like it should work...

Well, you neighbor goofed up good when he pitched his drive toward your property, considering that the overall flow of drainage through the neighborhood is in the opposite direction (if that's what the purple arrows indicate ...?) I copy this from the article that you referenced: "French drains should not be used to control surface water that should be diverted from the surface before reaching deeper soils and potentially contributing to sub-surface water that the drain is attempting to remove." In other words, if not carefully placed, french drains will contribute to the problem rather than solve it. Another truth I would add to that is: dealing with drainage water at the ground surface through proper grading is generally preferable to putting water in a pipe. Pipes can be a lot more troublesome in many ways as compared to grading and having the water run along the surface.The so called "pop-up" is especially troublesome and prone to clogging. I don't want to dish the dry creek bed per se, but in fact many such features, rather than being an enhancement to the landscape, are downgrades and sometimes add a lot more maintenance. (Figure how the lawn will interface with it and how it will be edged.) Sometimes, when installed by amateurs (and even some pros) dry stream beds end up looking like rubble dump piles, or they are skimpy. I'm not saying you will do it that way, but warning to be careful that you don't. Too, the dry steam bed, like the french drain invites additional water INTO the soil so one needs to be careful about where and how one places it. It sounds like that the concrete pad by the back entrance, having sunk, and the fact that you will raise it is going to be a good start to solving the drainage issue. I think that finishing it will depend on how much elevation difference you have between point A and point B in the drawing below...

Will the bed be used to redirect run-off during rainy times and with snow melt or will it remain dry and just be decorative? If intended to be functional, you want to make sure it is sized appropriately to accommodate the water flow. Typically, dry stream or creek beds are wider than they are deep. And usually by a ratio of 2:1. So a 2-3' wide bed should be 12-18" deep. The rocks you use should be in a range of sizes, just as they would be in a real stream bed. You will need a fair number of large rocks (6-10") as edging along the sides but placed rather randomly. And even a few random larger boulders, especially sited at any curves in the stream bed. For that length and width, you will need 2-3 tons of 1-4" diameter river rock and probably another ton of the larger sized rock (~80-100). The boulders you would purchase by quantity rather than weight.....as many as you need. Make sure you lay landscape fabric along your stream trench (anchor it firmly in place with the boulders and large edging rocks) and then a 1-2" layer of coarse sand. Then fill with your river rocks, evening them out a bit across the surface. You can use whatever shade tolerant plants you like but generally you want lower growing plants closer to the edges of the steam bed and taller plants at a bit of distance. Hostas come to mind immediately, with perhaps some Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa) here and there along the edge. Primulas are another possibility if enough moisture in the area. Other plants I would consider are astilbe and columbine for some height but you can really use any combintion of shade tolerant plants you like. Pinterest is good for some inspiration on planting layouts. The bottom line is you want it to look natural. So avoid any rows of plants or too precise placements :-)