Stream doesn't look natural

[sissy]

any one see the ad for pond pro 2000 I was looking at it on there sight and it seals leaks on epdm and other surfaces .They have there own sight and you can join 2 liners

 

[SE18]

IMO, the best way to make a stream look natural FOR YOUR AREA, is to visit brooks in your area and snap some digital photos of various places and various streams.

 

[mgmine]

I have looked at creeks and that is why I'm not satisfied. The creeks all have dirt banks but if I do the same the water and dirt from the hill would run right into the stream bed. As an aside I'm making good progress and after taking things apart several times I'm almost at the bottom of the 40' stream. If I could eliminate the rocks on the sides I would be done.

 

[Big Lou]

I have looked at creeks and that is why I'm not satisfied. The creeks all have dirt banks but if I do the same the water and dirt from the hill would run right into the stream bed. As an aside I'm making good progress and after taking things apart several times I'm almost at the bottom of the 40' stream. If I could eliminate the rocks on the sides I would be done.

Here's a out of the box idea. Do this on a test area and see how you like the look. Go buy a bag of brown shredded mulch and high performance exterior water proof adhesive. Put the adhesive on the bank portion of the EDPM liner. Next, cover the adhesive with the brown rubber mulch. You may want to put adhesive on some mulched areas to add mulch for a more natural look.

Maybe this will kick start you natural look. I have used this mulch around one area of my pond stone for years. The mulch never fades.

Good Luck!

 

[SE18]

Another solution is to use hypertufa, but add more cement to the mix than you normally would (the other ingredients being sand or slurry and sifted peat moss.

You can put that over the liner instead of rock or along with rocks.

 

[SE18]

hypertufa

 

[mgmine]

Thanks for the ideas I went to Youtube and saw some more examples.

 

[dieselplower]

The parts that look unnatural to me are the ones where there are 3 rocks stacked vertically on top of eachother. I can't come up with the best wording right now, but I would try to off center the stacking a bit, so that they aren't lined up so neatly. Does that make sense? Like retaining wall bricks for example, you never stack them straight on top of eachother, they are off center of the row below.

 

[mgmine]

I'll take your advice and move them around some. I'm also looking into the hypertufa and mulch ideas and maybe find a place for them as well. Since I posted the pictures I have moved things around several times.

 

[SE18]

One caution with hypertufa. I'd add more cement than normal hypertufa, also use concrete dye to your advantage to get the color right (it dries different than when wet so experiment first)

if you don'[t add more cement than normal, it could end up getting crumbly over time. the cement will give it better cohesiveness

and don't forget photos

there are other solutions besides just placing rocks

 

[Big Lou]

Photo's of my long ago small shallow stream shown in various stages over the years. BTW, I gave up on it because I was sure it was the sure it was the source of my pond leak. It wasn't and I wound up relining and rebuilding our pond. Many of the images are similar yet may show you various ways I shrived to give it a somewhat natural look. I can't remember how many times I added and took away from the banks of the stream.

• The entire stream and water fall had a sand base covered by liner pad then covered by a one piece EDPM liner.
• The liner and pad extended about two and one half feet on one side of the stream with the the liner and pad secured to the ground and side of the walkway of the other side.
• Oklahoma Flagstone covered the bottom of the shallow stream. Flexible stone/concrete joint sealer joined the stones to each other and to the sides of the EDPM liner.
• Dark brown dyed concrete was used in some areas to create a dirt like appearance. This was very convincing.
• The liner was not bonded to the pond liner since it was about a foot above the pond. (a major mistake)
• Various other types of stones, driftwood, living moss and plants were grown in and along the stream.
• The stream was very shallow.

Images:

 

[bean6924]

your stream will start to look natural with growth. little pocket plantings and ground cover to the edges really go a long way.

the other thing to consider are logs, and one or two strategically placed boulders.

 

[mgmine]

Big Lou your stream looks like it grew out of the ground! It's really nice. I guess it's a combination of things and time that make it look right. How wide is it? You say it is very shallow do you think that made it easier for the sides? Maybe I went too deep although I really didn't have a choice given the slope of the hill.

 

[Big Lou]

Big Lou your stream looks like it grew out of the ground! It's really nice. I guess it's a combination of things and time that make it look right. How wide is it? You say it is very shallow do you think that made it easier for the sides? Maybe I went too deep although I really didn't have a choice given the slope of the hill.

By shallow, I was talking about the water depth. The stream angled downward to the pond. The bank varied.

 

[HTH]

It does look good Lou. Natural streams do not always remain constant in width and you seem to have captured that. Nice.