Dry Rivers... huh?

Ok, so I actually didn't design/install this, but it's so cool I have to share it with you all. Our Master Designer, Corey Branch, has a client in the Mt. Washington area who requested a number of years back a dry river in their garden. "How is a river dry" you might say? Easy! It's made of stone (See picture on left). The construction of the river is really quite simple.

The "river" is composed of broken chips of Pennsylvania Bluestone. You might recognize it from many a patio/wall/walkway in gardens throughout the Mid-Atlantic area. That particular stone is chosen because the blue color most closely resembles water. Makes sense, right? The chips are broken with a chisel from a larger piece of stone and set in a bed of stone dust (finely crushed stone that closely resembles sand). The stone dust acts as settling agent so time and weather don't allow the chips to loosen up too much.

The form of the river is typical of any water feature - it's serpentine and follows the contours of the garden. The edge of the river is a collection of simple gray field stones, which match the blue/gray hue of the river. This basically took a full day between setting the boulders, chipping the stone, and setting the river in place. My favorite feature is the use of those boulders in the river, to create the appearance of an island in the middle of the river (see below). All of these features are basically derivatives of Asian garden designs, where motion/flow is suggested through the careful placement of inanimate objects in the garden. I think this river came out pretty well. So what do you think?