Drip line of a house

[obsessed]

So for all those landscapers out there I have some questions about the drip line of a house.

My house doesn't have gutters. This is odd to me because coming from Cali most houeses do. but here not. So on some of the side of my house there are white rock from the house to the drip line and then the bed starts. One the other sides there are no rocks and no beds but the drip line is still there. So I think that the rocks are for the drip line to not hurt the plants in the bed.? But on the side of the house where there are no beds/rock should I mimic what I see with the rocks?

I am asking because I have a bed that is filled with rocks and no plants but the drip line falls right in the middle. If I wanted to plant this then I should plant after the drip line?

And then there is a side of the house that would make a perfect shade garden and if I wanted to make a bed I would put the rocks up to and maybe a bit past the drip line and then build a bed?

Oh the logistics of gardening... the bane of my exisitence

:/

 

[beefy]

i'm not really sure what the purpose of the rocks is, but it could be to keep the rain from the beating the earth out where the water falls and thus splashing dirt up on the house or it could just serve as mulch so that you dont have to mow right up next to the house. are the rocks currently only where the drip line is?

a lot of people are using gravel around their house for mulch. i'm working on that myself. it doesnt look "good" with all houses tho to me. i think rocks are popular b/c it sort of deters roaches and other bugs whereas other forms of mulch hold moisture and can actually attract roaches and termites etc. another reason is rocks last for a really really long time so you dont ahve to replace your mulch each year.

if you decide to buy more rocks to use as mulch or just for uniformity around the home, you can watch at lowes for busted bags... they will put the broken bags of rocks into plastic bags called "salvage bags" and these are half price. shhh, thats our little secret.

were you plannign on putting the rocks around the home and then using something else to mulch the flowerbed?

anyway, depending on the length of your overhang, i would probably start plants just beyond the dripline where they wont get beaten to death by the heavy rains but close enough so they can benefit from the moisture that falls there. if you have a really long overhang you could get away with planting closer to the house.

how bout posting some pics so we can give you some ideas?

 

[inchworm]

The rocks keep mud from splashing on your house. Without the rocks, you will eventually get a shadow of brownish mud on the lower portion of your walls and low windows. I love having rocks there - it really keeps my house and windows cleaner!

Inchy

 

[patandchickens]

What inchy said -- if you do not have rocks there, the runoff will bore a trench in the ground (even if you have lawn!) and also splash mud up on the house.

Pat

 

[injunjoe]

I agree with everything said here.

I would like to add that depending on the slope of your place it could also be set up as a French Drain to take rain water away from the foundation of your house!

Hard to say without looking at it.

Joe

 

[obsessed]

So here are some pics of my house which is totally confusing me. The front bed has the white rocks between the house and the bed. Yes I know I Let the weeding get away from me.

This is my back bed. The drip line is completely visible but I am not sure there is enough room for things to grow with out being battered by the water

This is a side of my house. Here the drip line is visble and so is the muddy path that the family treads. So What I was thinking is to put the rocks and then build a shade garden and path.

So my question is what to do with the middle photo and if it sounds like a plan for the last. Thanks

 

[Greensage45]

These are great areas for Cannas and Elephant ears. You might even be able to adapt a Philodendron there. The big leaves will direct the water outward and in different areas versus a direct solid drip that causes the backwash of dirt.

Another great idea is to use Ornamental Grasses that are mounded. Like the dwarf style Pampas Grass or Deer Grass and such (so many mounding grasses out there). They will take the water and not cause the drip trench!

Definitely get a path going. Those paver stones work well, but they are also so very easy to make! Otherwise that area in the back is going to get worse and worse.

Ron

Here is a form I used at my last house that I got from Lowes Home Improvement. You just set the form down and fill it with concrete. It was all so easy; no digging, no fuss. Then when it is done I filled between the concrete pavers with dry sacrete and watered it down!

 

[PunkinPeep]

I live in East Texas, and our house is like that too - no gutters. But no one thought to put down rocks under our drip line. I think that would be AWESOME!

Also, at first when i read what Greensage said about planting elephant ears or certain kinds of grass under the drip line, at first i questioned it. But then i remembered that there is one area where the previous owners (we're still fixing up) planted what i call monkey grass (i'm not sure about the real name), and in that area the drip line doesn't erode like it does all around the rest of the house. Good idea!

We're planning to put in gutters, but i think that priority is pretty low on the list, so maybe i'll plant the cannas in the mean time.