Hello, Novice Gardener1
Why are you wanting to rid your stream of plants? What are the plants in question? As you are dealing with a wetland, it may be of help and also best for the environment to contact your local land use office, conservation commission, cooperative extension office,and/or other appropriate 'expert advice" organization to ask for guidance.

I would enjoy seeing your photos.

I started this forum some time ago and have watched it languish. At last someone with a real garden restoration query!!

Regards,
Ginger

Thank you FireVicar, you are very kind. Here are a few pictures. I intend to take some additional photos this weekend and post them, which will help give a better overall picture of the grounds.
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well it turns out that the 'creek' is actually man made, to help channel the water off the property. What I thought was a 'pond' is actually a "collection pool" (once the water rises to a certain level, it then flows out the other side, down a channel ('creek') to the neighbors property).

I need to tackle the grasses, that are choking the 'creek'. Before I used my weed eater & rake, the water was hardly moving at all, now it is flowing pretty good. I have only tackled about a 1/3 of it so far.

I need to know how to stop the grass from choking the flow again, as this 'creek' is essential to the drainage for most of my property.

I was thinking of using river rock, to 'line' the 'bed' of the channel. I thought the river rock would allow the water to flow, while preventing the grasses from laying seed in the soil bed - would this work? Is there something else that [you] would/could suggest that we try?

I know I couldnt use sand or small pebble rock, as the water would just wash it 'dowstream', into the collection pond. River rock was the only material that I thought would work.

OOOOOPPPPPSSSS, I meant Ginger, not FireVicar. Silly me.

THIS PICTURE IS THE FRONT OF THE GROUNDS - LOOKING INTO THE CENTER OF TE PASTURE PART OF THE GROUNDS

THIS IMAGE IS TAKEN FROM RIGHT FENCE LINE - FACING THE MIDDLE OF THE 'PASTURE' PART OF THE GROUNDS (THIS IS ALSO WHERE THE DRAINAGE 'CREEK' IS LOCATED

THIS IMAGE IS TAKEN FROM THE NEAR RIGHT CORNER OF THE FENCE LINE, FACING THE CENTER OF THE 'PASTURE' AREA (again, this is where the irrigation creek is located).

THE IMAGE BELOW WAS TAKEN FROM THE RIGHT SIDE PROPERTY LINE, FACING THE WOODS RIGHT-SIDE TREE LINE.

THE IMAGE BELOW WAS TAKEN OF THE FAR RIGHT SIDE OF THE WOODS TREE LINE.

THIS IMAGE BELOW WAS TAKEN OF THE WOODS & IT'S ENTRY TRAIL, FROM THE HILL TOP, ON FAR RIGHT SIDE OF PROPERTY LINE.

THIS IMAGE BELOW WAS TAKEN OF THE WOODS ENTRY, FROM RIGHT SIDE OF TREE LINE.

THIS IMAGE WAS TAKEN AT THE CENTER OF THE WOODS, WHERE ALL THE OVERGROWN PATHS MEET.

THIS IMAGE WAS TAKEN FROM CENTER OF THE WOODS, FACING OUT, TOWARDS THE HOUSE.

THIS IS A IMAGE OF THE FOLIAGE FOUND THROUGHOUT THE WOODS.

I SURE HOPE THAT THE NEW IMAGES HELP EVERYONE TO SEE WHAT I AM RAMBLING ON ABOUT AND POSSIBLY HELP GIVE [YOU] SOME GREAT IDEAS FOR RESTORING IT TO IT'S FORMER GLORY.

We live in the same general area. My land looked like yours when I first moved here. It had been logged over several times and then used as a pasture for a number of years. Several large Doug Fir stumps still remain.

I started out by bulldozing a road into where the house was to be located and then I cleared out an area around the house. I then bulldozed a lot of ground up and out of the low places where it had been settling since the last glacial age. I spread the wet, rich soil on top of the higher, thin soil and started planting. Trees first, shrubs next and finally groundcovers and some perennials. I did dress up the flower beds around the house first and worked out from there. The only exception being a privacy screen of Western Red Cedars along one property line that needed it right away.

Perhaps I can be of help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of my garden

Seems as if you have received mucho good advice on the LD forum. Great photos of a beautiful property. Hope you are talking with BoTann whose gardens are exemplary.
G.

What a great property. Yes, there's a lot of hard work ahead but the 'bones' are good. The hardest part of creating a new garden is waiting for the trees to grow, but you have them already. Faced with a similar situation a few years ago we bit the bullet and engaged a landscape designer to help. Best money we ever spent, and didn't cost as much as we feared it might, and her advice was worth far more than we paid. We were not newbies but were rather daunted by the task. If you are a 'newbie' you'll benefit enormously. The secret is in the way you word the brief - in your case, you are not looking for a whole new design, but assistance in restoring what is already there. I spoke to several LAs before I found the one I knew understood what I was looking for. Good luck - and enjoy your beautiful garden

Hi! I'm in Ferndale, WA. My husband and I moved here from Alpine, CA (east of San Diego) a little over a year ago and just love it. And...it really does NOT rain here all the time (at least in the upper northwest corner of WA where we are). We have a little over 4 acres with mostly dense growth, some soggy areas in one back corner of the property, but the grounds around the house are very nice...just need work and tender loving care, which we are doing SLOWLY. Bye for now. Have to get outside and do some work. Regards, Tricia

Kierstin..beautiful pictures. Your property looks a lot like some of our property. Are you near Ferndale, WA? Fortunately the previous owners did a lot of work landscaping, but in the later years they couldn't keep it up so it became overgrown. I went to BoTann's site and his pictures of his property are absolutely beautiful...and inspiring. When I figure out how to send pictures, I'll send some of our property.