New-home landscape
Tumble Creek Dry Creek & New-Home Landscape
Landscaping for a newly built home: river-rock dry creeks that wind around the house, a small footbridge by the back patio, boulder berms and artificial turf out back.
This home in Tumble Creek, part of Suncadia, was newly built. It needed a landscape that would handle water from day one and settle into the pines around it. We finished it in summer 2026, and the professional photos on this page show how it turned out.
Start with the water
Every spring, snowmelt and rain come off the roof and across the lot looking for the low spot. On a new home, you want that low spot to be anywhere but the foundation. So we started the design with drainage.
River-rock dry creek beds wind around the house and run along both sides, giving runoff a path away from the home. They don’t look like drainage. They curve around mulch islands and boulders like a creek bed that has gone dry for the summer. By the covered back patio, a small footbridge crosses the creek, so the drainage reads as part of the yard instead of a ditch beside it.
Beds, berms and the front approach
Mulch beds and berms with boulders give the ground some shape. They’re planted with young spruce and aspens that will fill in over the coming years, part of a palette of native plantings picked for dry summers and hard winters. Out front, river-rock beds and boulders frame the driveway entrance, so the house looks settled from the street.
Artificial turf out back
Behind the home, we laid artificial turf in a curved shape and edged it with river rock and gravel. It stays green through a dry August under the pines, with no watering or mowing for a house that isn’t always occupied. A gravel path and a flagstone stepping path lead around it, and the rock edging keeps the curves clean and gives the line between green and woods a finished look. There’s more on paths like these on our patios and walkways page.
During the build
These three photos were taken while the work was underway: a river-rock swale going in beside the house, rock and plantings along the back patio, and rock-edged drainage along the driveway. Our own crew did the digging, grading and rock work.
What it does now
Runoff has a planned route around the house, and the yard sits easily among the pines. For a look at what a pond and waterfalls can add, see the Tumble Creek pond and waterfalls project in the same community.
Building a new home, or just moved into one? Book a free design consult or call 509-260-3659, and we’ll plan the landscape around how water moves on your lot.
Keep looking
More projects
16 photos
Tumble Creek Pond, Waterfalls & Dry Creek
Waterfalls and a flowing creek feeding a pond, dry creek beds winding through the woods and an aspen grove out front, designed and built in one season.
5 photos
Suncadia Artificial Turf with a Natural Rock Surround
Beside a Suncadia pool patio, a fussy patch of lawn became artificial turf, edged with river rock, boulders and native beds so it belongs in the pines.
Free design consult
Start with a walk around your property
Brandon will walk the property with you, listen to what you have in mind and talk through what will work on your slope, soil and snow. The consult is free.