- 1). Lay out the water course with the wooden stakes and string. A sloping area is best as it gives a natural fall angle for the water and reduces the amount of soil you need to move for the job. The length of the water course is determined only by your needs, but a retaining pond at the bottom will be necessary to collect the water to pump it back to the top of the fall. Allow one to two small step-type features to give the water breaking area. These can have small collecting pools as well, but this is not necessary.
- 2). Excavate the course, removing enough soil to allow for the liner and rock to be placed and not to push the water over the edges of your fall. You want the water to remain in the feature so you don't have to add water continually or run your pump dry. A good idea is to have a small pool-type space at the top where the pump delivers the water, one to two down angle falls with flat spaces or pools below them, and then one last fall to the bottom collecting pool. A simple plan can merely be a fall that runs down a rock-filled run into a small collecting pool and is pumped back to the top.
- 3). Lay the delivery pipe that will carry the water back to the top along the side of the course to be sure the length is adequate. You can put the pipe along one side of the course tucked into an edge, or you can run it along the outside of the course and bury it separately, so that if it needs to be repaired, you don't have to dig up the entire waterfall.
- 4). Install the liner in the course. Be sure it comes up and over the edges of the excavated area by at least six inches. Remove any sharp stones that may lie beneath it to keep it from being punctured and causing water loss.
- 5). Run water down the course to test the fall and the liner for any leaks.
- 6). Begin adding your stone. Small stones can line the bottom of the fall and pool, with larger stones to the outside building up to ledges and edges. River rocks and small cobbles work well in the bottom and are smooth. Large pieces of stone slab make excellent fall features to stack at the edges and for collecting pools where the water can run over them. If not slabs, use larger rocks to line the vertical sides and fall areas. Be sure to cover the liner where it laps over the outside edges; large rocks should cover this area to keep the liner stable.
- 7). Connect the pump and place it in the collecting pool. Before stabilizing or camouflage it, turn it on and test the fall of the water. Make any alterations to the course needed. Install lighting and plants in the collecting pool if desired and enjoy your pond.
previous post