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Waterfalls and Ponds

The sound and motion of water impacts the atmosphere of a landscape like nothing else.  There is nothing more relaxing and pleasing after a hard day's work than to sit and watch water dance it's way down to a pond.  That is if the water is clear, doesn't smell and the water level isn't going down before your very eyes.

Everyone loves the idea of a water feature.  Back in the day when my dad used to build them, the pond was constructed out of concrete and the stones for the waterfall were mortared into place.  The pump sitting precariously visible at the bottom of the pond in the lowest point where all the debris ends up.  If you live in Utah, unless the pond concrete is poured 12 inches thick or sprayed on professionally with gunite, concrete is not a great idea because of the fact that we have freeze and thaw conditions that make the concrete crack.  So nowadays we have come leaps and bounds with water feature technology.  If you've surfed the web for waterfall filtrating componenets, there are dozens of choices out there and believe you me, they are not all the same.  We've been building waterfalls and ponds for better than 40 years as a company.  We have had to learn from our mistakes.  We nearly gave them up because of the inherent problems they caused because of the 'concrete' issue.  But because they impact a garden so much, we pressed on to learn how to build a lower maintenance version that made more sense for our customers.

I don't care how many 'how to' books or 'do it yourself' websites you visit (including this one), there is nothing that can replace having the experience of building one yourself.  If you've visited our waterfalls portfolio, you can see the quality of work we do.  We haven't pirated any of the pictures off of someone else's website or used some stock photo. We have personally built each and every one of the waterfalls you see on this website.  I will try to do an abbreviated guide to at least get you more familiar with the process.

• Where?  We suggest putting the pond where you can see it from the room you spend the most time in.  In most cases this is the kitchen or dining room window.  Next to a patio or deck where you spend a lot of time is where you'll get the most enjoyment.  The ideal spot is coming off of a natural hillside if you're fortunate enough to have one in the right location.
• Pond or no pond.  The latest lower maintenance trend is a 'pondless' water feature. You still get the sound and motion of the water, but you don't have the maintenance of a pond.  You can turn the pump off whenever you don't want the waterfall to run, saving on utilities.  Most pond systems are filtrated with a biological filtration system and the pump needs to run constantly for it to be effective.
• Waterfall with pond.  This is my personal choice.  I have Koi and goldfish and I absolutely love watching them slice by when I'm relaxing on my deck which is adjacent to my waterfall and pond.  Bear in mind though, it is more work.  No water feature is maintenance free.  However, with the equipment that is available today, the work is minimal and well worth the effort.  There is something about looking into the depth of the water that really gives me a tranquil feeling.  I absolutely love it.  But it isn't for everyone.
• Waterfall construction.  Decide how much of a drop you want from the top of your waterfall to where it hits the pond water level.  Basically, you will dig out the pond first and throw the spoil up where the waterfall is going to be, compacting it as you go.  A waterfall is without a doubt one of the most technically difficult features to build in a landscape if you're going to do it right.  This is where you have 98% of the leaks that cause the pond level to drop, not the pond itself.
• Take into careful consideration the access you have to your waterfall site.  Can you get a small mini excavator through the side yard?  This is going to save your back especially when it comes to digging out the pond and lifting the waterfall rocks into place.  If not, unless you're exceptionally creative, you should plan on using boulders you can handle by hand and plan on digging out the pond the old fashioned way.
• Once you've decided on the afore-mentioned, these are the basic steps:

1.      Determine the size, shape and gallons in your pond

2.      How much rise is there from the top of your waterfall to pond level

3.      How far does the water have to travel in linear feet to get to the pond

4.      What water filtration components you want to install

5.      How much sound do you want the waterfall to make

6.      Order you pond liner, geotextile (to cushion the liner), pump, filtration components, pipe, etc.

7.      Spray out the shape of your pond.

8.      Start digging along the edge of the outer spray mark.  Dig the whole shape out 12" deep. Move to the inside of pond at least 12" and spray another parallel line to the outside shape.

9.      Dig inside the newly sprayed line another 12 inches and repeat until you get to the middle.  Compact as you go with a tamper (a heavy plate of steel with a handle for pounding).  You're making shelves, or steps.  Make sure they are level.  Be sure to install any filtration component or any piping you may have chosen at the head of the waterfall if applicable.  Throw the dirt uphill to where you want your waterfall and use the tamper to compact the dirt as you go.  Don't wait until you have a giant pile to start compacting.  Compact continuously as you dig out your pond. 

10.    Start sculpting out your waterfall.  Visualize a mountain stream or river.  The water has taken the path of least resistance and has carved it's way out, washing away the dirt as it travels, digging it's pathway deeper and deeper as time goes on.  Make sure the walls where the water is going to be travelling are at least 6" vertical.  If you want longer drops where the water spills from one terrace to another, the walls of the waterfall will have to be even deeper. The point where the waterfall drops from one level to the another needs to be level from side to side. Use a carpenter's level for this.  The waterfall construction is the most critical aspect of making sure your waterfall doesn't leak.

11.    Install your filtration components for the pond.  Meaning a skimmer box, filter box, etc.

12.    Install the geotextile in the pond

13.    Install the liner

14.    Connect your filtration/skimmer box through the liner with it's individual components

15.    Shingle another piece of liner on top of your waterfall to overlap on top of the pond liner.  The pond liner should extend up onto the water fall with it's edge underneath the liner that is for the waterfall.  the overlap should be at least 3' long.

16.    Start placing rocks against the walls of each shelf with rocks 4"-12".  All you're doing is hiding the liner that is visible in it's vertical position.  Do this with any 'wall' that has liner over it.  In steeper areas, it's better to use a larger boulder to hide these areas rather than stacking a whole bunch of smaller rocks on top of each other.  This is best done with a backhoe.  DO NOT use a chain, use a webbing strap.  Something similar to what you see on a racheting strap system.  If you use a chain and lower the rock in, you will have to get it out.  This takes great care.  A lot of times you will end up muscling the strap out from underneath the rock and if you have used a chain instead, you will chance putting a hole in the liner.  even a small hole the size of a pinhead is going to cause major problems if the liner sits underwater.

17.    Working your way from the bottom of the waterfall up, start placing the biggest boulders to conceal the vertical walls of each drop.   Lower these in carefully with the strap and backhoe if you are able to reach.  Otherwise,  lower them in carefully by hand.

18.    Rock in the rest using the biggest stones on the bottom and working upward with smaller stones.  Where the water drops, use the flattest thinnest stone possible so the water flows over the top of without having to build up too much behind it.  The whole idea is to make the waterfall look as natural as you possibly can.  On the flat horizontal areas you will hide the liner with gravel.  Once all the liner is concealed you may think you’re ready to plug in the pump and see a beautiful waterfall cascading down all of your hard work.  You’ll quickly find out that the water will simply run underneath the stones you’ve placed and I’ll guarantee that you’ll be disappointed.  The next step is using waterfall foam much like Greatstuff insulation foam to fill in underneath the stones where the water will actually falls.  It skins over fairly quickly, but you’ll need to give it a little time to cure before testing out the waterfall.  This will take a fair amount of tweaking and foaming, but this is the fun part.  Take not of areas that need to be shored up where the water is too close for comfort and needs to be shored up and supported.  DO NOT TRIM THE LINER until you have made sure there is at least a foot of excess around the edges.  The liner will be strategically folded under and concealed with more stone.  There are definite do’s and don’t to concealing the liner, but whatever you do, don’t trim it until you’re absolutely positive there’s extra to work with.  This should be absolutely one of the last things you do.

There is definitely a lot more to building a waterfall than is outlined here, but to try and explain it here would be difficult and wouldn’t have the same effectiveness as some sort of visual aid such as a video.  This could possibly be something that might happen in the future.