In planning to build a
backyard waterfall,
you should focus on two parts: the pool
into which the water falls and the
cascading arrangement for the waterfall
itself. The last is often harder to
build, but here I show you how to
construct it in a way that is not only
simple, but cheap. It engages using
rock, which many landowners have right
on their own property (or can find
readily elsewhere). When these two
structures are in place, you'll use a
pump in the pond to keep water
re-circulating from the pond to the top
of your backyard waterfall, whence it
can force back down to the pond.
Backyard waterfalls come in all forms
and sizes and make for emphatic focal
points. When thinking over your
backyard landscaping design
alternatives, the main consideration is
how to attain the needed height for the
waterfall.
Often,
a landscape designer uses a
backyard slope on the
property, or else (if the whole
property is level ground) erects a berm
(i.e., an artificial slope) to build
such an area at the rear of the pond.
Either way, it means a lot of work! And
it won't be cheap, either. When
building such huge backyard waterfalls,
you must lay down a flexible liner on
the ground between the top of the
waterfall and the pond, to guide the
water. Boulders are then placed on the
liner to hide it and hold it
down.
Unless
you're building an outdoor waterfall of
large dimensions, such work and expense
are needless. Indeed, many homeowners
with small spaces in which to landscape
would prefer a smaller backyard
waterfall, as long as it brings the
magnificently soothing sound that
results from water striking water. One
option is to use pre-cast concrete
forms that imitate stone for the
cascading arrangement. They're compact
and easy to put in, as they're simply
stacked up over the edge of the pond.
But they cost money. If you have access
to natural rocks, why not take
advantage of a free resource? That's
the route I take in this outdoor
waterfall project.
Supplies Needed to Build
Backyard Waterfalls
Cheaply!
Rocks.
Submersible pump.
Tubing to run from pump to top of
waterfall.
Large plastic flower pot (or similar)
to house tubing.
Rigid pond liner.
Carpenter's level.
Shovel.
Sand.
Garden hose.
You should be able
to buy the pump, tubing and rigid pond
liner that you'll need to build
outdoor waterfalls at
major hardware
chains.
See if you can find
25-30 rocks. A combination of sizes and
forms is fine, but include at least a
few large, flat rocks. This is a
drywall plan, so it is
surely to your benefit to have flatter
rocks, where there's a choice: they're
easier to stabilize. You can collect
several extra smaller stones to place
around the edge of your pond (to hide
the plastic edge) as ornamental
elements.
The pump you can
used is a "Little Giant" submersible
pump, with a 6' cord. It's a 120 GPH
pump, which means it displaces 120
gallons of water per hour - enough for
such a small garden pond. The width of
the tubing that fits this particular
pump is 1/2 inch. Use a small, cheap
rigid plastic pond liner (also called a
"preformed" liner) that is 2' in
diameter and 7"
deep.
You'll use the sand
to provide "adjustable flooring" for
your rigid plastic pond liner. Along
with a carpenter's level, this will be
helpful when you try to get your pond
liner to sit level in its
hole.
But before doing any
digging for your backyard waterfall,
have a certified electrician install a
GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter)
outlet near where the pond and
waterfall will be, if you don't already
have one. Since the cord length of the
pump I selected was 6', I established a
location for mine that would be within
6' of the outlet. An ideal location in
your landscaping for a waterfall is
near a patio, where you can enjoy its
soothing
sounds.
There's another
matter to attend to even before
contacting an electrician. You should
contact your local utility companies to
make sure your digging for a backyard
waterfall and pond won't harm any
buried utility
lines.
