If you’re new to water features, a little nervous to try them, or just plain lazy, then consider this your personal guide to installing a backyard pond and waterfall.
There will be no fancy-pants koi fish to clean up after, no custom river rapids, and no Niagara-sized waterfalls here. We’re working with the simple stuff: a basic rigid plastic pond liner, a waterfall pump kit, rocks, and aquatic plants — all of which should be available at your local garden center or home improvement store.
Placement
The first step is deciding where to put your water feature. Build your pond where you can see and enjoy it but — more importantly — where there aren’t any buried electrical cords or pipes waiting around to ruin your day. Call your local utility company before you dig, and they’ll send someone out to locate and label any buried lines.
Also, place your pond where the plants will thrive. Most pond plants prefer full sun, but provide afternoon shade to prevent your pond from turning into a Jacuzzi on hot summer days.
Carefully plan the location of your waterfall pump so that it looks amazing, but is also close enough to an electrical outlet and easily accessible for maintenance. Depending on the model of pump you use, you might need to purchase additional supplies to protect the cord and plug from rain.
Photo from Zillow listing
Excavation
Since we’re working with a rigid liner (think fancy kiddie pool), digging isn’t all that complicated. Make your pit large enough to accommodate the liner’s “shelves.” You can save all that lovely dirt on a tarp and fill it back in later.
Once you’ve finished digging, place the liner in the pit. If it doesn’t fit, that’s OK — keep digging! Spread leveling sand at the bottom of the pit, smooth it flat with a two-by-four, and stomp on it to pack it down. For maximum entertainment, do this while the neighbors watch.
Installation
Your liner should fit within the pit, but it’s OK if it doesn’t fit like a big plastic puzzle piece. Remember that tarp you covered with lovely dirt? Use that dirt to fill the gaps between the liner and the edge of the pit.
Whenever you get tired, take a break, and fill up part of the pond with a garden hose. Going back and forth like this will keep the liner from bending under the water’s weight. If you’re using gravel, thoroughly wash it before adding to the pond.
After filling the pond with water and filling the gaps around the liner with dirt, allow the pump to run for a few days before adding plants. This will allow you to spot any problems with the flow, which is especially important, because a leak between liners or an overly splashy waterfall will leave you with an empty pond and a struggling pump.
Take your time! This is the fun part, after all, and it’s a lot easier to make changes before planting the landscaping.
Photo from Zillow listing
Plants and stones
A water feature should look as if it were put there by nature, so keep it simple.
For example, when designing your waterfall, use only a few attractive, large stones to form your spillway. There are two reasons for this: One is that in nature, flooding and heavy rain wash away soil or small rocks. The other reason is that you want your waterfall to be the focal point, and a jumble of stones is difficult to interpret at first glance and feels cluttered.
You will likely use flat stones to cover the edge of your plastic liner, but without finesse, this will look totally unnatural. Use stones in a variety of shapes and widths, just as you’d find in nature, and let luxuriant ferns, sedges, and flowers billow over the edge to soften the boundary between water and land.
To prevent soil from splashing or washing into your pond, add a 1 to 1 ½-inch layer of mulch around any plantings. In addition to your pump’s filter, a bag of barley straw will also help keep the water clean.
Frame and anchor the scene with bushes, tall perennials, and small trees, but space them according to label instructions and don’t plant them too close to the pond. Also, avoid planting anything that will grow and cover up your pretty view. Your new planting might look sparse for now, but by next year it will look as if it’s always been there.
Source: zillow.com
