Homemade Waterfall & Pond
- 1). Delineate the pond perimeter with mason's string. Excavate the area with the spade. Ideally there should be four depths: the coping shelf around the pond perimeter around 5 inches deep; the shallows, which should be approximately 12 inches deep; mid-level of approximately 18 inches and a deep end of approximately 24 inches. Roughly 40 percent of the pond should comprise the deep end, with the rest shared between the other levels.
- 2). Decide where you want your waterfall, then extend the coping shelf to accommodate the waterfall weir, the water wheel powered by the pump that makes the waterfall flow, around 3 inches wider on all sides than the weir. Make a similar enclave for the waterfall pump -- ensure that the enclave is deep enough for there to be at least 3 inches of water over the pump when the pond is full.
- 3). Dig a channel connecting the pump position and the waterfall weir, large enough to fit the poly piping. Choose poly piping large enough to fit the pump hose snugly inside. Insert the pump hose into the piping, with excess hose out each end, then place the piping and hose into the ditch and bury it with soil. Take out the pump and weir for now.
- 4). Spread sand over the entire pond bottom about an inch thick for a cushioning layer for the pond liner. Place the pond liner over the top of the pond, first pressing it into the deep end. It may help to fill the liner with water at the deep end so that the weight presses the liner to the bottom. Spread the liner over the other sections of the pond. River stones can also help to weigh it down.
- 5). Secure the perimeter of the pond liner with randomly arranged river stones all around the coping shelf, so that the pond looks natural. Trim any excess liner with scissors at the edge of the coping shelf. Place river stones in the waterfall weir enclave to build up the height of the waterfall. Place the waterfall weir on top, attach the pump hose to the hose nozzle on the weir, then continue placing river stones to obscure the weir and make a natural-looking waterfall.
- 6). Fill a bucket with water and pour it over the waterfall from the position where the weir will spill water to test the flow of the water. Rearrange the stones as necessary. If needed, spray a little black foam, also called waterfall foam, into crevices and nooks between rocks to fill them up and help secure the waterfall. Black foam is a type of expanding foam glue regularly used for constructing ponds and waterfalls.
- 7). Place the pump in its enclave and attach the hose. Obscure the pump with a couple of stones, the run the power cord to the power outlet. Fill up the pond with water then turn the pump on. The pump will force water through the hose to the waterfall weir to make a flow of water over the stone waterfall.
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