Once you have a garden pond, you’re probably going to need to build a waterfall in it. After all, what looks any pleasanter than cascades of sparkling water falling over the rocks or sounds any more natural? As well as looking and sounding beautiful, a waterfall is also very functional in circulating water and allowing it to oxygenate which enables your fish to respire well. Although you could be thinking that your yard is too flat to support a waterfall feature, you’ll find that it’s simple enough to build one yourself, and the waterfall you create will seriously add to the atmosphere you’ve developed in your yard.

While creating a stream will only need a drop of 1″ per ten feet, you will need considerably more drop for a waterfall. If you have additional soil left from digging your pond, you can use it to create a natural landscape that has fall. By all means, don’t just pile the mud in an ugly hump. Level and mix the soil into gradual dips and falls. If you’re fortunate enough to have a yard with natural slopes, you can exploit it by building a collection of pools with waterfalls flowing into each one of them them. If you do this, take care that the top pond holds the least water and the lowest pond holds the most. If you don’t have the natural fall, you might wish to purchase a fiberglass insert that will mold your landscape for you.

Be certain to build your waterfall with sides that are high enough to keep your water from splashing out. You will also must line the sides so that the water doesn’t just soak away into the ground. When you build a waterfall you will create a pumping system to recycle water back up to the top of your falls. While some of your water will evaporate as you might expect, you can slow the decrease in water flow by taking these preventive measures. If you can afford to have water piped to your water garden, this won’t be an issue for you. Otherwise, you need to be prepared to add water to your pond on at least a weekly basis. Use rocks to keep your liners in place and to provide a natural-looking setting for your water garden.

There is plenty of planning that goes into building a great waterfall, but if you use the techniques and methods you’ll find on the Internet, you can successfully add a waterfall to your water garden and make your yard the showplace of the neighborhood.

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