Energize your Garden with a Waterfall

Waterfalls can work wonders for any garden, instantly creating an atmosphere of serenity and vitality. The gushing sound of the water as it cascades down rocks, stones, or artificial rock surfaces gives any backyard a relaxing ambiance that will make you want to spend hours relaxing nearby.

If you want to create your own backyard waterfall, there are a few things to consider before you begin. Size, placement, water containment, and the design of the waterfall itself will all come into play when creating your garden waterfall. You should carefully consider each of these elements before you begin, so you can decide what will work best for your yard, tastes, and budget.

Size - Do you want a grand, impressive waterfall that serves as the main design element in your yard? If so, that's going to be a completely different project than creating a small, pebbly waterfall on a pre-existing slope. When deciding on the scale that you desire, consider the fact that the larger the waterfall, the more money and manpower you're going to need. Rocks for larger waterfalls can be very heavy and require three or more people to carry and set up. In contrast, small waterfalls can often be built in a single afternoon by one or two people, using relatively cheap materials.

Placement - If there's already a pond or other water feature in your yard that you're building your waterfall around, you probably already know exactly where you want your waterfall to be placed. If not, take a look at the layout of your yard. A pre-existing slope, if you have one, is the perfect place to build your new waterfall. You'll be creating an artificial slope behind your pond to serve as the basis of the water feature if you don't already have one. You want the waterfall to be placed where it can serve as a beautiful focal point for the yard, and possibly can also be enjoyed from indoors looking out.

Water Containment - Unless you already have a garden pond or pool, you'll need a container for the water to flow into. Pre-fabricated resin pond forms can be purchased from any major home and garden supply store and are a quick, easy way to get started. However, they limit the size and shape of your pond. If you want to get more creative, use pond liner - it requires a bit more effort, but gives you ultimate flexibility. For smaller waterfalls, you can use various decorative containers such as half barrels or Japanese-style granite basins.

Design of the Waterfall Feature - Waterfalls can be designed in many different ways to suit different situations and tastes. Here are just a few ways you can build yours:

• Create a cascade - a multi-tiered design features water falling from stone to stone into a pool. You can build high, dramatic, rocky facades with large slabs of rock, or a small cascade with beach stones or river rocks.
• Get an artesian well effect - water bubbles up between stones and then flows over the edge of one and into a steam or pool. This effect is easily created; it requires fewer stones and less height.
• Create a mini stream - dig a trough into the slope above your pond, covering it with pond liner and river rocks. The water flow can start from the top and flow down the trough and into the container at the bottom.

Once you've decided on exactly what you want using these guidelines, you're ready to start building your waterfall. If you've decided that assembling a waterfall yourself using rocks, pond liner or pond form, a pump, and various other supplies is a bit more than you want to take on, you may want to consider a pre-fabricated backyard waterfall. Our previous article, Instant Waterfalls for Your Backyard, can help you if that's the case.

On the other hand, if all this daydreaming about the amazing waterfall you're planning to create has got you eager to get started, we recommend either checking out a book at your local library to help you with all the details or using one of the following online guides:

How to Build Waterfalls by About.com
Waterfalls & Accents by DIYNetwork.com
Garden Pond and Waterfall by HGTV.com
Do-it-Yourself Waterfall by HGTV.com

Want to see a waterfall building project in action? Watch the DIY network's 'Weekend Warriors' on June 8th or July 16th 2007 at 6pm for an episode focusing on building a rock waterfall, complete with a pond and stream. You can also see a waterfall being built on the DIY network show 'Rock Solid'; air times are listed here.