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Garden Water Falls
In constructing garden water falls, place the large "side" rocks and then fill between them with slightly smaller rocks until you get to the level you want your first “platform” rock – the rock you want the water to splash over – to be. Some builders use a flat rock on the bottom for the water to land onto, other simply use larger round rocks on the pond bottom for the water to fall on. Using a spirit level to ensure the platform rock is dead level, add or subtract rocks below to ensure this flat rock (pro builders use flagstone for these platform rocks) is dead level. Caution The waterfall has to be in synch with the size of the pond if you want it to look good. I once saw a waterfall that had the volume of Niagara Falls going into a six foot pond (the pump was an old third-horsepower well pump) and frankly it was a little overdone.
There are two schools of thought about building garden water falls at this point. The first is that you build the entire water falls first, ensure you have it correct and then take it carefully apart to seal and set the rocks properly. The second is that you seal everything up as you go, trusting that you get it right the first time. A word to the wise from somebody who has done this. Do it the first way – while it is a pain to take it apart you do get to see how it looks and make your mistakes easily corrected. Once you start foaming and sealing things together, it becomes more difficult to take it apart. If you are building a multi-stage falls, then simply continue adding rocks to the back of the falls to build up to the next platform rock. Repeat the leveling and ensuring this second platform rock(s) is dead level for the water to form a clean sheet while going over it. Go to the next page for a continuation of garden water falls suggestions. Click here for free newsletter or to ask questions about waterfalls
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