Greatest Mother's Day present ever — was building a waterfall in our backyard together with my son. Thanks also go to another older son who contributed a few heavier rocks as well, and my hubby who was in charge of hooking up the plumbing aspects and critiquing as we went along.
We now have something beautiful that we all did together to enjoy for many years to come. Here's how the project developed with most of the back-breaking labor handled over a long weekend.
Here's the site with my son Mike in front. He's 6' tall, the fall will be 22' total length with a 6' basin pond below for the circulating water.
Here's what the fall will connect to. A koi pond we built a few years back and established with aspen trees, cotoneaster, water lilies and irises.
I want the falls to look like they sprang up out of nature to cascade into the pond below.
Step 1 Dig it out. Determine a natural flow that works with gravity and nature. Dig full length, one to three feet deep into the hillside. 22' long, roughly 10' high, plus 2' deep x 6' ellipse basin. Took me about five hours to dig.
Step 2 Create a strong skeleton. Contour a Stair-stepping foundation for the stone work and cascades. I used cement block where two 30" drops will be: one at top, one at basin. Landscape timbers used for ten stair-step drops of 9" to 18"
Timbers to the side show where ground terracing will be.
Treated lumber and cement blocks used for this foundation, then filled in with the surrounding dirt.
Side view shows how the staircase foundation has a natural flow to it.
Step 3 Put an underlayment over the groundwork. This prevents the stones from damaging the rubber liner.
Underliner clearly shows the full area for the new waterfall. This padding goes over the dirt,
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