Hello all. I am hoping to build a pondless waterfall this summer. I have a couple other landscape tasks to finish first but I have been lurking here for a couple weeks looking for info & inspiration. I found both by the way! I have a couple initial questions as I try to plan this out. First I can give you a quick & dirty idea of what we are after and my area we have to work with.
The area: A down hill slope in the backyard. Fairly steep at the top. Maybe a 40 degree angle transitioning into a 25-30 degree near the bottom. It will be near the house.The stream within 6 feet and the basin may be closer. From the bottom of the hill to the top is around 6 feet vertically. The area the stream/waterfall will run thru is probably 10 feet wide.
What we are after: Slightly winding shallow stream with at least 2 falls.Probably no more than a foot wide. I would like for it to run the length of the hill as much as possible. At the top of hill is our deck & at the bottom a small concrete pad for our walkout.We will like to have veiws from both locations as best possible.We want to enjoy the sounds of the falls without it being to much for the area.
Now here are a couple concerns/questions that I would love to hear some responces to. I am a bit concerned about drainage since the basin will sit next to my walkout.In the event of some heavy rain there may be some overflow issue's I am sure. I have an drainage tile within about 15 feet that I could tap into.This leads to the first real project question I have.I should have added to the "Wants" area info on our budget. It is small so I guess that makes it easy to overlook! No way the treasury department is going to go for a waterfall kit purchase.So I have readily available some 55gallon hard plastic drums I can use for basin. I thought I could place it at the correct depth to allow an overflow adapter to be added that I can run to my drainage tile. I can't believe in all the web surfing I have done in the last 2 weeks I have not seen this done. That in turn has lead to concerns about it not being a good idea. I see alot - if not most use a liner with rock or milk crates (which I like better) to create the basin. I could do this in my area but I can't see how I could implement an overflow safeguard.I feel pretty strongly about having some type of overflow removal plan.Also not sure if 50 gallons is enough water??
I will stop hear for now.I apologize for the long post.I could probably fill the site with everything that has been running thru my head! If this should be in another area of the forum please let me know and I'll move it.I look forward to any responses.
Thanks-baboiler
The area: A down hill slope in the backyard. Fairly steep at the top. Maybe a 40 degree angle transitioning into a 25-30 degree near the bottom. It will be near the house.The stream within 6 feet and the basin may be closer. From the bottom of the hill to the top is around 6 feet vertically. The area the stream/waterfall will run thru is probably 10 feet wide.
What we are after: Slightly winding shallow stream with at least 2 falls.Probably no more than a foot wide. I would like for it to run the length of the hill as much as possible. At the top of hill is our deck & at the bottom a small concrete pad for our walkout.We will like to have veiws from both locations as best possible.We want to enjoy the sounds of the falls without it being to much for the area.
Now here are a couple concerns/questions that I would love to hear some responces to. I am a bit concerned about drainage since the basin will sit next to my walkout.In the event of some heavy rain there may be some overflow issue's I am sure. I have an drainage tile within about 15 feet that I could tap into.This leads to the first real project question I have.I should have added to the "Wants" area info on our budget. It is small so I guess that makes it easy to overlook! No way the treasury department is going to go for a waterfall kit purchase.So I have readily available some 55gallon hard plastic drums I can use for basin. I thought I could place it at the correct depth to allow an overflow adapter to be added that I can run to my drainage tile. I can't believe in all the web surfing I have done in the last 2 weeks I have not seen this done. That in turn has lead to concerns about it not being a good idea. I see alot - if not most use a liner with rock or milk crates (which I like better) to create the basin. I could do this in my area but I can't see how I could implement an overflow safeguard.I feel pretty strongly about having some type of overflow removal plan.Also not sure if 50 gallons is enough water??
I will stop hear for now.I apologize for the long post.I could probably fill the site with everything that has been running thru my head! If this should be in another area of the forum please let me know and I'll move it.I look forward to any responses.
Thanks-baboiler