Building pond & waterfall into existing ledge

[Meghan724]

Hi everyone!
We are finishing our first pond with a natural waterfall into an existing ledge and we're hoping to find ideas and suggestions from people who have created a similar type of pond. The majority of the pond's shape was naturally created by an indent in the granite, and we've built up the edges using other pieces of granite. The only thing left to do it line and seal it, and although we are planning to use cement, we are open to suggestions from people who have experience with this kind of project. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

 

[Somethin' Fishy]

Welcome to the forum!

It looks like you have an area there to work with that could be turned into a real dramatic water feature. How is the rain water run off in this location? I see the stone along the one edge, and splash-up on the siding along the other...so (and only based on my prospective from the photos), I would be considering how to divert rain water from the upper area washing muck down into the waterfall pool, and making sure any new change in the landscape doesn't direct more water toward your foundation, including pool overflow.

I don't have the experience to know which method is better as far as cement vs. liner in this particular instance, but maybe there are others here on the forum to help with that.

I hope you will share your progress on this water feature here on the forum, I bet there are others aside from myself that would love to see how it turns out! How I would love having stone outcroppings like that in my yard to play with! Best of luck.

 

[Lisak1]

Wow! Those are some massive rocks you're working with! Help me out here - When you say "natural waterfall" what exactly does that mean? I also see trees - are those staying?

 

[mgmine]

With the rock in the pond, it will be hard, if not impossible to seal. You might be better off taking the rock back out then putting a liner in it then putting the rock back in. It is easier to form the liner around the huge rock if there isn't anything in the way. Once lined then you will have to attach the liner to the huge rock at a point above the desired water level. You can use adhesive as well as screws but leave enough slack so that when the water fills it doesn't pull on the liner. Fill the pond and let things settle then drain it and go from there. If the sides of the pond aren't high enough you will have to build them up with plenty of dirt. In the end, you want to create a watertight basin. Once you have that you can concentrate on the waterfall. The other alternative would be to get a swimming pool company to shoot it with gunite.

 

[j.w]

@Meghan724

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Welcome to the forum!