My First Pondless Waterfall

[greygizmo]

Hello!
Probably like many of you, I've become fascinated with the waterfalls all the great artists on YouTube create and share. After 2 years of devouring all of the content I can get my hands on, I'm finally embarking on my first water feature.
So far I've carved out the main structure of what will become a pondless waterfall feature in my front yard. I'll be buying a 15'x20' liner today, along with 3 large aquablox. In the pit I plan to use a stack of hollowed-out milk crates for the "pump vault."
The bottom of the pit is dug to 30" below the sidewalk. On top of the aquablox I'm planning to place a bed of 2-8" cobble mix to make up the height difference. I have various boulders, up to 3' and 4', to build the main stream path. The rock that is standing upright on the bed of gravel is 48" tall and will not be part of the waterfall path.
I'm doing this entirely DIY and piecing things together as I go. I'm finding it VERY HARD to envision the finished project entirely so I'm just focusing on doing one step at a time. My reason for posting is to open myself up for advice and suggestions from all the wonderful and knowledgeable people in this community!

 

[bagsmom]

I can relate! I have watched so many pond and waterfall builds! When I watch them, I think "I've got it. Yes. I understand all these basic design principles and I know how they work." Then, I get outside with my big rocks and my excavation (that at this point, is what is is and can't be changed) and go "What??? What do I do? How will this work?"
As you said - One step at a time!
Your project is looking great so far!
And welcome!

 

[greygizmo]

I can relate! I have watched so many pond and waterfall builds! When I watch them, I think "I've got it. Yes. I understand all these basic design principles and I know how they work." Then, I get outside with my big rocks and my excavation (that at this point, is what is is and can't be changed) and go "What??? What do I do? How will this work?"
As you said - One step at a time!
Your project is looking great so far!
And welcome!

Oh yeah, I can totally relate! It seems like l just repeatedly ask myself "ok, this is where I am now, what's my best option?"

After laying down the liner, I'm worried about how little material I have available for edging around the pit. My photo makes it look like I have more than I have, both because of the wide-angle lens and the fact that the top of the current pit sits about 6" below where I intend to raise the level too.

I dug the pit to 30" below the level of the sidewalk (which is where I am standing while taking this photo), which now seems excessive. So I'm going to reduce the depth of the pit by about 9" tonight. That will help recover some additional material and also make future servicing of the pit simpler.

I also wish I had more liner up near the origin of the waterfall in the upper-left corner. I'm starting to think that I might just by an Aquascape Biofalls 1000 because I can clamp that to the corner of the liner and call it good. But... I'm having a hard time swalling the price tag on that one.

 

[GBBUDD]

i'm not understanding all the depressed area but the liner is not covering it all that you have excavated. is there a video you have molded this after?

 

[greygizmo]

i'm not understanding all the depressed area but the liner is not covering it all that you have excavated. is there a video you have molded this after?

I've attached a really crude illustration of what I was talking about. I pulled the liner last night and begain shoring up the surrounding ground level to provide a better starting point for the build out (see photo).

I excavated more of the berm on the left side of the pit and realized I should probably shift the entire pit to the left by about a foot. This would provide a more straight path for the waterfall and make better use of the rectangular pond liner. Having it on a significant diagonal across the contributed to the problem.

So I'll be tackling that today, in addition to planting a 10' Serbian spruce tree on the berm this weekend. I wanted to do the planting after the boulders were set, but today is tree day so I'll need to work around it. Rain is in the forecast all holiday weekend so it's going to get muddy.

 

[greygizmo]

On the topic of the biofalls, I might try to make a 5 gallon bucket work. Or go with a traditional molded spillway. I'm indecisive!

For a pondless waterfall, is a biofalls-like filter setup even beneficial?

 

[poconojoe]

Looking great!
You are carving it out nicely!
And you have the machine to do it all. That makes me jealous!
When I did mine I had to rent the machine.

Curious why you're opting for pondless.
Is it just what you want or is it because it may be a hazard since it's in your front yard without any fences to keep children and wildlife out?
Just wondering.

 

[greygizmo]

Looking great!
You are carving it out nicely!
And you have the machine to do it all. That makes me jealous!
When I did mine I had to rent the machine.

Curious why you're opting for pondless.
Is it just what you want or is it because it may be a hazard since it's in your front yard without any fences to keep children and wildlife out?
Just wondering.

Good question! I didn't have a lot of space in the front yard and it's only a few feet from the sidewalk so pondless seemed like the best choice. I didn't have any desire to keep fish and wanted to keep maintenance down as well. When it came to what I did want, it was all about the boulders and the sound of water so the pondless waterfall ticks all the boxes for me.

It's been a couple weeks since I last updated. In the meantime my wife and I have moved some large rocks and I think we finally finished the bottom row. We built it once with the help of a neighbor and we didn't like the result, so we tore it out and started fresh. We have 2 spill rocks in this bottom row.

I purchased about 100ft of 24" wide conveyor belts off facebook marketplace for about $1/ft. I've been cutting them with a utility knife and using them underneath the boulders, but below and above the 45mil epdm liner. This is in addition to non-woven underlayment above and below. I also used the conveyor belts below the aquablox/milk crates. Seemed like cheap insurance!

Given the remaining drop distance (about 3'), I think we will end up with 2 more levels of falls.

 

[Lisak1]

I'm terrible with visualizing finished products myself, but I will say this - those are some GORGEOUS rocks! (Also a very nice water feature statue you have there sitting on the side! haha!)

 

[GBBUDD]

If all else fails it looks like a great place to make the x wife disappear. If your good can I bring mine ?

 

[greygizmo]

I'm terrible with visualizing finished products myself, but I will say this - those are some GORGEOUS rocks! (Also a very nice water feature statue you have there sitting on the side! haha!)

Too funny! And thanks - the best part is the boulders cost me nothing. They all came out of the ground when a nearby development had to be cut down 8ft before construction began. My neighbor is the superintendent on the project and he brought them over.

I'm definitely struggling with where to go from here. There are too many possibilities! I originally envisioned one large drop but I think it will look more natural (my end goal) with 2 smaller drops

 

[addy1]

Beautiful boulders and free! What a find!

 

[exeter]

Also jealous of the free boulders. They are hundreds of dollars each where I live.

 

[GBBUDD]

Heck I just dumped 2500 on gravel and river rock a good month ago . And this week it's all we are digging up in one area piles and piles of river rock.