- Joined
- May 18, 2016
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 4
- Location
- Alpharetta, Georgia
- Hardiness Zone
- 7b
- Country
First off, I want to thank all of the active forum members here for creating some amazing water gardens! I've been reading as much as possible, and admiring everyone's creations, and am getting very close to taking the plunge myself. I consider myself to be pretty handy, so am planning to do all of the work myself with help from friends/family for the heavy lifting. You'll need to bear with me though, as I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions.
I'm uploading a pic of the area I'm planning to put the pond and waterfall (no making fun of my 5 min MS Paint mockup).
For reference the patio to the left is 25'x25' square, and I'm thinking of making the pond approximately 10'w x 15'lx 2'd. The hill with the ivy is about 12' high and the run for the waterfall will be about 15' long and 3' wide with about 3 separate drops. I am planning to slowly add fish in the pond and am in Atlanta area. Will the 2' depth be enough with a single step at about at about a foot, or should I plan to go deeper in the center channel and have 2 steps versus a single? Freeze shouldn't be a big concern, but summer heat may.
The 12' rise to the top of the waterfall is going to require a pretty serious pump to get good flow, so I was thinking of using something like the Aquascape Aquasurge 4000 and 2" diameter flexible PVC from the pump to the waterfall filter. I'm not sure of brand recommendations, but read that the Aquascape stuff is pretty reputable, albeit pricey. Any other recommendations I should check out? Also, should output be about right based on pond/waterfall size to provide adequate filtration and water flow for the falls? Would going to 2 separate pumps be a better option for the size/layout? If I stick with Aquascape, I'd probably get the 2500 Biofalls filter and the 400 Pond skimmer, but again, am open to other brands.
Due to length of the waterfall, I'm guessing it will be easier to use two separate 45 mil EPDM liners rather than trying to get a single piece to accommodate both features? The drop is fairly significant, so I'm hoping that I won't have to seam the EPDM pieces, and can get away with overlapping the waterfall into the pond and using maybe a contact cement and rocks to avoid separation. Keeping the water contained over the steep drop will also probably prove to be a bit tricky. Will 2 smaller falls and a larger final waterfall slow the water down sufficiently to keep it in an approximately 3' wide channel?
Finally, as you can see from the pic, I've got a lot of trees to contend with, so I'll definitely want a good skimmer setup (both pine needles and leaves to contend with). Should I consider a bottom drain or will the weir type be sufficient?
This past weekend I installed an outdoor rated outlet next to the bush at the far left, and have wired landscape lighting around the patio and other areas of the yard. I went ahead and got a 200 watt transformer, and am not even using half of it at this point to allow plenty of headroom to expand the pond/waterfall area! Our daughter is graduating from high school this week, so I'll likely be breaking ground in early June. I look forward to the feedback, and thanks again for inspiring me to take on the challenge. I'm really looking forward to it!
I'm uploading a pic of the area I'm planning to put the pond and waterfall (no making fun of my 5 min MS Paint mockup).
For reference the patio to the left is 25'x25' square, and I'm thinking of making the pond approximately 10'w x 15'lx 2'd. The hill with the ivy is about 12' high and the run for the waterfall will be about 15' long and 3' wide with about 3 separate drops. I am planning to slowly add fish in the pond and am in Atlanta area. Will the 2' depth be enough with a single step at about at about a foot, or should I plan to go deeper in the center channel and have 2 steps versus a single? Freeze shouldn't be a big concern, but summer heat may.
The 12' rise to the top of the waterfall is going to require a pretty serious pump to get good flow, so I was thinking of using something like the Aquascape Aquasurge 4000 and 2" diameter flexible PVC from the pump to the waterfall filter. I'm not sure of brand recommendations, but read that the Aquascape stuff is pretty reputable, albeit pricey. Any other recommendations I should check out? Also, should output be about right based on pond/waterfall size to provide adequate filtration and water flow for the falls? Would going to 2 separate pumps be a better option for the size/layout? If I stick with Aquascape, I'd probably get the 2500 Biofalls filter and the 400 Pond skimmer, but again, am open to other brands.
Due to length of the waterfall, I'm guessing it will be easier to use two separate 45 mil EPDM liners rather than trying to get a single piece to accommodate both features? The drop is fairly significant, so I'm hoping that I won't have to seam the EPDM pieces, and can get away with overlapping the waterfall into the pond and using maybe a contact cement and rocks to avoid separation. Keeping the water contained over the steep drop will also probably prove to be a bit tricky. Will 2 smaller falls and a larger final waterfall slow the water down sufficiently to keep it in an approximately 3' wide channel?
Finally, as you can see from the pic, I've got a lot of trees to contend with, so I'll definitely want a good skimmer setup (both pine needles and leaves to contend with). Should I consider a bottom drain or will the weir type be sufficient?
This past weekend I installed an outdoor rated outlet next to the bush at the far left, and have wired landscape lighting around the patio and other areas of the yard. I went ahead and got a 200 watt transformer, and am not even using half of it at this point to allow plenty of headroom to expand the pond/waterfall area! Our daughter is graduating from high school this week, so I'll likely be breaking ground in early June. I look forward to the feedback, and thanks again for inspiring me to take on the challenge. I'm really looking forward to it!