How to Install a Backyard Waterfall

Buy a kit and create your own backyard waterfall.

A waterfall can be a wonderful accent for any backyard, providing endless hours of enjoyment. Its soothing sounds and graceful presence can transform your backyard into an everyday retreat. With the purchase of a waterfall kit that includes all the necessary filtration materials, installing your own waterfall can be easy.

Things You'll Need

• Stones
• Gravel
• Waterfall kit
• Shovel
• Wheelbarrow
• Pond liner
• Concrete
• Mortared stone

Instructions

1. Make the waterfall unique to your property. Consider using materials already on site or are locally available for the most natural look.

2. Choose a location in your yard where the waterfall can be seen and heard from multiple vantage points for maximum enjoyment.

3. Purchase a waterfall kit that includes at least the basic plumbing: a skimmer with a pump chamber, plus a pump, flex line and falls pour-over filter.

4. Create a sloped channel. Have the water run into a shallow catch basin. Lay pond liner down the length of the channel and place stones on top of the liner. Alternatively, create a concrete stream bed with mortared stone for a more permanent fixture.

5. Install the pour-over falls filter at the top. Connect the flex line and tunnel it through the ground to the pump that will be placed below the falls in the catch basin.

6. Place stone and gravel to disguise the filter and create your waterfall effect. Avoid big, round stones that the water will run under in favor of long, flat stones and layers of small stones.

7. Fill the catch basin with water and attach the pump to an electrical source. Switch the pump on and continue to fill the catch basin as the pump drains the basin and begins to circulate the water.

Tips & Warnings

• Aim for equal parts water, rock and vegetation to create balance around your waterfall.

References

• Backyard Waterfall

Resources

• Pondless Waterfall Kits