How to Build Your Own Stack Stone Waterfall
For many homeowners, landscaping small outdoor spaces can pose a challenge. Using the space in a beneficial manner that enhances the property's natural beauty as well as compliments the land's form can be a laborious task that few know how to tackle. A great way to create a nice focal point in the yard while still maintaining a natural feel to the surroundings is by constructing a natural stone waterfall. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Submersible pump
- Field Stone
- 1" Rubber Tubing
- 4' PVC Pipe
- Pond Liner
- Shovel
- Sand
- Garden hose
- Measuring Tape
- River stones
Instructions
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How To Build Your Own Stack Stone Waterfall
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1
Locate the spot in the garden where the waterfall will be located. Make sure you are able to run an extension cord to an outdoor outlet from the location so that the waterfall's pump will be able to get power. Clear out a 1-foot hole in the desired shape for the waterfall's small pond.
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2
Line the bottom of the pond structure with an inch layer of sand. Also, line the perimeter of the pond's structure with a 1-inch layer of sand. This will help keep dirt from muddying your pond.
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3
Using the measuring tape, find the dimensions of the pond's body and use them to cut a piece of pond liner that will fit the pond's hole and have an overhang of about 2 feet.
Place the liner in the hole and flatten out the bottom as much as possible. Using some of the field stone, secure the liner by placing large stones on the liner's edge. -
4
Using the shovel, dig a small, shallow trench about 1 foot long at the front of the pond structure. This trench will hold the tubing that runs from the pump in the bottom of the pond to the top of the waterfall.
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5
Cut a piece of rubber tubing to about 10 feet in length. Cut a 3/4-inch hole in the side of the PVC pipe using the drill and the appropriate drill bit. Run the tubing up into the PVC pipe and wedge the end into the hole that was just cut. The hole is smaller than the tubing and will keep the tubing from coming loose. Secure the PVC pipe and tubing into the ground by digging a hole about 6" deep at the end of the shallow trench that was dug earlier. Make sure the side holding the rubber tubing is facing the pond. Do not let the tubing crease too much when burying the end of the PVC it runs up into. Now there should be a pond outline with rubber tubing running from the bottom of it up into a piece of PVC on the pond's edge. The tubing should be visible at the top of the PVC pipe and facing the pond's outline.
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6
Now stack the field stone up around the PVC pipe. Create a pyramid like structure; wide on the bottom and narrow at the top. The structure should be roughly 3 feet wide at the bottom and about 1 foot wide at the top. Where the front of the pond is there should be a relatively large piece of flat stone that over hangs the pond's edge. This will create a clean edge for the water to fall back into the pond. Try to use flat, clean edged stones where the water will be cascading down from where the rubber tubing is. This will help create a more dramatic waterfall effect.
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7
Place stone around where the top of the PVC pipe is. The pipe and tubing shouldn't be visible, but there should be space for the water to run through the stones that hide them.
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8
Attach the submersible pump to the tubing located in the bottom of the pond. Line the bottom of the pond with river stones, once again, the size of the pond will determine how many river stones are needed. Now, fill the pond with water. Plug the pump in and turn it on. Water should now start cascading down the waterfall structure.
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Tips & Warnings
Gold fish can thrive in your pond by adding a small air pump to the pond.
Lily pads make a nice accent to the waterfall.
Do not let the water level in the pond drop more than a few inches. The pump can burn out if there isn't enough water in the pond to circulate.
