DIY and Repair Guides

Building an artificial rock waterfall involves a bit more than just digging and piling rocks atop one another. You’ll need to do some planning as well. The instructions here are for a waterfall with a pond.

Required Tools and Materials

Waterproof liner
A shovel
Waterfall pump
Garden hose
Rocks
Hand shovel
Plastic hose

Step 1

Start by making sure the pond and the waterfall width are comparable. If the waterfall is high and wide, the pond should also be large. Likewise a small waterfall should be matched with a small pond. Bear in mind that the higher the waterfall, the louder it’ll be. A high waterfall will also require more water from the pump.

Step 2

Start building an artificial rock waterfall by digging the hole for the pond. Make the pond deep if you want to put in fish. If it’s for ornamental purposes, the hole can be shallow. You can make the waterfall foundation with the dirt from the pond.

Step 3

Begin molding the waterfall base. Make it as high as you want the waterfall height to be. Apply a bit of water with the garden hose. This will help pack in the dirt.

Step 4

Get the waterproof liner and set it on the dirt and the pond. Position it so it’s at the front of the dirt. As you continue building an artificial rock waterfall, this will be layered with rocks.

What the liner does is to absorb the waterfall spray. It will put it back in the pond. Make sure the liner overlaps the pond lip by half a foot.

Step 5

You can start piling on the rocks above the liner. If the rocks need to be stabilized, unwrap the liner a little. Take a hand shovel and make a shelf in the dirt. Put the liner back in position. Put the rocks in place. Modify the slope if you want.

Step 6

Put water in the pond. Connect the pump to the hose. Put the pump in the pond. Grab the hose and place it all the way to the waterfall’s top. You can finish building an artificial rock waterfall by adding more rocks.

Position them so the hose is no longer visible. Place the rocks so the liner is hidden. Make sure the hose doesn’t get flattened by the rocks you’re placing.

Tips and Warnings

Test the waterfall as you’re building it. As you mount the rocks, turn on the garden hose to see where the water will go through. Look at the capacity of the pump. The distance of the water to be pumped should be the pond’s depth and the waterfall’s height. Be certain the pump is grounded.

You can also use fake rocks when building an artificial rock waterfall. Cut some Styrofoam into rock shapes and put a wire with a 90 degree hook on the end. Put this in the foam pieces. Wrap the foam in steel mesh and chicken wire. Put concrete on the rocks and let it dry.

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