Pondless waterfalls are the newest idea in water features. They're so practical and we do love practical. Exactly what is a pondless waterfall - just what it sounds like. It is a water feature with a waterfall, but no pond. Pondless waterfalls - You can easily add this water feature to your yard.

The waterfall disappears into a tub at the bottom of the falls and recirculates through a piece of tubing back to the top of the falls. It gives the illusion of the water just falling down the hill and disappearing back into the rocks.

You get most of the benefits of having a pond: the sound of the running water and the natural setting. And you get much more. Gone is the liability of a pond. If you have small children around, this may be important. A pondless waterfall can be installed in a front yard or an area where a pond could be a potential problem.

A pondless waterfall can be installed in a very small area compared to a pond. This makes the installation much easier and less expensive. The maintenance is drastically cut over the maintenance necessary with a pond.

The expense of a pondless waterfall is much less than building a pond. There is no large hole to dig and you need only a small piece of pond liner. The pondless waterfall also uses very little water.

Pondless Waterfall kits are available at a reasonable cost or you can purchase the necessary components individually, too. You can build it yourself if you like and there are services that specialize in installing the new pondless waterfalls.

We're in the process of building one ourselves and you can view the photos of our progress at our website. It's been a very interesting and enjoyable project and it has really improved an area of our yard that we didn't really use before. Now it's become our favorite sitting spot. The sound of the running water is very relaxing.

If you've always wanted a water feature in your yard, this may be the answer.

Copywrite 2007 Alice Scott

By: Alice J Scott
Alice Scott and her daughter/partner write about water gardening, bird feeders and houses, concrete lawn ornaments, gardening, furniture refinishing, medical billing and more. To see photos of our pondless waterfall and the building process, go to http://www.askmissyboo.com. Alice and Michele also offer advice to people with problems with their medical insurance billing at solutions-medical-billing.com.

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There are many different designs that a person can construct when building a waterfall or when having one built. Either way this article is geared for giving you basic ideas to remember when you are planning a waterfall design.

Waterfalls can come in all different kinds of shapes and sizes. Some can truly make your watergarden reach perfection. Usually when it comes to waterfalls size doesn’t matter unless your waterfall is way to high. If your waterfall is too high for it’s surrounding environment it has a tendency to look fake and totally unrealistic. You want your waterfall to always look natural in it’s surroundings.

There are many ways in which you can determine how high your waterfall should be placed. Your waterfall and berm should always be a similar size to your pond’s construction. Which can be easily done if the construction for your pond is done the right way. If your pond is 250 sq ft or smaller, with a flat setting then you waterfall should be no more than 3 feet. One of the tackiest things to do is to build a high or larger waterfall next to a small pond. It just doesn’t look natural. Other problems that can arise with this type of feature involve leaks, evaporation, and falling stones.

Another quite hideous design on most waterfalls includes rocks that can look like a chimney. Usually in nature soil is eroded and stones are left exposed to the eye. Which is why many waterfalls feature this type of design. The mistake in which many people perform while trying to create this same feature includes stacking of flat stones one on top of the other. In the end this process creates a chimney looking design. Unfortunately for the many people who perform this job make you waterfall look unnatural and fake. In order to create a natural effect you should always use soil instead of more stones. You will be using the soil excavated from the pond in the design instead of having to haul it away. Once the soil is set you can excavate into the soil, which will give it a natural effect. Water erodes the path of a natural waterfall. It’s not covered with thousands of stones.

With that being said the best thing to always use is the same type of stones in your construction. Whenever you use the same types of stones the quality in of you watergarden can increase. In order to have a full understanding of stones you should know that each type can create a different effect. Each different company has special kinds of rocks in which they use. By putting different type of stones together it can create a very negative outcome. So always make sure that you stick to one main kind of rock. Each rock will be different so you don’t have to worry about all of your rocks being the same.

The main lesson in creating waterfalls is don’t be afraid to try something unique. These are just cleaver suggestions for pond designs. In part 2 we will discuss other parts of the pond construction that you can incorporate in your waterfall design.


By: Danielle Robinson
Dannielle Robinson is a Chicago based freelance writer and water gardening enthusiast. She has made a study of water gardening, ponds, and pond kits and she provides consulting to friends and neighbors who are interested in contracting her services. Check out www.deepdiscountpondsupplies.com for further information on this subject.

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Okay, now to the practicalities. Before installing a water feature you need to ask yourself several important questions first:

What is your budget? How much can you spend on the entire project? You could spend $3,000 on a water feature and find out you still need an additional $1,000-1,500 for plants and amenities, such as a deck, gazebo, walkways, fish or landscape lighting in the pond, waterfall and lawn. Other possible extras are a biological filter, auto-fill for pond, skimmer, back-flushable bio-filter, and more.

How big is a water feature? If you are building your own, then structurally size is not that big an issue! I would charge the same price for a 3-foot high waterfall as I would for a 5-foot; the same for a 3 by 5-foot pond as a 4 by 6. There is only a $200 difference in cost between the 1,000 and 2,000 square feet of concrete shell surface. Your main concern about size should be space, not cost. How much of your yard can you sacrifice? Even if the space between your house and the property line fence is limited, a water feature can be incorporated.

Small ponds 1½ to 3 feet deep can facilitate a sump pump located within the pond. Even though a sump pump is inexpensive, it consumes much more energy than an above-ground pump. A pond any deeper than 3 feet requires an exterior pump for better accessibility and maintenance, and at a higher cost. But they pay for themselves in a short period of time with the energy savings. Also, larger ponds require greater filtration, more cleaning and maintenance.

The size of the waterfalls will determine the size of the pump needed. The higher the waterfalls, the bigger the pump needed to supply the water and the greater the cost for electricity. Height creates head pressure which requires more energy and is the major factor in operating cost.

How much entertaining will you do? Will you need a deck? If so, how big? You might consider placing a pond next to an existing deck. Many people do just the opposite, they build a pond and then construct a deck beside it. In this case, you can take advantage of an existing deck and construct an open stairway (stair bridge) to span the pond. This affords unique access to the opposite side.

Will you have adequate room for table and chairs? Do you want a spa? Or a fire pit or barbeque? Enough lawn for games? Where do you spend most of your outdoor leisure time? That is the area for your waterfall! The waterfall will bring you the most enjoyment, therefore it should be located closest to the area where you plan to spend most of your time out of doors.

Do you want to see or hear the waterfall from indoors? Consider adding an exterior patio or French doors to your house to access your water feature area. Do you wish to have fish and other aquatic creatures? Long term, a properly maintained nitrogen cycle costs less than maintaining a pond that uses chlorine and other chemicals. Fish, plants and proper bacteria are needed for healthy pond and nitrogen cycle. Once properly established, a healthy fish pond is virtually maintenance free.

Are you willing to remove or replace certain trees or bushes to enhance the waterfall and pond? Some trees have very aggressive root systems that can literally move concrete as they grow, causing cracking and upheaval. Certain trees can contribute a great deal of debris to the water feature that fouls the water and may cause premature failure of the filter system.

What type of rock do you want? A commonly used rock is cobble stone. However, because of the round shapes, water rolls over the surfaces and creates a minimum of sound or visual effect. In contrast, irregular, angular, sharp-edged granite or similar rock creates turbulent conditions similar to white water as it flows over the edges. The greater the “white water” the more sound is produced. Also, a side benefit is the aeration of water which benefits fish and discourages the production of algae. However, do not attempt to match the color of rock with the decor of the house, brick and other features of your home. Stay natural – contrast is good!

What about electrical supply for the pump and equipment? In 20 years I have never seen the electrical costs for supplying power to the equipment site exceed $1,200, and the average is less than $400.

What about a water supply for an automatic water leveling system? Water is very accessible in any household and getting it to the water feature site is a minor expense. Simply tap into an outside water faucet.

There are hundreds of questions that arise in the course of a water feature project. It is best that most of these questions are answered prior to commencement of construction, it could save you hundreds of dollars by avoiding mistakes.

By: Douglas Hoover
CEO of Aquamedia Corp, freelance writer and author Designer, architect, engineer and builder of over 1900 waterfall and ponds in California or the past 26 years. Inventor and manufacturer of several water feature related products such as the "AquaFill" T.M., electronic float control system for ponds, pools, fountains and hot tubs.

For a list of recommended equipment and manufacturers, as well as my compilation of the 18 most important factors to consider prior to construction of a pond and waterfall and to get answers to the most frequently asked questions, go to http://www.askdoughoover.com.

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