I will describe how I built the water feature in this picture – one of the three I made in our garden. A water feature consists of a pond and a waterfall. Obviously, it could only consist of a pond, but the ones I’m talking about have waterfalls as well. A bit more of a challenge, but much more rewarding. I will firstly deal with the construction of the pond and then the waterfall.
The pond
I will tell you how I built the water feature in the picture and then leave it to you to decide where and how you want to change. The one I’m referring to is a “slate-based pond”.
Material you need for the pond: (For all the product links to Amazon, please go to “What you need“)
Unless you decide to go for a full waterfall kit, you’ll need the following to build the pond:
- Building blocks for re-enforcement of the pond sides
- Pond underlayment: This is a thickish type of material that goes into the dug-out hole first to protect the PVC/polyurethane lining from being pierced by anything sharp in the hole, like sharp little stones. Pond underlayment comes in different sizes, so you have to make sure that you have enough. A wide variety is available at Amazon.
- Pond liners (black polyurethane/polyethylene/PVC): They not only come in different sizes (in sq. feet), but also in different thickness (in mils). Make sure you get one big enough to cover not only the hole, but also the sides and the area where you want to put your rocks (as in the image below). You can get any size and thickness at Amazon, but rather go for the thicker ones (30+ mils).
Step 1: Digging the hole
Once you have identified the best spot for the water feature, you start by digging the hole. Keep it simple. Too much curves will complicate the matter too much. Once the pond is completed, you can easily create curves and interesting nature-imitating coves by the way you put the rocks and plants. The form of the pond under discussion is more a semi-circle, 1.4 m wide, 1.65 m long.
Depth: Simply divide the pond in two and make the one end, where the submersible pump will go, deeper. This will ensure that the pump will stay submersed even if the water level is low. If you intend having the water topped up by means of a ball valve (or something similar), you need not dig the one end deeper. In my pond I dug the deep end 47 cm deep and 40 cm at the shallow end. That is measured to the edge of the pond; the water is 40 cm deep where the pump is and 20 cm at the shallow end.
Why a shallow end?: You will place some plants in pots inside the pond and you complicate matters if the pond is too deep. Water filtering plants can go into the deep end. It is also necessary to make it easy for little frogs to get out of the water if they want to and you can easily do that by creating a sort of a rock ramp out of the water at the shallow end. It will also be the place where wild animals (if you are lucky enough to have them in your area) will enter the water for a drink.
Finally, make the bottom of each level as level as possible. This will simplify the next steps of the construction.
Step 2: Re-enforcing the hole
You have to re-enforce the sides first. This is not only for ensuring stability on the sides, but also for providing a firm base onto which the rocks can be placed without fear of collapsing walls. The easiest way is to do that with building blocks, but then you have to compensate for the loss of volume by making the hole bigger.
Make sure the top edges are perfectly level and also a few centimeters above the surrounding ground, to ensure that no muddy water enters the pond in heavy showers. You also have to secure the “wall” of the higher level with a row of building blocks, as can be seen in the photo.
Step 3: Putting in the underlayment
What about sharp little pieces of stones in the bottom and sides of the hole? Once they have all been removed, you line the whole hole with underlayment (A wide variety is available at Amazon. ). You could use cardboard in stead, as in the picture.
This will ensure that no sharp little stones will punch holes in the PVC lining.
Step 4: Lining the hole with plastic (PVC/polyurethane/polyethylene)
The 20-40 mil thick (black polyurethane/polyethylene/PVC) plastic comes in different sizes (any size and thickness at Amazon), so you have to make sure it’s big enough. Cover the whole area with plastic and immediately start filling the hole with water. The weight of the water will help you to smooth the plastic out. Make sure the lining covers the edge of the pond completely.
In the final touches you will place the rocks on the edge of the pond, which will be covered by the plastic.
In the next post building the waterfall will be discussed.