Waterfall and Pond – Planning for Believability

In my research of water gardens and waterfalls, I picked up quite a few helpful tidbits of information. One piece of information which rang in my head constantly is that a poorly designed waterfall is horribly unattractive and completely unbelievable. In light of this, I was going to go with a geometric, contemporary design which would match the house nicely. Unfortunately, my wife was strongly opposed to this idea so I am going with a natural looking design. Natural looking would be a lot easier if there was some kind of elevation to work with, but here in the Scottsdale suburbs circa 1979, there is nothing but flat ground and stucco walls. Somehow, I need to take a 12 foot by 8 foot piece of flat ground and introduce a believable flow of water.

No one is going to ever think that this waterfall exists naturally, but at least I am hoping that turns out to be believable or at least nice looking.

It’s very easy to build an unbelievable waterfall – most of the constructed waterfalls I’ve seen are terrible, Even some “professionally built” waterfalls tend to leave me wondering if the builders have ever seen a natural waterfall (and how much the client paid for that monstrosity). Consider this pile of rocks in the image to the left - it's a great example of everything NOT to do.

There are, fortunately, great waterscape builders out there to mimic, and a few are very enthusiastic to share their knowledge. One of the best examples is The Pond Digger in Southern California who has a number of YouTube videos taking about the details of pond and waterfall construction. I have watched each of his videos several times – a great resource.

Even though I have meditated on building my waterfall for over half a year – and I could continue for another two years just thinking about it – I am going to move forward with the acknowledgement that I have to be very conscious of believability.

Waterfall and Pond - The beginning

It’s time for another project. This time, it’s a fish pond and waterfall. Before starting to dig, I did a lot of research on fish ponds, koi ponds, pond filters and waterfalls. There is a lot of good advice and direction out on the internet so I was able to get a pretty solid plan in place.

Since this is a pretty big deal, it’s important that I plan it out correctly before beginning. Of course, there are going to be changes to the plan along the way, but with some proper planning, I can reduce how many changes occur and how drastic those changes are. The first part of planning is to answer my favorite question; Why build a pond and waterfall?

When I purchased the house, the pool pump and filter were nicely concealed behind a tree, a railroad tie wall and a rats nest of vine (I think it’s called bear claw). The tree had to go because it did nothing for me and cost about $50 a year to maintain. The railroad tie wall had to go because it was ugly. And the vines had to go because the root structure is invasive and the vines will kill anything in it’s path. Having ripped all that out, I then moved the sand filter and PVC piping to a more consolidated position. Now, with a lot more space in that corner of my lot, I have a very unsightly view of the pool equipment.

This part of my yard is a focal point, not only from the patio and the yard, but also from the kitchen. The pump is even visible through a window when approaching the front door. Needless to say, pool equipment is not really the sight I want from these vantage points. So I want a waterfall to conceal the unsightly pool equipment.