Water Features
Is it possible to deny the allure of water? Not really. If there is any body of water nearby—a lake, a pond, a river, a stream—then all creatures great and small are drawn to it. That’s just a given. And if that body of water is in your backyard? Heaven!
This chapter is going to help you create some landscaping heaven in the form of a water feature. Water features instantly activate your senses. Their beauty holds your eye and sets the mood for calm and contemplation—not to mention great conversation. Their musical sounds of trickling and gurgling mask ambient, urban noise and produce “laughing waters” that lift your mood. And on hot days, dipping your toes in their cool waters brings on the ahhs.
By building one of the three projects included in this chapter, you will create your own oasis, a flowing or reflective focal point that will sparkle as the jewel of your backyard. It will pull in a new class of plants and animals (birds, fish) for your enjoyment, and it will class up your property with the look of landscaping luxury.
In This Chapter:
Designing Water Features
Like many activities, success in water gardening is rooted in good preparation. Good planning is essential to reaping the full rewards of a water feature and adequately nurturing aquatic plants. While it may be motivating to pick up a shovel and start digging out a streambed, knowing how that step fits into the overall project makes the process easier and more successful.
At first glance, it may be obvious where a water garden fits into your landscape. It’s a good idea, however, to confirm a proper location using the following criteria:
Grade: Place ponds or pools on level ground near the highest point in the yard, a place high above the water table and safe from any runoff. Streams or watercourses are best on gentle slopes.
Climate: Water gardens need 5 to 6 hours of sun daily.
Soil: Sample soil at your proposed site to determine its type. Clay soil provides a stable base for pond and pool liners. Plan to stabilize sandy soil before installing a liner.
Utilities: Have utility lines marked by your utility providers. Move or adjust the dimensions or even the site of the water garden so it doesn’t interfere with the utility lines.
Concept to Design
Create a garden plan on graph paper or using a computer software program developed for landscape design. Begin with a base plan to indicate everything that exists on your site now. Start with a copy of your property’s survey for an accurate rendering—they’re usually available from the local building department—or measure your property and carefully transfer the distances to scaled graph paper. Mark the placement of your home, other permanent structures, and features you plan to retain on the site: existing trees, planting beds, paths, and decks or patios. Mark the location of all underground utility lines. Accurately record the dimensions and locations of these components. Add to this the information you’ve discovered about your garden: the sun and shade pattern, the wind direction, and any changes of elevation on your site. Make some photocopies of the site drawing and sketch out possible water features on them.
Siting and sizing a water feature is usually pretty easy: once you’ve considered all of the factors and requirements for building one, including local codes, the process of elimination won’t leave many options.
How to Draw a Water Feature Plan
On scaled graph paper, draw the site and its measurements in the general area of the feature. Include existing structures, trees, and all utility lines, plus changes of elevation. This is your base plan.
On a tissue paper overlay or photocopy, experiment with different options for your feature’s location, style, and structure until you’re satisfied.
Transfer your final measurements to a clean overlay. Draw electrical supplies and water sources, the path of your recirculating pipe, and the position of the skimmer intake and water discharge.
Use colored pencils to mark edge materials and landscape plant choices around the pond. Remember that the pond requires full sun and access. Next, choose aquatic plants and indicate their planting points.
Transfer your plant selections to a list for easy reference and for use when you visit your aquatic nursery. Note your plant requirements, including bloom color, season of bloom, variety, selection, and care needs.
Hard-Shell Pond & Fountain
A small pond and fountain add more than the illusion of luxury to landscapes; they also add the sound and sparkle of moving water and invite birds to join the party. Installing a pond and fountain can be heavy work, but it’s not at all complicated. If you can use a shovel and read a level, you can install a beautiful fountain like the classic Roman fountain shown here.
Most freestanding fountains are designed to be set into an independently installed water feature. The fountains typically are preplumbed with an integral pump, but larger ones may have an external pumping apparatus. The kind of kit you’ll find at your local building or garden center normally comes in at least two parts: the pedestal and the vessel.
The project shown here falls into the luxury-you-can-afford category and is fully achievable for a DIYer. If the project you have in mind is of massive scale (with a pond larger than around 8 × 10 ft.) you’ll likely need to work with a pondscaping professional to acquire and install the materials needed for such an endeavor.
You can install a fountain in an existing water feature, or you can build a new one with a hard liner, as shown here, or with a soft liner (see pages 187 to 189). Have your utility providers mark the locations of all utility lines before beginning this or any project that involves digging.
The work necessary to install a garden pond and fountain will pay dividends for many years to come. The process is not complicated, but does involve some fairly heavy labor, such as digging and hauling stones.
TOOLS & MATERIALS
Level
Shovel or spade
Hand tamp
Rope
Preformed pond liner
Sand
Compactable gravel
Interlocking paving stones
Rubber floor mat
Free-standing fountain
Fountain pedestal
Tarp
River stones
Installing Ponds & Fountains
A hard shell-type liner combines well with a fountain because its flat, hard bottom makes a stable surface for resting the fountain base. You may need to prop up the fountain to get it to the optimal level. Note: Most municipalities require that permanent water features be surrounded by a structure, fence, or wall on all sides to keep small children from wandering in. Good designers view this as a creative challenge, rather than an impediment.
If you plan to stock your pond with plant life or livestock, it’s important to keep a healthy balance. For stocking with fish, the pond must be at least 24" deep, and you should have at least one submerged water plant to create oxygen.
How to Install a Pond & Fountain
Choose a flat area of your yard. Set the hard-shell pond liner right-side up in the installation area and adjust it until you are pleased with the location (it should be well away from buried utility lines). Hold a level against the edge of the top of the liner and use it as a guide to transfer the liner shape onto the ground below with a rope.
Cut away the sod within the outline. Measure the liner at the center and excavate the base area to this depth. Dig the hole 2" to 3" deeper than the liner, and dig past the outline a couple of inches all the way around. If the sides of your liner are sloped, slope the edges of the hole to match.
Remove any rocks or debris on the bottom of the hole and add sand to cover the bottom of the hole about 2" deep. Test fit the liner and adjust the sand until the underside of the liner rim is slightly above ground and the liner is level from side to side.
Cut away the sod beyond the liner excavation area and dig out an area wide enough to accommodate your paving stones (called coping stones), about 1" deeper than the average stone thickness. Flagstone is the most common natural stone choice for coping because it is flat; concrete pavers also may be used easily. Make sure the surface of the excavation is as level as possible.
Fill the liner with 4" to 6" of water. Fill the space between the liner and the sides of the hole with damp sand, using a 2 × 4 to tamp it down as you go. Add more water and then more sand; continue until the pond and the gap are filled.
Bail about half of the water out of the pond. Place an exterior-rated rubber floor mat (or mats) at least 1/2" thick on the liner in the spot where you’d like the fountain to rest.
Feed the fountain’s power cord up through the access holes in the pedestal. Set the fountain in place on top of the pedestal and run the cord to the edge.
Check to make sure the pedestal is level. If necessary, shim the pedestal with small flat stones to make the fountain level.
Cover the pond and pedestal with a clean tarp and add an inch of compactable gravel to the excavated area for the paving stones. Tamp down the gravel and check the area with a level. Cut a small channel for the power cord and route it beyond the excavated area toward a power source.
Set interlocking pavers in place around the lip of the liner. Adjust compactable gravel as necessary to make the pavers level. Add 1" to 3" of water to stabilize the liner.
Ponds look more natural if you line the bottoms with rock. Small-diameter (2" to 3") river rock is a good choice. Before putting it into the pond, rinse the rock well. One trick is to put the nozzle of a hose in the bottom of a clean 5-gal. bucket and then fill the bucket with dirty rock. Turn on the hose and let the water run for 15 minutes or so. This will cause impurities to float up and out of the bucket.
Cover the bottom of the liner with washed river rock. Place the fountain onto the pedestal and submerge the cord, running it out of the pond in an inconspicuous spot, such as between two pavers.
Completely fill both the pond and the fountain’s base with water. If you will not be stocking the pond with fish or plants, add 2 oz. of chlorine bleach for every 10 gal. of water.
Allow the water to settle for 30 minutes or so, and then turn on the fountain pump and test. Let the pump run for an hour or so, and then turn it off and remove the fountain head. Use a hose and spray nozzle to clear out any blockages. Perform this maintenance regularly and whenever you notice that the spray from the fountain seems to be restricted.
POWER CORD MANAGEMENT
There are many ways to provide electrical power to operate the fountain pump. The best way is to add a new outdoor circuit, but this requires an electrician if you are not experienced with home wiring. The easier route is to feed your fountain pump with an exterior-rated extension cord that’s plugged into an existing outdoor receptacle. Because having an extension cord laying in your lawn is both a tripping hazard and an electrical hazard (lawn mowers and wiring do not get along), you can bury the cord in a shallow trench. To protect it from digging instruments, either backfill with rocks so you know the exact location of the cord, or bury it encased in heavy conduit.
Avoid using this tactic if the pond is located more than 50 feet from the power source.
Dig a trench about 6" deep and 6" wide from the pond to your outdoor power source.
Feed the cord through conduit and lay the conduit in the trench all the way from the pond to the power source. Backfill the trench with dirt.
Small Gazing Pond
A tranquil reflecting pond serves as a focal point in an outdoor room and a fertile setting for water-loving plants. A pond’s shape can take on any configuration if you use a soft, pliable pond liner. Once complete, your pond will become an anchor for additional landscape elements, such as a bridge, or stonescaping by placing appealing natural rock as a border.
EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) liners are made from a synthetic rubber that is highly flexible, extremely durable, and fish-friendly. EPDM liners remain flexible at temperatures ranging from -40 to 175 degrees Fahrenheit. These are cost-effective and easy to find at building or garden centers or landscape supply stores. Look for a liner that is 45 mil thick. Some landscape supply centers carry pond liner by the lineal foot.
Free-form ponds blend into the landscape, especially with the addition of coping stones set into the edges. Building one involves heavy labor but no special skills.
TOOLS & MATERIALS
Level
Shovel or spade
Hand tamp
Tape measure
Garden hose or rope
Spray paint
Pond underlayment
Flexible pond liner
Sand
Compactable gravel
Flagstone pavers
River rocks
Plants (optional)
Fish (optional)
How to Create a Freeform Garden Pond
SIZING YOUR LINER
Flexible liners adapt to nearly any shape or size pond you want. They can fit a typical kidney-shaped excavation with planting shelves, like the one shown here, or a very unique shape of your own design. EPDM rubber liner material is sold in precut sizes at your local home and garden center.
Select a location well away from buried utility lines. Use a garden hose or a rope to outline the pond. Avoid very sharp turns, and try for a natural looking configuration. When you’re satisfied with the pond’s shape, lift the hose or rope and use spray paint to mark the perimeter.
Find the lowest point on the perimeter and flag it for reference as the elevation benchmark. This represents the top of the pond’s water-holding capacity, so all depth measurements should be taken from this point. Start digging at the deepest point (usually the middle of the pond) and work out toward the edges. For border plantings, establish one 6"- to 8"-wide ledge about 12" down from the benchmark.
Set a level on the plant shelf to confirm that it is the same elevation throughout. Unless your building site is perfectly level or you have done a lot of earth moving, the edges of the pond are not likely to be at the same elevation, so there may be some pond liner visible between the benchmark and the high point. This can usually be concealed with plants, rocks, or by overhanging your coping more in high areas.
Dig a 4"-deep by 12"-wide frame around the top of the hole to make room for the coping stones (adjust the width if you are using larger stones). Remove any rocks, debris, roots, or anything sharp in the hole, and add a 2" layer of sand to cover the bottom of the frame.
Cover the bottom and sides of the excavation with pond underlayment. Pond underlayment is a shock-absorbing, woven fabric that you should be able to buy from the same source that provides your liner. If necessary, cut triangles of underlayment and fit them together, overlapping pieces as necessary to cover the contours. This is not a waterproof layer.
Lay out the liner material and let it warm in the sun for an hour or two. Arrange the liner to cover the excavation, folding and overlapping as necessary. Place rocks around the edges to keep it from sliding into the hole.
Begin filling the pond with water. Watch the liner as the water level gets higher, and adjust and tuck it to minimize sharp folds and empty pockets.
Add some larger stones to the pond as the water rises, including a flat stone for your pond pump/filter. If the pump/filter has a fountain feature, locate it near the center. If not, locate it near the edge in an easy-to-reach spot.
Fill the pond all the way to the top until it overflows at the benchmark. Remove the stones holding the liner in place and begin laying flat stones, such as flagstones, around the perimeter of the pond. Cut and trim flagstones as necessary to minimize gaps.
Finish laying the coping stones and fill in gaps with cutoff and shards. If you are in a temperate climate, consider mortaring the coping stones, but be very careful to keep wet mortar out of the water: it kills plants and damages pump/filters. Set flagstone pavers on the ledge at the perimeter of the pond. Add more water and adjust the liner again. Fill the pond to just below the flagstones and trim the liner.
Consult a garden center, an extension agent from a local university, or the Internet to help you choose plants for your pond. Include a mixture of deep-water plants, marginals, oxygenators, and floating plants. Place the plants in the pond. If necessary to bring them to the right height, set the plants on bricks or flat stones. Spread decorative gravel, sand, or mulch to cover the liner at the perimeter of the pond. Install plants along the pond’s margins, if desired.
Waterfall & Pond
Water gardening is a popular form of landscaping, offering the prospect of peace and tranquility, along with some property enhancement potential. If you’ve thought about jumping in but feared you might end up in a sea of maintenance problems, check out this pond project and dive on in—the water’s fine! It’s an elaborate and beautiful pond, but perhaps best of all it is virtually self-sustaining and maintenance free.
The reason this water feature does not require the level of maintenance that a typical pump-and-filter based system needs is that this one mimics nature. And a water feature that successfully mimics nature’s ecosystem can free you from chores such as monitoring water quality, balancing chemicals, repairing leaks, and nursing sick plants and fish.
How It Works
The process is simple, but it does involve heavy labor. In a nutshell, you dig holes for the pond and bog, carve a streambed, line it all with fabric and a waterproof liner, add culverts, a pump, rocks, and water, and finish with plants and fish. A healthy water feature requires a combination of components. The bog/pond design featured here achieves a balance because it includes a cascading stream and a bog garden as well as vegetation and fish. As water flows through the system, it is aerated and filtered—just as a natural stream would be.
SEVEN ESSENTIALS TO A SELF-SUSTAINING POND
To create a self-sustaining ecosystem, incorporate these elements into your water feature:
1. Circulation—Stagnant water is dirty and a breeding ground for mosquitoes. In a healthy pond, water is circulated through the system, is aerated as it cascades downstream, and is filtered as it pushes through rock beds. Moving water also delivers nutrients to plants.
2. Mechanical filter—The mechanical filter of this bog system is the pump, which moves water and carries debris to the bog filtration tube.
3. Biological filter—Rock and plant material (not chemicals) clean the water as it passes through the system.
4. Bacteria—Beneficial bacteria are nature’s recycling agents. They consume fish waste and debris, converting deadly ammonia to useful nitrogen that feeds plants. To jump-start the bacteria level in a new water feature (and at spring start-up), some pond experts treat the water with microbial bacteria additives, but bacteria will build on its own in most cases, and the system will balance itself in time.
5. Rocks—Besides making a water feature attractive, rocks add considerable surface area where bacteria can grow, and they provide pockets for plants to root and fish to hide. They also hold the liner in position and protect it from UV exposure.
6. Plants—To help control algae, plants block sunlight and compete for the same nutrients that algae thrive upon. Plants also provide food and habitat for fish.
7. Fish—These animals eat mosquito larvae, debris, and insects. Their waste supports plant life and enhances growth of beneficial bacteria. Best of all, they add color and provide entertainment.
SIZE, SHAPE, AND SITING
It’s easy to plan the size, shape, and location of a water feature to fit your yard’s available space and landscaping. This 6 × 8-foot pond is relatively small because it was made to fit within an existing fenced area. But with more space and materials (and energy), you can build a water feature as large as you want. In fact, larger is better because a higher volume of water keeps the system more easily balanced.
This bog/stream/pond works well on either a flat area or a hill. The one shown here was built on a slope that has a total drop of less than 2 feet.
Whatever the grade, create a series of steps down rather than one or two large falls to minimize water loss.
To achieve a natural look, we chose an irregular shape for the outline of our water feature. If you want a formal water garden, you could choose a more symmetrical or a geometric shape and use materials such as brick or uniform stones.
Before you decide on a site, check local codes regarding setback distances, fence requirements, and electrical permits, and have all utilities’ locations marked so you don’t hit any pipes or cables during excavation.
Locate your pond near a water supply and an exterior-rated electrical outlet (equipped with a GFCI). Consult an electrician if you need to add an outlet.
Because most water-garden plants like plenty of sunlight, avoid heavily shaded areas. Overhanging branches also drop leaves, twigs, blossoms, and seeds into the water.
The pump sends water from the pond through the flexible PVC tubing to the floor of the bog. Debris and sediment collect in the elbow of the bog culvert, and the water is cleaned by biological filtration as it flows upward through a perforated culvert, rocks, gravel, and plants. From there the filtered water is aerated as it cascades down to the pond.
POND SYSTEM COMPONENTS
• Filtration tubes—12-inch-diameter polyethylene corrugated culvert (A) and two 90-degree elbows (B), available at farm supply stores, to house the pump in the pond and hold debris in the bog.
• Flexible 2-inch PVC (C)—This tubing carries the water from the pump to the floor of the bog. Two 2-inch ball shutoff valves (D), a 2-inch coupler (E), and hose clamps.
• Submersible pump (F)—For proper filtration and aeration, the water must turn over at least once every two hours. Calculate the cubic feet of your water feature and multiply that number by 7.5, which is the number of gallons each cubic foot holds.
How to Make a Waterfall & Pond
Lay out the outline of your planned garden. To visualize the pond’s design, use a garden hose to outline a shape. Trace the outline with spray paint and then remove the hose. Use a rod and a transit level to find the lowest edge of the pond. The pond’s perimeter should vary in height for a natural look, but you need to create one low edge so that overflow due to heavy rains and snowmelt will be directed away from nearby structures. Use the low spot as a benchmark for establishing pond depth.
Excavate the pond, bog, and streambed. You’ll use some of the soil to landscape around the water feature, but you’ll probably need a spot (nearby if possible) to deposit the leftovers. To prevent settling, tamp any soil that is added to or disturbed within your water garden area. Dig within the outlined shape of the pond, grading the entire inside area to be level with a point that is 8" below the benchmark. (Most edges of the pond will be more than 8" high.) About 10" to 16" from the edge, outline and dig a second level at least 8" deeper. Create the resulting tier to vary in width and have a slight grade toward the center of the pond so debris will flow toward the pump. The shelf provides a home for plants and a spot for people to safely step in or out of the pond if necessary.
Shape and finish each tier before marking and digging the next step down. With a surveyor’s level, determine that the shelf area is at the same elevation all around. Also check that each tier slopes slightly toward the center of the pond. You can carve a third level in the center if your pond is larger; just be sure you reach a total depth of at least 24"—the minimum depth for fish to survive winter in a northern climate. Finally, dig a 10"-deep × 16"-wide trench across the pond floor to hold the culvert tube. Grade the trench slightly downward toward the pump end.
Next, dig the bog area, which in this project is a 4-ft.-dia. × 3-ft.-deep pit with straight sides. You can create a bog/pond filtration system on level ground, but if you’re building on a slope, put the bog at the higher elevation to allow for a waterfall effect in the stream. Mound and tamp some of the excavated soil around the edges of the bog to create a berm for blocking runoff of lawn chemicals and grass clippings. In the floor of the bog, create a trench for the second culvert. Check that the culvert assemblies fit in the trenches of both the pond and the bog and adjust the soil as necessary. At the top of the stream, dig a deeper recess to act as a holding pond. Form the stream with stepped tiers, each with a gentle backward slope so that all of the water doesn’t drain to the pond if the pump is turned off. The stream tiers must be level side to side. At the front edge of each step, form the grade level to be at least 6" higher than the stream. Finally, dig a narrow 12"-deep trench (sloping slightly towards the pump) next to the water feature. This is where you will bury the flexible PVC tubing that carries the water from the pump to the bog.
UNDERLAYMENT AND LINER
Polyethylene fabric underlayment (similar to felt) protects the waterproof liner from rough surfaces as it is compressed under tons of rocks and water. The underlayment may be installed in overlapping pieces. (Do not substitute newspaper or old carpet.) The waterproof liner, a 45-mil EPDM rubber material made for ponds, is resistant to damage from temperature extremes, UV rays, and ice, and it is safe for fish and plants. (Rubber roofing material is not recommended.) We used flexible pond liner from Beckett (see Resources on page 234). Pond liner comes in various lengths and widths so you can line most water features with a single sheet. If you build an extra-large water feature, you’ll need to seam the sections of liner according to the manufacturer’s instructions. To calculate the size liner you need, add 2 times the pond depth plus the pond’s maximum width plus 2 feet (for 1 foot of overhang on each side). Repeat for the entire length of the water feature.
Install the underlayment in sections, overlapping them so there are no gaps of exposed ground. Remember to avoid foot traffic near the edges of the excavation. Before placing the underlayment, clear away all sticks, roots, stones, etc.
The liner is flexible but bulky, so enlist help if possible. Begin at the pond end, allowing 1 ft. of excess to drape over the edges. Expect some folds and wrinkles, but press the liner snugly into the tiers and corners. As you install the waterproof liner, be sure to press the liner tightly into curves and corners so the weight of rocks and water will not stretch it across any voids. Arrange the liner so at least 1 ft. wraps over the edges of the entire water feature.
Prepare the culvert pipe for installation. First, cut a section to fit the full length of the pond and a second piece that matches the depth of the pond when the sections are attached to the elbow. With a 2" hole saw, bore two rows of holes in the culvert to within 1 ft. of each end. Drill around ten holes in each section of culvert for the pond bed and bog bed, but none in the vertical sections.
Assemble the main culvert line to the vertical culvert type with the elbow fitting as a connector. Fasten coupler (or sleeve) straps around the joint between the culvert tubing and elbow and then lace the ends together with zip straps.
Install the culvert assembly in the trenches of the pond and bog, making sure the tops of the vertical sections are about 2" below grade at both ends of the system. The pond’s horizontal culvert should slope slightly toward the elbow. Surround both culvert assemblies with large rocks to secure them. Trim the underlayment and EPDM liner to 1 ft. along the edges of the water feature. You can trim them to 6" after the water feature is lined with rock and filled with water.
Attach the PVC tube to the pump by twisting the male/female connector onto the threaded outlet of the pump. Apply PVC primer and glue to the 2" tubing and twist to evenly distribute the adhesive as you insert it into the threaded connector. Hold the assembly until the adhesive cures.
After lowering the pump into the culvert, cut the PVC and install a 2" hose clamp to create a joint that enables you to disconnect the line if you need to replace or remove the pump.
Cut the PVC tube again, at grade level, and rejoin it with a 2" ball shutoff valve in case you need to stop the flow of water when the pump is not on. Lay the tubing in the narrow trench next to the water feature so it extends from the pump to the floor of the bog. Install a second ball valve just above grade at the bog end as well. Then insert the tube into the horizontal end of the bog culvert.
STOCKING YOUR POND
Before choosing water-garden plants, talk with experts to learn which plants are hardy in your area. You’ll want to eventually cover at least one-third of the pond surface with a variety of plants, including water lilies, marginals (shallow-water plants, such as iris and grasses), and oxygenators (such as water hyacinth). You can plant grasses in the bog area as well, which will eventually spread to cover the gravel bed of the bog.
Planting is easy. Just remove the plant from the pot, wash all of the soil from the roots and bury the roots directly in the gravel. Start with hardy perennials and gradually add tropical plants if you desire.
Once the water and plants are in place, complete the ecosystem by adding fish. Start with young koi (or goldfish) so they learn about the dangers of predators in a natural setting. When adding to an existing fish population, quarantine newcomers in a separate tank for a couple of weeks to ensure they are healthy. Follow the supplier’s advice on how to acclimate fish to a new body of water. Although fish require initial care, don’t be intimidated; you may soon find that they are your favorite part of being master of your own ecosystem.
Begin to add the boulders and rocks. To avoid foot traffic on the liner, stand in the hole and have someone hand you the rocks so you can position them. Starting with the largest rocks, fill around the culvert assembly in the pond. Add smaller rocks as you go, filling spaces between the larger ones. Periodically check that the liner fits against the soil as tightly as possible and that it reaches well over the edges of the excavated area. Adjust folds to distribute them evenly and minimize bulk.
Work your way upstream, setting large rocks along the sides and in front of the stepped edges. Line the bog with rock as described for the pond, starting with the largest rocks and fitting smaller ones between. Fill to about two-thirds full; then add gravel (1 1/2"- to 2"-dia. river rock) to fill nearly to the top of the bog. Layer at least 3" of additional gravel on the floors of the pond and stream to create a bed for plants and to hide the liner. Build from the pond toward the bog with the largest rocks around the perimeter and along tiers to create rock walls in the pond and on the front of each tier in the stream. Cover the top of each culvert assembly with flagstone and a few decorative rocks. Place more rocks of varying sizes and colors around the entire water feature, in random positions for a natural look. Backfill the trench that holds the 2" flexible PVC tube.
Apply waterfall foam sealant to form a dam behind and under the ledge rocks in the stream so water is forced to flow over rather than under them.
Pack gravel to fill voids between the large and medium rocks to help secure them and all around the perimeter of the water feature to create a more natural look.
With the components in place, it’s time to add water, plants, and fish. As you fill the water feature, rinse dirt off of the rocks and gravel. The water will be muddy at first—and after significant rains—but it will clear up within a few days.