A waterfall can be the centrepiece and eye-catching landmark to any garden. There are several factors to be considered before undertaking the addition of a waterfall in your garden, what is the bigger priority, money or time? Foregoing the “luxury” of a professional installation can dramatically save your budget, knocking off an estimated $4,000 off the total amount, but will require a great deal of intensive, physical labour in the form of lifting heavy rocks and materials by yourself. Factor in the amount of kneeling, digging and shifting of dirt and then consider how much chiropractor bills will be! All kidding aside, adding a waterfall to your garden although a potentially very rewarding undertaking will require a great deal of commitment and personal sacrifice on your part.

In addition to the factors outlined above, you need to give some thought as to the potential and actual proximity of people relative to the waterfall, as well as the actual volume of water you will require to maintain a steady flow. With this two issues determined you will then need to develop an actual layout or “blueprint” for your waterfall, clear the area which you want to have the waterfall created in of any debris, and mark it with landscape paint.

With the layout clearly marked you will then have to proceed with arguably the most labour intensive and physically demanding aspect of the process: the clearing of the soil so as to strategically place the rocks to form the actual waterfall. a bare minimum depth should be 10 inches, but try and make sure that the rocks should fit in neatly with the cavity you dig, otherwise the natural look and feel (or at least illusion) of your waterfall will be lost. When you are finished all the excavating for your rocks, make sure to lay a protective layer of a water-proof liner, this will prevent erosion of the rocks and weakening of the soil over an extended period of time.