How to Make a Decorative Pond With a Waterfall

Choose a location for your pond and remove any flowers or plants from the area. Lay out a garden house to form the outline of the pond.

Dig down 3 inches in a 1-foot-wide ring around the outside of the pond border to create the stone border shelf. Dig down 8 inches in a 1-foot-wide ring along the inside of the pond border to create a small underwater shelf for aquatic plants. Don’t dig this shelf in any place where you don’t plan to place plants. Finish digging the center of the pond to a depth of at least 18 inches.

Lay the 2x4 across the pond and place the level on top of it. Rotate the 2x4 around the pond and adjust the height of the pond’s edges to make sure they are level and even.

Cover the bottom of the pond and ledges with a 1-inch layer of mason’s sand. Spread geotextile fabric on the bottom and the walls of the pond to protect the rubber liner. Remove any roots or rocks that are sticking through the sand that could puncture the liner.

Purchase or cut a liner so that it is approximately 4 feet longer and wider than the pond. Place one side of the liner about 1 foot over the edge of the pond and place stones on it to hold it down. Press down on the liner along the sides of the pond and then the bottom. Work your way around the entire pond, pressing down the liner. Minimize folds or creases.

Dig a small trench from the edge of the deepest part of the pond to the nearest electrical outlet. Cut a piece of PVC pipe to the length of the trench and thread the pump’s power cord through the PVC pipe. Bury the PVC and back-fill the trench with dirt.

Fill the pond with water from the garden hose. As you fill the pond, pull on the liner to keep it taut.

Connect the pump tubing to the pump and place it in the deepest part of the pond.

Place a layer of large, flat stones around the edge of the rock ledge. Continue with a second and third layer until all the plastic lining is hidden. On one end of the pond, stack the rocks to make a mound about 18-inches high for the waterfall.

Wind the tubing from the pump through the rocks, using the rocks to secure it without crushing it. The tubing should end up on top of the mound. Use smaller rocks to hide the tubing from view. Plug the pump into a GFCI (ground-fault circuit interrupter) outlet. Adjust the hose until the water falls naturally and back into the pond.

Place plants and flowers in and around your pond to complete the look that you desire.