September 2008

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PLANNING FOR BUILDING A WATER FEATURE: GROUND WORK ON CASCADES

September 28, 2008 in by Ben | Permalink

The first step to a water feature is to select the proper location of the water feature. It is important to design the direction of the waterfalls to drop towards the most popular place in the yard.   Once you have selected where in the garden this water feature will be, and what direction the cascades will fall, build your retaining wall to support the waterfalls.

Against the retaining wall that has been built, you will want to tamp down all the dirt.  This fill dirt should be the soil excavated from the reservoir or pond.  If you are planning on a tall waterfall then it is important to bring in more soil.  You will want to tamp down the soil every 12″ with a hand tamper or plate compactor.  This hill that you are creating will need to face the entertaining area of the garden.  Find out where you will view this waterfall from the most and aim the waterfall towards that part of the yard.  After you aim the cascades in the right direction you will next chisel out the hill into a simple staircase.  If you would like more interesting waterfalls you can vary the heights and create different directions of the stairs.  However when you are building your first waterfall, starting out simple is the best answer.  Later, when the rocks are set in you can manipulate the drops and cascades further.  Tamp down the staircase of cascades and soak the entire feature with water.  Let the cascade section dry for an hour or so as you finish off the pond or reservoir, and you are almost ready for the liner.

SUPPORT WALLS FOR YOUR WATERFALL: #3 CONCRETE BLOCK WALL

September 16, 2008 in , Building a Waterfall - Important Details, Support and Retaining Walls by Ben | Permalink

Our next example of a support wall on your water feature is a concrete block wall.  These walls are the strongest and will last the longest.  A properly built block wall should last decades.   These walls can be faced with natural rock for a more natural look and are stronger than stacked rock.  When building a waterfall wall, stability is important.

The first step to your block wall is to dig out a footing for the wall to sit on.  This footing should be twice as wide as the wall, and extend 12″ on the ends.  This is called a T foundation because it forms an upside down T.  After you dig down 7″, you will want to tamp down 2″ of base rock, then set in one level of blocks on top of the base rocks.  You will want to then drive 1/2″ rebar vertically down through the holes in the blocks and into the ground.  You will want to tamp them down to the appropriate height of the proposed wal.  Next take the blocks up and off the rebar,  then lay in 2 lateral pieces of 1/2″ rebar.  These rebar pieces should be raised off the ground 3″ with rock or a “Dobey”. The next step is to pour 5″ of concrete level.  It is important to have leveled wood boards bordering the footing to ensure a leveled surface to smooth the concrete on.  Smooth the concrete around the vertical pieces of rebar, and let set for one day.

The next day you can start to set the blocks up and over the vertical rebar, and stack leveled on top of each other.  It is better to pour the concrete into each block as you build up.  As you get to the top of the waterfall wall, smooth out the concrete and you are done with the wall.

After this wall is built it is important to have drainage.  Slowly fill the area next to the wall  with 6? wide of drain rock, all the way to the top. As you move in the drain rock tamp down  soil next to it all the way up to the desired height. It is also a good idea to create a landscape fabric barrier between the rock and the soil, this will ensure better drainage. After you have tamped down the soil for the waterfall, you are ready to build your water feature.