By Robb Harris From Handy Magazine

Running water soothes the soul, and nothing beats a backyard water garden as a place to relax. Digging holes is no fun, but we’ve learned a pond-building method that saves your back: you pile up loose soil rather than dig hard dirt. This technique, combined with a new edging product, creates a natural-looking pond that maximizes water surface and reflected light.

Going up
Last summer Michel Ravaz and Jeff Mittelmark, Club members and owners of Northern Water Gardens, demonstrated their technique for “building up” a water feature as they created a 20 x 25-ft. water garden. Rather than dig deep holes, they excavated shallow ponds and backfilled the edges for support. Flexible, easy-to-install plastic lawn edging defined the ponds’ rims and let them level the sides. The water level came right up to the rim, so there was more water to look at and less exposed side.

To complement the build-up technique, Michel and Jeff also developed Rock-on-a-Roll, a flexible material with a concrete base that has the look and feel of natural stone. They use it in place of stone or concrete to cover and protect pond liners. The soft, indistinct edge created by Rock-on-a-Roll makes a pond look natural — much more so than the traditional campfire-like ring of rocks piled on top of the liner.

“You don’t get to see much water,” Michel noted about traditional DIY ponds. “You often have to walk right up to the edge to see the water.

“When you look at water, what you really see are the reflections,” he added. “The closer the water level is to eye level, the more visible reflections and the greater the feeling of moving water.”

As a pond is built up, the water’s surface gets closer to eye level and reflections become more evident. Plus, the Rock-on-a-Roll shows rather than black liner when water levels drop.

Basics in six steps
The build-up technique consists of six steps:

1. Define the shape and elevation of each pond with plastic lawn edging.
   
2. Dig a shallow hole inside the edging. Use the excavated soil to backfill and support the edging.
   
3. Cover pond and stream beds with landscape fabric and a waterproof liner.
   
4. Construct waterfalls.
   
5. Cover edges with Rock-on-a-Roll.
   
6. Install the pump and filter.

When these steps are done, you can landscape around the edges and place aquatic plants in the water garden.

Waterfalls and ponds
Before you start, consider the relative value of waterfalls and ponds. A waterfall’s attraction is easy to understand. The sound and reflections make it the focus of any water feature. However, as plants and fish mature, interest in the pond grows.
“People build for waterfalls,” Michel explained, “but they keep the water garden for the pond.”

Many beginners build a single waterfall that’s too wide and too tall. It becomes a noisy distraction. Michel suggests building several small cascades instead. More falls mean more reflected light, and they split the flow into several sources for a babbling brook sound.

Planning and shopping
Start by sketching a plan with connecting ponds on different levels.
Use the site’s contours to make the water flow downhill. Connect the ponds with waterfalls or curving streams. Route water over and around existing stones, outcroppings, bushes or under fallen trees.

Indicate the water source on your plan: the place where the return pipe from the pump empties into an upper pool or stream. For this pond, Michel hid the return pipe behind a large bush on the upper slope. The result: a stream that appears to emerge from the woods.

Measure the outline of all ponds and streams to determine how many linear feet of 6-in. lawn edging you need. Add 2 percent for overlap.

You’ll need 2-ft.-long 1x2 stakes to support the edging at the right elevation and keep it level. Estimate the number of stakes using a typical 2-ft. spacing and 1-ft. spacing on tight curves.

The diameter and depth of the ponds and streams determine the size of the two different liners, protective and waterproof, you need. You can measure the diameters from the plans, but it’s best to measure depths and buy the correct liners after you excavate. Landscaping centers carry liners 10 to 25 ft. wide. You can overlap pieces at waterfalls.

You may want a few rocks to use as accents in and around the water. Stones 12 to 14 in. in diameter work well and aren’t too heavy. You may even have some on site.

Dig in
Start building with the lowest pond. Use string, garden hose or colored surveyor’s tape to transfer your plan to the site. It’s not permanent, so step back to eyeball it and adjust it until it looks right.

Drive stakes along the outline with the broad sides parallel to the mark. Set them plumb and at least 6 in. deep, about 2 ft. apart along gentle curves and 1 ft. apart along tight ones.

The stakes’ tops define the ponds’ rims, so level the tops to each other to retain the water. Drive the stakes until the tops align and check them with a level. Saw off those you can’t drive deep enough. Place several stakes at the correct level in the middle of each pond. Use a long level to verify elevation between these stakes and those on the sides, then remove the center stakes.

The lawn edging forms the edges of the ponds. Fasten 6-in. edging to the inside face of each wooden stake with two drywall screws. This holds the edging in place until it’s backfilled later.

Important: Align the top of the edging with the tops of the stakes to minimize exposed sides.

Building up requires little excavation since the edging creates depth for the ponds. You can dig before or after setting the edging, but don’t excavate an entire pond. Instead, dig depressions about 2 ft. deep in the center of each pond (4 ft. if you want fish later). Terrace the hole like an upside-down wedding cake with each level 6 to 8 in. deeper than the last. Make the levels flat and smooth so it’s safer to walk in the pond to clean it. Cut a notch in the bottom level to hold a pump or filter box. Dump excavated soil outside the edging, but don’t backfill yet. Use some soil along the inside of the edging to curve a transition from the bottom to the sides. Remove stones and roots that may puncture the waterproof liner.

Michel cut this upper pond into a slope. You can always terrace soil for ponds at different levels.

Lining the ponds
Water features need two liners: a waterproof liner and an underliner to protect it from punctures. Waterproof liners can be PVC or other plastic, or butyl or EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) rubber.

We used wide landscape fabric for the underliner. It’s available at landscaping centers in 12-1/2-ft. or 17-1/2-ft. widths. Add extra layers over exposed rock and roots.

Our waterproof liner was 25 x 27-ft. 45-mil fish-grade EPDM. High-quality EPDM, found at landscaping and water-feature suppliers, has a 30-year lifespan. Expect to pay $300 to $400 for a 20 x 20-ft. piece.

Arrange the liner at the bottom of the lowest pond so it unfolds as you pull it uphill. Try to cover the entire water feature with a single waterproof liner. If size or shape prohibits this, line each pond or stream with a single piece. Overlap transitions by laying the uphill piece on top of the downhill piece. Try to pull the liner as smooth as possible. Make the folds at curves large and flat with the open side facing downhill (see photo p. 54).

Rock-on-a-Roll
Traditionally, DIYers used rock and sometimes concrete to hide ugly black liners and protect them from UV rays. Enter Rock-on-a-Roll which provides protection without bulk. Rock-on-a-Roll is only 3/32 in. thick, and at 10 pounds for a 2 x 6-ft. roll ($42 for a pack of three) it’s easy to work with. Its landscape fabric backing makes it flexible so it conforms to edges and contours.

For complete UV protection, place Rock-on-a-Roll near the center of each pond. Overlap pieces by about 6 in. and continue laying them outward over the edges. Drape 6 in. of Rock-on-a-Roll over the edging and overlap pieces along the edge by 1 ft. Feed the water pump’s flexible pipe uphill along the edge of the water feature. Lay it over the waterproof liner but under the Rock-on-a-Roll, which will hold it as you work.
Now backfill the outside edges with soil excavated from the ponds. Leave the top 2 in. of soil loose for plants.

Beauty in the details
Using Northern Water Gardens’ methods, ponds take shape quickly. However, half the total project time is devoted to the streams and waterfalls. They’re not difficult to build, but pros test them with running water until they look and work just right. You should do the same for your pond.

What looks good? You’re trying to make them look natural. That means avoiding straight lines: curve streams and cascades and use native stones to make water flow over and around obstacles. Use more rocks or even a fallen log to dam a stream, creating more sounds and reflections.

TIP: As you’re building a stream or waterfall, you can guide water flow. Small amounts of self-expanding foam under stones anchor them and form a seal along the base, directing water to flow where you want it.

Form waterfalls with wide, flat rocks. Level them carefully so water flows off in a sheet. Small stones at the front edges create interesting breaks and patterns in the current. When a waterfall overhangs a hollow between the rocks, the sound deepens. The hollow acts like a band shell that directs sound in a straight line away from the falls.
When you’re satisfied with your design, add support where it’s needed, perhaps to a stone footbridge or a waterfall that needs permanent leveling. Use small amounts of
concrete mix such as Quikrete sand mix under and behind stones to hold them fast.

Pumps and filters
A pump does two things for your pond: moves water to make it look more interesting and aerates it to reduce surface scum. Many manufacturers make pumps for DIY water features (see SOURCES). High-efficiency pumps cost more up front but cost less to operate and last longer under continuous duty.

The pump’s capacity is an aesthetic decision, according to Michel. For most backyard water features, 400 gallons per hour seems like a trickle while 3,600 gallons per hour looks like a gush. Aim for a happy medium.

Pond filtration is hotly debated. Biological and mechanical filters remove ammonia and debris. A carefully maintained water feature needs no cleaning; the balance between plants, fish and algae is self-sustaining. But the water in healthy ponds, especially fish ponds, darkens with algae as part of the natural process, so swimming-pool-clear water is not your goal. The pond shown here is not for fish, so the pump sits inside a filter box with a basic leaf grille over the top.

Michel and Jeff know that many people don’t look after their ponds daily, so they design their projects with no nooks or crannies where debris can hide and decompose. Rock-on-a-Roll’s smooth surface makes it easy to hose clean an entire water feature in about 30 minutes.

Drive 1x2-in. stakes 1 to 2 ft. apart, 6 to 12 in. into the ground, (above) to hold 6-in. lawn edging in place. Level the tops to maintain the pond’s water level.	Two drywall screws per stake hold edging in place (left). Stakes are for position only; structural support comes from soil packed against the edging.	Edging allows you to create your own levels and contours (above). The water’s surface will match the top of the stakes, which should be carefully leveled.
Excavate soil in steps, making it safer to walk inside the pond for cleaning. The 2x4 indicates the top edge of the stone bridge that will dam the upper pond.	Michel and Jeff built this entire water feature on terraces on a slope. A relatively small amount of soil was excavated from the lowest pond.	Landscape fabric protects the waterproof liner against damage from rocks and roots.
Try to use one waterproof liner to cover the entire project. Arrange it in the center and pull it outward to hang over the edging.	Smooth wrinkles in the waterproof liner and follow contours by folding with the overlap facing downstream.	Drape about 6 in. of Rock-on-a-Roll over the edging and the two liners. Overlap pieces of Rock-on-a-Roll by 6 to 12 in.
Cover the Rock-on-a-Roll and support the edging by packing fill against it. Leave the top layer of soil loose to accommodate planting.	Conceal the pump pipe under the Rock-on-a-Roll.	Use concrete only as needed to prevent structures such as waterfalls and bridges from shifting. Hide the concrete under and behind stones.
Plants and accent stones are more visible because the water feature’s edge is very thin. Plants are encouraged to grow up to and into the water.	Large stones form a dam between ponds. This stone bridge is a natural place to walk, so it’s held together with concrete.	Stones randomly placed in a stream disturb the water flow (left) creating softer sounds and more reflections.

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SOURCES

Rock-on-a-Roll

Northern Water Gardens, Minneapolis, MN, (888) 799-2172
www.prettyponds.com

Supplies, liners, pumps and accessories

Beckett Corporation, Irving, TX (888) 232-5388
www.888beckett.com

CalPump, Sylmar, CA, (818) 364-2888
www.calpump.com

Clear Pond Products, Camarillo, CA (800) 373-8787
www.clearpond.com

Hedberg Aggregates, Plymouth, MN (763) 545-4400
www.shadeslanding.com/hedberg

LilyBLOOMS, North Canton, OH (800) 921-0005
www.lilyblooms.com

Little Giant, Oklahoma City, OK (888) 956-0000
www.lgpc.com

Pond Filtration, Burnsville, MN (800) 882-5327
www.pondfiltration.com