Garden waterfalls: ideas for setting up the garden

A large or small garden can be made into a very varied and fascinating environment with some small decorative interventions that do not require particular management efforts and which, if created with a good approach, require a maximum of one or two days of work.

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What does it mean to have a waterfall in the garden

Whether you have a swimming pool, a pond or a fountain available, or you want to start from scratch, a nice idea is to install waterfalls or fountains at level in strategic corners of the garden. The gentle murmur of the water is very relaxing and also helps purify the air by removing dust and particulate matter and taking some of the pollen with it in spring.

In many cases a small waterfall can be built in a few hours without the need for major masonry interventions, but in some cases it is necessary to consult a professional, especially if you do not have much experience with hydraulic assembly and fittings.

There are ready-made models that can be installed with a little building glue, in concrete, stone and resin, or in polystyrene with a beautiful and very realistic effect, but DIY lovers often prefer to start practically from scratch. The waterfalls are made using some stones found in an excursion, or purchased at a center for DIY and construction, already selected because they are suitable for a wild style.

It is not necessary to have an entire pond available for the waterfall, but the very small space of a tank that is used for water recovery and recirculation is enough and many models are ready to be assembled and connected directly to the system, then masking the base. with a little earth and moss.

Even with little space it is easy to install a very high waterfall and thus obtain the splendid sound and visual effect of the flowing water, with the advantage of being able to close it when the season is not suitable for spending days in the garden or if we are not at home. 

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How are waterfalls made in the garden?

It is simply a recirculating water system, whether it is an oriental-style meditative fountain, or whether it is waterfalls that are part of a larger complex of swimming pools and bio lakes, in which it plays the role of connection point to have a good oxygenation of the water.

Making a waterfall in the garden is not too complicated, and in a short time you will be able to enjoy the roar of water that falls from a waterfall, right in the garden of your home! You can do it yourself, or you can call someone who can do it for you.

Dimensions of the garden waterfall

The waterfalls in the garden can be made of any size, from a few tens of centimeters up to very large ones of many meters in length, even if you prefer a height contained under one meter, to avoid too many splashes and excessive noise.

Size of the garden waterfall

To have a good waterfall, if there is no lake upstream and one downstream, you will need a connection with the water pipes to maintain the level of the tank, which is hidden under the waterfall, or in a compartment on the back, next to an electric compressor that brings the water back up to make it fall, with a beautiful visual effect. So there seems to be a real source, when in fact the faucet is connected to the plumbing.

Garden waterfall recirculation system

To save money, you can choose one that is activated only when the tank level drops below the critical one and would make it difficult to continue to have the visual effect of the waterfall. In most cases there is simply a float that activates a plug with a mechanism not very different from that of the toilet.

In many cases the recovery tank must be underground and protrudes three or four fingers from the ground so there is no risk of it overflowing. To avoid clogging, a mesh filter is usually mounted on the bottom, which must be cleaned frequently from the foliage or when there is no good recirculation.

Where to get water for the waterfall

 

The waterfall does not need to contain drinking water, rainwater is often enough to fill the tank through its drop tank and compressor. In many cases the one that flows could also be strongly colored with shades of green and brown due to the flora, even if at times it is not pleasant and it is necessary to add a sterilizing agent such as chlorine which, however, is not compatible with the life of any fish present in the tank or with plants.

Garden waterfall recirculation system

If the recirculation system in which the waterfall has been installed is to feed a pond with fish and ornamental garden plants , only clean water should be used, preferably rain water which is better than tap water because it does not contain chlorine and other disinfectants.

Well to draw water

If it is not an alternative or if there is no well from which to take it, or a source of non-potable water such as a sink from which to take some cans to fill the tank and you are forced to use that of the tap, you must necessarily have it decanted a quite a lot, to avoid it being toxic to the guests of the tub.

You can add some specific salt for the elimination of chlorine or use a reverse osmosis filter for aquariums.

Dig the ground

To create a small waterfall without a pond, what you need is a small excavation, usually 30-50 cm where to put the collection basin, with the hose connected to the compressor that leads to the recycling tank.

Fit the water pipes

It is necessary to be able to assemble a connection with a water pipe, although luckily those intended for gardening are always with plastic joints that open and close with a pair of gloves without the need for tools.

Tank and concrete

Depending on how the waterfall that you have chosen to install is made, then, the tank and the whole system will have to be hidden after having connected it, perhaps behind a low wall or a fake stone on which the basin is also placed. acts as a source. Usually a little cement glue is also needed to fix the various parts, but it is a job that can be done easily in an afternoon, without getting your hands too dirty.

What are the types of waterfalls that can be installed?

In the garden you can install different types of waterfalls. Let's see which ones.

Waterfalls at Fonte

what are the types of waterfalls that can be installed

The simplest is the one at the source, where there will be a single circular nozzle, perhaps in cast iron, stone p in plastic shaped like a fish or faun's head to create a more classic style, which flows into a tray, which can be simple, shell-shaped or made of concrete and rough stone, from which the water then falls towards the ground basin.

These types of waterfalls are necessarily quite narrow because otherwise the risk is to have a too messy exit that is very affected by the possible presence of fallen and rotten leaves that accumulate in the cracks and make it difficult to get a nice curtain of water.

In some cases the pipe that enters the water is located under the surface of the water, so the double effect of the fountain and waterfall is not seen or it is hidden behind stones. In this case the moss could make a good flow difficult.

You can choose to build an embankment to house the waterfall or create a mound of stones in which to hide the pipes or take one made directly of polystyrene, which is an excellent material that is easy to clean and maintain and above all makes it very difficult to form mold and mucilage which could make it not too pleasant and give a neglected appearance to the garden.

Waterfalls in the garden with staggered levels

where to get water for the waterfall

Another solution for the waterfalls is the one with a staggered system.

These in general will be lower and arranged on separate levels, each feeding the following ones with an irregular pattern.

This is very pleasant for many, because the effect is more natural from a visual and aural point of view.

What you have in front of you is in fact a real waterfall with all its irregularities and often you aim for minimal differences in height to have continuous arches of water with little whirlwind.

Waterfalls at the edge

On the other hand, the satin waterfalls are suitable for a more orderly and elegant environment, where formality is everything and even the water must respect certain rules. They are used very often in oriental-style gardens where the effect must be placid and very delicate, but since the water pressure is always rather limited, it will be necessary to opt for a limited width of each individual waterfall.

Curtain waterfalls

A very pleasant solution is the curtain one in which the tank that feeds the waterfall is made of a manger, that is, very long, narrow and not very deep. In this way, with a good balance because otherwise the water ends up all on one side and a correct assembly you will always have a constant flow that goes down creating a very nice effect both with transparent water and with the slightly more cloudy one. It is a perfect idea for powering a rather large pool that is located at a lower level.

Grotesque waterfalls

Finally, there are the grotesque waterfalls, so called because they have a style that went a lot in the Renaissance with the creation of a stone structure or in our case more likely in polystyrene that really looks like a cave, even if it rests on a wall.

In this case the waterfall could come out directly from the attic, made of fake stone or even with the natural one and even with the addition of statues and other elements, which will be completely covered by moss to create a truly ancient and fascinating environment, perfect for a garden in style.

The grotesque waterfalls can be many dimensions, even reaching those of a shower that you can enter, but very often they are made small, to highlight a particular and collected corner of the garden, perhaps the benches in front.

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Cascatelle for bio lakes

In most cases, the waterfalls will be built to feed a swimming pool of a couple of meters in diameter or a little more, using the recirculation pump. In this case the effort is more than anything else an end in itself and purely aesthetic, it certainly helps to oxygenate the water if there are fish and water lilies, but if it remains inactive for some time nothing serious happens.

For those who have a very large garden if not a park and have installed bio lakes or artificial bio pools , a system for water purification and in some cases for the management of waste and sewage, because it also hides a biodynamic septic tank, the small waterfall is a very important type of installation that must follow fairly strict rules.

Nobody likes to have the sweet murmur of water in the garden if it smells of sewage, so it must be installed in a position quite distant from the active area of ​​the bio-lake, where the sewage is transformed into nutrients by the microorganisms present, in such a way as not to cause too much turbulence in the water and allow the solid part to remain deposited on the bottom and to be digested by the bacterial flora.

In addition, the recovery nozzle for water recycling must fish near the banks of the bio - lake and as far as possible from the point of entry of the sewage and be equipped with a filter to reduce the particulate present and therefore have a clean recirculation.

If you want to ensure that the ecosystem inside the water remains stable, unfortunately the water in this case will not be transparent, because it will be rich in nutrients that are produced by the swimming pool and in many organic components.

In all likelihood the water, however purified of the flora, will be of a color that turns towards that of very diluted tea, for the two lakes, but the effect is still pleasant. Often a system consisting of two basins is used, one downstream is a death and the waterfall is an excellent system to ensure the circulation of oxygen in the water and is mounted as a connection point between the two ponds, which can be more or less large and also play an important role in filtering debris.

In fact, in the waterfall, especially if it is flush, you can add tooth recovery grates that block dirt and that can be cleaned very easily when necessary, once in a while.

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