This year, I always wanted to do some interesting handicraft projects, and my eyes finally fell on this long-vacant area in front of the door. A few years ago, there was a dense bush here, which was removed because it blocked too much of the house view. Since then, it has been idle. It was not until Poposoap recommended their pond equipment to me that the idea of building a waterfall pond in front of the door gradually took shape.
Preliminary Preparation: From Site Cleaning To Plan Selection
First, you need to clean up the remaining landscape stones and protective cloth on the site. After removing the tree stumps, the real challenge has just begun - you need to determine the container plan before digging the pond. There are two options in front of you: black plastic buckets or flexible rubber pads. The advantage of plastic buckets is that they are not easy to deform, but there is a risk of cracking, but it is relatively easy to replace; flexible pads can adapt to customized sizes, but you have to worry about wear and tear after long-term use.
During the measurement process, I found a more difficult problem: the concrete slab under the driveway has become hollow due to settlement, and the situation on the sidewalk is even worse. Some areas have sunk by nearly half, and they are barely supported by the steel bars connected to the porch. The root cause was probably due to the design flaws of the drainage ditch in front of the house. There was only one drainage outlet for the entire row of drainage ditch. During heavy rains, rainwater often overflowed and flowed to the porch. Long-term erosion caused the foundation to sink. Taking this opportunity, I decided to fill the concrete slab with foam to reinforce the support.
Adapting To Local Conditions: Let Natural Materials Be The Protagonists
I wanted the shape of the waterfall to blend into nature, and the glacial ridge behind the house provided an excellent source of materials. This area is composed of glacially deposited soil, clay and rocks, and there are many boulders scattered on the surface. One of them cannot even be moved by an excavator and can only be left in place. I searched the fallen leaves and bushes on the ridge with a shovel, hoping to find enough stones for the construction of the pond and waterfall.
Poposoap provides a small water pump kit with a flow rate of 660 gallons per hour, which is perfect for the small pond I planned. Determining the location and height of the waterfall box is key, which will determine the layout of the entire pond. I chose a rock to cover the top of the waterfall box to block it, and at the same time, I took advantage of the height difference in front of the door to let the water flow naturally fall from the edge of the porch.
Construction Process: From Outline To Detail Carving
Considering the need for custom shape, flexible rubber pads were finally chosen. When digging the pond, I first outlined the general outline with my naked eye, and then repeatedly calibrated the edge height with a wooden board and a level to ensure that the water level in the pond remained consistent. In order to provide a drinking area for birds, the area near the front was deliberately designed as a shallow water area, and the middle was used as a deep water area. After the excavation was completed, a circle of rock platforms was built on the edge of the pond to place decorative stones later.
The process of laying the pad is much more complicated than expected. This material has a hard texture and requires helpers to cooperate when unfolding. To prevent sharp objects from piercing the pad, I carefully cleaned the gravel and branches at the bottom. Since the local soil is a mixture of sand and clay, it has a good buffering effect, so no additional sand was laid. The liner was larger than needed, filled with water, and then gravity was used to fit the terrain. The wrinkles were smoothed out by stepping on it, and the edges were fixed with rocks. The cold weather made the liner less flexible, and wiping it with warm water solved this problem.
The Finished Product: A Harmonious Resonance Between Nature And Craftsmanship
When installing the water pump system, the completeness of the Poposoap waterfall pump kit made people worry-free - everything from waterfall boxes, pipes to hoses and filters is available. The water pump was placed at the bottom of the pond, the circulation pipeline was connected, and the collected rocks were stacked layer by layer to cleverly hide the pipeline. In order to make the stone group more natural, I repeatedly adjusted the position of the stones four or five times, and the preliminary construction was completed until dusk fell.
When perfecting the details the next day, the focus was on the hidden problem of the hose, and the appearance was neater by cutting and rock blocking. Watching the water flow down between the rocks, the reflection of the shallow water area echoed the porch, and the whole family was amazed at this creation from scratch. Although the installation of the liner is time-consuming and laborious, the freedom of design it gives makes all the efforts worthwhile. In the end, I handed over the finishing work of the shallow water area to my daughters. Seeing them placing stones with great interest, this DIY project also has a warmer meaning.
This waterfall pond in front of the door not only fills the space that has been vacant for many years, but also looks like a flowing mirror inlaid in front of the house. The water splashes in the sun, and the water flows and drips from the eaves on rainy days complement each other, and even attract birds to stop and drink water. Poposoap's equipment has been running stably so far, and those rocks from the glacial ridges seem to be telling a wonderful dialogue between nature and man-made. If you also want to add a touch of agility to your courtyard, you might as well draw inspiration from this DIY journey and let every stone and every stream of water become a footnote to life.
