A New Water Feature in the Garden

Brian's been keen on adding a waterfall feature to the rockery behind the pond for years. Earlier this year once he'd ascertained that the solar panel and pump which came with a garden fountain would power a waterfall, the fountain was put away and he began work on constructing a waterfall.

First job (after weeding the rockery)in the middle of July was to dismantle some of the rocks and try out different waterfall designs.



The hardcore was laid and then it was time to start constructing the actual waterfall.



This stone frog/toad will have a part to play in the final design!



Here it is nearly finished. The constant rain over the summer caused a lot of problems and it took ages for the cement to dry out.



Once the cement had finally dried it had to be coated with a non-toxic sealant to make sure no chemicals leaked into the pond and affected the pH of the water as we didn't want to damage the aquatic life already in the pond especially the common newts!



There was another long wait until the sealant had dried but finally at the end of August we were able to "switch on" the waterfall.







The final task was to start replanting the rockery. We bought some succulents and heathers and moved some primulas that were planted elsewhere in the garden.



The waterfall is proving a huge success with birds even more so than the pond! The little pools that form, whether the waterfall is working or not, are like a series of mini birdbaths. There were eleven goldfinches bathing and drinking in there this morning and last weekend we saw a young willow warbler.




Hopefully, it will blend in more with the existing rockery as the stones weather and we add more plants.