A waterfall in the garden is a very special eye-catcher - especially when it replicates a natural landscape. With a little manual skill you can build a natural-looking waterfall yourself, for which there are various methods.
A waterfall made of natural stones looks wonderfully natural
Preparatory work
It is an advantage if the garden has a slope or at least a natural elevation - such as a hill - is present. Otherwise, you simply create an artificial elevation, for example with the help of a heap of mineral concrete or gravel at the desired height. Compact the material carefully and cover with potting soil and a few large rocks. On this artificial slope you create the stream leading to the waterfall, for which you can use either pond liner, preformed plastic shells or concrete or natural stone.
How to build the waterfall from natural stones
If the basis of the waterfall is foil, use a special stream foil if possible. This is coated with fine sand and looks more natural than the pond liner that is often used. Before laying out the foil, all stones and roots in the area of the stream and waterfall should be removed, as further protection against damage, lay a root fleece underneath. Cover the edges of the foil with suitable natural stone chunks of different sizes. However, you can also form the stream bed and the waterfall out of concrete and press natural stones into the still soft concrete. However, this variant usually looks very artificial. Another alternative are mortared or dry-layered natural stone walls, from the upper edge of which the waterfall flows into a pool below. This shape is very well suited for effectively integrating a stream on a paved slope, for example.
Coat natural stones with liquid pond liner
Wall the stones with natural stone mortar and then coat the surfaces with liquid pond liner, which is commercially available in different colors. Apply this in several coats, adding sand between each coat before the paint dries. This way the waterfall looks much more natural. However, keep in mind that not all natural stones are suitable for building a waterfall: some types of stone draw a lot of water, which is why harder rock should always be preferred.
tips
If you shy away from this work, you can also use ready-made artificial rocks instead and create a waterfall from them.