How to Make a Waterfall Rock Garden

Choose the best location for your waterfall rock garden. Build it where it will be easily seen, create a focal point and blend with the rest of your landscape. The most effective waterfall rock garden will be built as an elevated area. An elevated area looks best nestled against large rocks, in a corner, against a wall or as part of a rolling landscape where the raised area will look natural.

Construct your raised area by mounding soil in your chosen location. Support sides or sloping areas with large rocks that will echo the rock and stone theme.

Dig a hole and set a basin at the bottom of the face of your mound where you’ve planned your waterfall. You can use a prefabricated tub or make your own basin by lining the hole with a pond rubber liner.

Scoop out a slide-shaped area going down the front of your elevated rock garden mound. This slide area should be covered with a sheet of flexible rubber liner material. Anchor the top of the liner with some solid rocks. You can even add a layer of cement on the top and over the liner to disguise the liner material. If you add a layer of cement a nice effect can be had by pressing different sized stones and pebbles into the soft, wet concrete. The best design would be to add steps to your slide so that rocks can be set into place making a more realistic looking waterfall.

Set up a submersible pump so it will sit beneath the surface of the water in the basin when the newly made "pond" is filled with water. Make sure the pump cord can reach an electrical supply without using an extension cord. Do not plug your pump in until your waterfall and basin construction is finished, filled and ready to be tested. But lay the electrical line out so you know where it will go.

Connect the water output of the pump to a (preferably flexible) pipeline by screwing it on or clamping it, depending on the design of your pump. Once attached, bury the waterline as you thread it up along the side of the waterfall so the end of the tube outlets at the top of the waterfall, discharging onto the top of the liner-covered slide area. Once the tub is filled with water and the pump turned on, the water should be pumped up beside the waterfall, pour out the top, cascade nicely down the slide area and splash back into the small pond below to be recycled again.

Use different sized rocks around the basin at the bottom and set in more rocks into the elevated area above. Groups of odd numbers like three and five look best with rock groupings. Set them randomly so they look natural.

Look at pictures of real alpine gardens to get ideas of what plantings will look natural and copy the designs with plant varieties that look similar but are adapted to your own climate and soil.

Plant low-growing plants that will spread around the rocks and choose some trailing plants to spill over the front edge of your rock garden around the waterfall. Mix rounded plants with low growing grass-like or sword-shaped leaves for an interesting combination of textures. Succulent plants can also be a good choice for planting in a rock garden.