PONDS-AND-WATERFALLS

Once you have a garden pond, you’re probably going to want to build a waterfall in it. After all, what looks any nicer than cascades of sparkling water falling over the rocks or sounds any more natural? In addition to looking and sounding lovely, a waterfall is also very functional in circulating water and allowing it to oxygenate which enables your fish to breathe well. Although you may be thinking that your yard is too flat to support a waterfall feature, you’ll find that it’s simple enough to build one yourself, and the waterfall you create will greatly add to the atmosphere you’ve developed in your yard.

While creating a stream will only require a drop of 1″ per ten feet, you will need considerably more drop for a waterfall. If you have extra soil left from digging your pond, you can use it to create a natural landscape that has fall. By all means, don’t just pile the dirt in an unsightly hump. Level and blend the soil into gradual dips and falls. If you’re lucky enough to have a yard with natural slopes, you can take advantage of it by building a series of ponds with waterfalls flowing into each of them them. If you do this, take care that the top pond holds the least water and the lowest pond holds the most. If you don’t have the natural fall, you might want to buy a fiberglass insert that will “mold” your landscape for you.

Be sure to build your waterfall with sides that are high enough to keep your water from splashing out. You will also need to line the sides so that the water doesn’t just soak away into the ground. When you build a waterfall you will create a pumping system to recycle water back up to the top of your falls. While some of your water will evaporate as you might expect, you can slow the decrease in water flow by taking these preventive measures. If you can afford to have water piped to your water garden, this won’t be a problem for you. Otherwise, you need to be prepared to add water to your pond on at least a weekly basis. Use rocks to keep your liners in place and to provide a natural-looking setting for your water garden.

There is a lot of planning that goes into building a great waterfall, but if you use the techniques and methods you’ll find on the Internet, you can successfully add a waterfall to your water garden and make your yard the showplace of the neighborhood.

Genuine Income For Life

Invigorating fall … tingling, misty mornings … Ahhh! My favorite time of year for having fun with all the gorgeous colors and for “chores” that actually become enjoyable when the weather is crisp and beautiful!

I love all the charming landscaping designs you can create in the fall. One idea is to use a pumpkin as a planter for some brightly colored mums, putting small holes in the bottom for drainage (if you are in the cooler regions of the country where it won’t go bad quickly). You can also use a pretty weather-friendly manufactured one in the hotter regions.

I also like to hang the pumpkin (or jack-o-lantern) planter on a shepherd’s hook (again you can get this at your local gardening supply center) or place it on an extra birdbath. This is the one time I will use silk plants outside — to place around the bottom of the pumpkin in the birdbath, hanging over the edges or surrounding the arrangement.

Another landscaping idea is to use a large, outdoor planter in which you put some sort of bottom filler such as chicken wire or peat moss and then on top of that, arrange maybe some of the beautiful colored winter gourds you can buy at your local market or some small pumpkins with small pots of winter flowers.

Lots of people really love scare crows for the fall — either sitting on a bench, or used in an arrangement with perhaps a couple of hay bales with pumpkins and/or fall flowers.

Some of the “maintenance” items I consider fun are working with stepping stones to make a new walk or place in some of your gardens. Either regular stones from your garden center, or using kits to make your own! There are beautiful mosaic tiles and colored glass you can use just for a few examples of materials. I have seen lady bug stones, flower stones, and many other personalized ones of every type as well.

This is also a great time to build a new patio, arbor or bridge or to make new beds with borders and mulch. Then you will be ready for your gorgeous new plantings when spring comes, and you can just have fun with your new plants!

I also like to do the things that are miserable to do in the summer, but therapeutic in the fall months. Some examples are painting or poly-coating your fences, cleaning out unwanted plants from your gardens to be ready for spring and replacing them with mulch, and anything else that can be unpleasant when the weather is warm or hot.

Finally, there are the mundane lawncare and landscaping things you do to maintain a beautiful lawn year-round, such as:

Mowing

to 1-1/2″ to stimulate it’s growth in the Spring

Fertilizing

with a balanced mix of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in late September/early October and then again in November for a thick, beautiful turf, but also for cold-resistance during the winter months.

Aeration

skip this step, and you will not have a gorgeous, carpet-like lawn in the spring no matter how much you fertilize!

Do this in September or October as well, and then once again in the spring. Even just a fall aeration can produce amazing results in your turf. You can rent or buy an aerator, or use an attachment found at your local garden supply store for your mower that will also work well. (Do be cautious with the mower attachment method as it can over-heat your mower if you do not let it rest periodically during the aeration process). I learned that the hard way!

Watering

It is best to water in three short five-ten minute cycles in the morning. I find that for problem areas or brown spots, hand-watering works best rather than more water.

Mulching

Mulch is as important in the winter as in the summer. It can prevent root freezing (or burning in the summer), help drainage and water evaporation, and discourage weeds year-round. It also improves
the soil quality which creates more nutrients for your plants.

One to three inches of organic mulch such as bark, straw, leaves, compost or even pine tree needles or grass clippings will do fine.

My personal favorite is the red-colored mulch — especially for the fall months as is it is a deep reddish-burgundy (very fall-looking color), and makes a wonderful contrast for your evergreen hedges,
trees and brightly colored fall flowers.

I hope you find these tips helpful and that you will find some things you can do from them that you will have fun with as well. Have a great fall and a magical winter holiday season!

Genuine Income For Life

Creating backyard ponds can be a lot of work, but well worth it. Also, if you plan accordingly you could eliminate back breaking work in the future. There are loads of sites and books to use as a reference for creating a backyard pond.

However, here are a few do it yourself backyard pond tips:

Find a spot for the backyard pond that will get at least six hours of sunlight.

When creating your backyard pond do not pick a spot under or to close to trees (planting around trees will create extra work in pond clean up because of leaves and sticks).

For convenient care create the backyard pond with built in dirt steps.

Leave workspace all around the pond for easier access for cleaning.

Extend the liner to prevent plant overgrowth.

Use flat stones to make a mower friendly trim.

Protect the liner with underlayment

Lay out the size and shape of your pond with rope or a garden hose.

Level the pond’s edges after digging.

If you are creating a koi pond, it must be at least 3 feet deep to provide room for mobility.

The last and final quick backyard pond tip is to plan….plan….plan…before you do anything. I can not stress this enough.

Sit down and think about what kind of pond you want. This will help you establish estimated material costs and determine the best location for the pond. Things to think about when planning:

Do you want a running water fall?

Do you want goldfish?

Do you want water plants?

How much are you willing to spend?

Do you have dogs or cats? (Pets should be considered when planning a

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