Laying the Foundation
Dig a top-pool or small well (40cm deep) at a higher ground level than your pond.
Construct your foundation gradually down from the top-pool into your pond, ensure the foundation is sloped steep enough to allow the water to flow freely.
If you want to create a waterfall, build steps into the foundation of your stream, (30cm in height).
At the base of each step, dig a small hole (15cm) to sink your pond liner into thereby creating a small pool where the water can fill up and flow over to the lower step.
You’ll need a strong enough water-pump (we used 2500 Gph) to pump the water up from your pond through a hose (we used 20mm for extra propulsion) into the top-pool which will feed the water down into your stream. A stream waterfall requires a stronger pump and a longer hose than you would need for a pond waterfall without a long stream.
Adding the Pondliner
After you’ve constructed the foundation, run the pond liner up from your pond through the stream foundation, finishing in the top-pool. Careful and precise fitting of the pond liner is probably the most important part of the entire process.
It’s best to fit the liner with plenty of overlap on all sides of your foundation.
Before you trim the liner to size be sure to fill your stream with water to see how rapidly your water flows and check for possible holes in the lining.
Run the hose from your pond water pump up to the top-tool, carefully hide the hose under the liner and be sure to check for kinks, again check your flow of water before covering over the hose and liner.
Building the Stream
Once the liner is in place, secure and bed down the edges with soil, be sure to choose soil conducive to plant growth.
If you have added steps to your stream you can build out the steps with garden slate allowing the edge of the slate to overhang creating a waterfall effect, the slate also hides the liner underneath.
Use good size rocks. Garden rocks and stones don’t only add a great feature to your stream they help to weigh down your liner so don’t be afraid to use heavy ones.
You can cover the excess liner and soil with small stones (we used bags of ‘gold light’) and decorate the area with driftwood, logs, slate, granite and beach stones.
Planting for your Stream
Planting is where the real fun begins, border and embellish your water feature with a wide range of aquatic and semi-aquatic plants, we used water grass, water lilies, Japanese maple, ferns, alpine saxifrage.
Add some creative lighting. We all know how glorious it is sit out by your pond on a summer’s day but you can make it equally beautiful by night, all one needs is some creative lighting to illuminate your garden and water feature, simple tea-lights and floating oil burners should do the trick.
Let it grow. While it’s important to maintain and manage your garden pond and stream, it’s just as important to ‘let your garden grow’. Do the hard work and planting early in the season and sit back and enjoy the rewards through the summer.
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