Choosing Waterfalls, Streams and Cascades for Your Garden or Backyard

Pond or backyard waterfalls add oxygen to water gardens, the low cost natural way. Streams and cascades create soothing sounds to relax you as you spend time in your own backyard. Flowing water in a garden environment adds life and sparkle to the whole area.

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The picture shown is of a real feeder stream cascading into a small pool in an area called Dullstroom in  South Africa. It is a place I visit, about 4 times every year, and each time I see this small stream I marvel at what has been achieved to replicate such natural appearances inside any garden situation.

Notice in the picture that there is no great gushing of water (of course when floods come down the situation changes). It is this kind of gentle pleasing "tinkling" kind of appearance, sound and sight that you should try to copy for your own back-yard or garden cascade. It's not about creating a mini Victoria Falls at the height of the rainy season.

Here's why every pond should have a waterfall or stream ...

Water contains oxygen and when the water in a pond is circulated this oxygen is made available for the fish, plants and bacteria that clean the pond water. These bacteria live in the pond filter and on all pond surfaces such as stones, logs, plant material and so on.

This oxygen is used up by the bacteria and fish and so it needs to be replaced. The easiest and cheapest way to add oxygen to flowing water is to spray it using a fountain attachment to your pump or let the water cascade down a waterfall or stream. The act of falling allows water to come into good contact with air and the oxygen is extracted this way.

In summer it is especially important to aerate the water flowing around the pond circuit as much as possible and aeration is why you need the right pond pump to supply your yard waterfall. Selecting the right backyard waterfall pump is made easy for you below

Great waterfalls, cascades and streams

It's never been easier to create a natural looking waterfall or stream using modern materials and designs.

Fibreglass rock like features make installing waterfalls and streams not only very easy by virtue of their lightweight nature but they create an unbelievably realistic appearance which gets even better with age as algae grows on the surface of the cascade or waterfall. The image shows an example of a fibreglass stream or waterfall section before and after installation.

View This Range of Waterfalls from the USA Supplier of Garden Fountains ... see below

Most of the waterfalls below are available in different colours to suit your surroundings. By clicking on a link below you will be able to see a full scale picture of the relevant waterfall in addition to price.

For South African visitors who wish to buy a fibreglass water features the Pretoria Company Fibre Features has a massive range. They export their products worldwide.

For UK visitors please check the Bradshaws website out.

Backyard waterfalls - take note.

In most cases pond waterfalls should not be too steep. This general design approach for a pond waterfall tends to create noise rather than soothing sound. The best pond waterfalls are designed to imitate natural streams. Avoid too much noise from your waterfalls unless of course you prefer a Niagara effect.

For in-depth articles and information about al pond matters please visit my main site Practical Water Gardens.