Hello, Macattack!

There's a certain sense of reciprocity to the design forum. To get one party started, one must first provide something. If this is in a query, some background information, initial thoughts, preferences, etc. etc. etc. can help get the ball rollin'. It's generally easier for people to respond to a specific question/request.

However, I shall try to get things started by stating what I think about what you have. (This illustrates my previous point, as what people can provide with little information is what they personally think, which may or may not be applicable in your situation). One issue I find with most people's ponds is that they use rock along the edges. Actually, that is not the issue. The issue is that the rock seems out-of-place, so they add more rock. Eventually, lots of rock surrounds the pond and it seems even MORE out-of-place.

Another issue I find common is that ponds are often put in for pond's sake, meaning that they often have little relation to the context in which they are placed. They're there so that the homeowner now has a pond, as opposed to them being there to form a part of a larger landscape. This supplements the first issue which I pointed out above.

Last but not least (and this relates to both points), people often don't place waterfalls in the proper, topographical context. As in your case, the waterfall is built up on its own miniature hill which is very incongruous to the surrounding lay of the land. (They've been given other names on this forum, but we'll avoid that to maintain the civility). The stream runs down a nice slope, but the waterfall still seems a little abrupt.

Ok, I've only offered criticism so far. However, this is to be constructive, and if you don't agree with any of my points, feel free to question my statements. That being said, I'll offer my suggestion. Look at the bigger picture.

As I mentioned, it looks like you have a nice slope down your yard. It may be worth considering re-doing the waterfall/stream (and I do know that this is a lot of work) so that the waterfall "cuts into" the slope" as if it's been there for a millenia and has been eating its way through the hill. An alternative is to raise the landscaping up to match the waterfall by providing taller elements (either raising up the ground level, or by shrubs, etc) to conceal the fact that the waterfall has "sides" to it and to make it feel as if it's part of a larger slope/hill/thing, so it's less of an individual element standing out.

How does the rest of the landscaping of the yard work? How can you apply that to the pond? Generally, I would say to bring up the vegetation as close to the edges of the pond to soften its starkness and to integrate it with the rest of the yard, but how you should do it depends on what the rest of the yard is like.

One final comment/question: why the peastone/round river rock? The stone edging on the pond itself is very nicely done, and I think it would stand out more (in a good way!) without the contrasting river rock/peastone around it. Based on that, I would suggest that you try laying the flatter stone in the stream as opposed to lining it with the peastone/river rock. Your skill for arranging it is quite obvious, and I think it would be a lot more dramatic and natural-looking if you used the same stone for edging on the stream.

Hopefully this helps get you thinking!

-Audric

I forgot to mention that it may add more interest to the stream by adding some bends into it so the water doesn't fall in a straight line. Here's a very rough sketch about what I'm talking about.

{{gwi:53004}}

-Audric

Thanks for your comments. This was the first pond I have ever built. The reason i used the river rock was cost the flat rock in this area is pretty expensive about 200.00 a ton. I used two tons you can only buy it by the pallet which is expensive a got the river rock for 30.00. I also used it because I thought it would cover the liner better. The picture is kind of decieving the waterfall is only 1.5' above finished ground. It is also by a dogwood tree which I wanted to keep. I probably should have curved the stream but I did not know how to on the slope and was afraid it would wash. My liner goes to the edge of the rock, How can I plant in that area with the liner ?

So audric, you have learned something from my example after all, what's it called 'diplomacy' you will go far. This is an ill conceived project. In an area that appears to have one house built up the arse of another we can not claim much of a connection with nature. Then an imagined nature, I have never seen anything like this under my sky, is plonked down for a reason beyond my imagination. When I read that the reason is cost and covering a liner I wonder why people waste their money like this. I challenge anyone to show me the model for this installation in anything they have seen. Is the water meant to emanate from the heat exchanger. Then we cover it with plants: puhleeze.

Liners around the edge are always a tricky business. Here's one tactic that I've come across many times and would work well in your particular situation, given the method of stacking rocks around the perimeter of the pond.

{{gwi:53006}}

The liner simply folds underneath the top [few] rocks. It's held in place, the edges can't be seen, and you can plant right up to the edge. Again, I know to re-do things is tediuous work, and this is just a suggestion. Another is to plant larger plants around the end of the liner (as it is), so that when they reach a mature size, they extend beyond the pebbles to reach the edges of the pond.

As for the stream, things can be a little more complex. There's no one way to do it, and it seems that some people have a magic touch in which they can create amazing streams with little thout involved, wherease others deliberate over everything and still are confused as to what is not quite right. Here is one example of stream construction:

{{gwi:53008}}

As opposed to being one continuous run, the stream is broken into a number of smaller "basins" which catch the water. A ledge is created (before the liner is set), on which rocks are placed for the water to fall into the next basin. You can have control over the flow of the water, moreso than if it is a straight run down a slope. This takes up more liner, but (personally) allows for more natural-looking streams.

-Audric

You didn't do this audric did you?

Um... perhaps? I'm not sure if I understand the nature of your question (i.e. have I taken the information from another source without properly crediting the source? or have I gone on to post another post?). It's a little early (3:14 AM) and I just got back from studio, but my final design project is done.

If the question was of the former, yes, I did write all of the above and did sketch (quickly) the images on MS Paint (Corel died on me). I spent a lot of time on pond forums (for years before coming to the Landscape Design forum) and this is a very typical set-up, and what I've responded with is a very typical response with very typical suggestions. If the question was of the latter, then I suppose the answer is also yes. However, you posted yours right when I was writing mine.

-Audric