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“I should have built it bigger,” is a regret uttered by many pond owners, including the pond owner featured in this article. What started out as a standard 10×14 foot pond with a 12-foot of stream has blossomed into an oasis of rushing water and cascading falls that truly makes one think paradise has arrived in the backyard.
Our client has a home and photography studio on the flat land of Southeast Texas in the coastal town of Baytown. The home’s pool had long ago been filled in, leaving only two palms and a rustic brick patio. A large flower bed was added near one of the palms. The client longed for a stream and waterfalls that she could use in photographs. Enter Planted Earth Landscape to paint a pond onto the landscape.
Throughout the early phases of the digging, our client wondered that perhaps a 12-foot stream too long and a 10×14 foot pond to large to look natural. Sitting on four acres of property, I could hardly see that the pond would ever seem too big–and I was right. The pond quickly took shape, but the client fretted, “Maybe we should have made the stream longer, or the falls higher. Or maybe we should have done two streams.”
Over the course of the past year, several other landscape features have been added to the site: a large flagstone and crushed granite patio to the pond end of the water feature, extending the viewing and sitting area; boulders and border rock to freshen the landscape and provide more photo opportunities. Still, the client asked, “What can we do to make it bigger? What can we add? Can we do a bigger fall?” She wanted a waterfall origination point with a drastic drop that would be tall enough that children could stand next to it in photos.
When I started in the landscape business three years ago, the water garden phenomenon was really taking off. I attended several pond build seminars sponsored by different pond manufacturers. I was extremely impressed by the PondEco system, which features a tool free installation. The liner fits under and behind the skimmer and tucks under the lip of the filter box, virtually eliminating leaks in these areas. With other manufacturers, the builder must puncture the liner to screw it to the filter and skimmer boxes. PondEco’s system is easier to install, and is less expensive than similar makers.
The PondEco system makes installation simple. We dug the pond with shovels and used all excavated soil to build the berm around the biofilter box. Two-inch flexible PVC connected the pump in the skimmer box to the filter box.
Two yards of top soil was brought in to smooth the berm and edges.The EPDM fish safe liner was spread over the underlayment in the pond, making sure to have all edges higher than the potential water level. The skimmer, using the Pond Eco System, is inside the liner, which minimizes the chance of leaks from a punctured liner.
Once the water level was established and the liner installed, the stream liner was connected to the Pond Eco Bio Filter. About 9,000 lbs. of moss rock and 2-5’’ river rock was placed in and around the pond.
A longer stream was added. Twenty-four yards of a clay and sand mix were brought in to create the stream bed, and two of Pond Eco’s new curtain falls were installed side by side to create the illusion a one large fall. A large boulder was placed in between the falls to break up the fall. An additional 6,000 lbs. of moss rock created a realistic look of a stream coming from the other side of the large palm tree. The two-inch line exiting the skimmer was teed into two lines. At a point closer to the new curtain falls, the new line is split again. Roughly 125’ of 2’’ flexible PVC was used, with ball valves installed on each line feeding the falls. This allows control of the amount of water feeding each of the three falls. Additional moss rock created a retaining wall that holds the stream bed up above the flagstone patio, which allows one to walk up to the stream. The flagstone walk meanders along the stream, allowing the viewer to observe the falls and stream at what seems to be eye level.
The fall from the filter box is 12 inches followed by several feet of stream. A second fall of four inches breaks up the stream before it bends and heads for the pond. A split in the stream allows side-by-side entry into the pond. My vision of the pond entry was more dramatic than what the 3,600 gph provided, so I guess my vision of “build it bigger” was already taking shape.
The manufacturer had introduced several new products: a disappearing waterfall and 18’’ and 23’’ curtain falls. I first pitched the idea of the disappearing fall and the client was sold. It would originate five feet in the air and be backed up to the woods. Hiding the massive mound of dirt would not be an issue, but the rain would. She needed something for spring photos. South Texas, however, experienced an exorbitant amount of rain this year and we would not get the feature built until that area of the yard had time to dry.
Focus was put back on the original feature. With the introduction of the curtain falls, PondEco has given the creative pond builder a real tool. Placing two 18" curtains side-by-side creates the illusion of a 36" sheet of water. With the slim design of the curtains, the builder is not left with two massive filter boxes to hide. With the large Harmony-style filter box already in place, the need for filtration had already been met. With the help of Water In Motion, we were able to sell the client on the concept of a 24" drop created by two 18" curtain falls placed side by side. A small boulder was placed between the two to help give the illusion that the 36" sheet of water is interrupted only by nature’s own hand. The 28 foot stream begins at the base of the curtain falls and ripples along as it curves around the other side of the huge palm tree. It gurgles along before a six-inch drop falls into the existing stream just before the split entry into the pond. The 3,600 gph pump was replaced with a 5,700 gph Tsurumi. Its easy to use check valve assembly made the switch quick and easy. Just past the check valve assembly, the existing two inch line was swaged up and into a three inch tee, theoretically allowing more water to temporarily collect before being split and reduced back down into two 2-inch lines. Near the new stream entry, the new line is again split with a two inch wye fitting. The two separated lines then have ball valves installed which allows the user to adjust flow to each of the curtain falls.
A new flagstone and crushed granite walk has been added to the area between the existing bed and the new stream. Clients can now walk up and stand next to the stream. A flagstone step has been built in as part of the retaining wall that allows for small children to sit or stand for optimal photo angles. To shape the falls, stream and new beds, 6,500 lbs. of stone was used. Again, minimal plantings placed away from the edge of the pond accent but do not overtake the stream and ponds edges. Large boulders have again been moved from other locations in the landscape to provide platforms for the photographer’s models. As the spring season warms up, and as the photographer learns about her new “set,” more water plants and plantings will be added. It is a delicate process to make the pond usable for photos, safe for the clientele and yet hide all the man made parts. Careful planning and feedback is needed to determine plant placement around the boxes. My client will have to use the area for several shoots before she can advise where and what we can plant to help cover the area surrounding the new falls without hindering camera angles.
Nearly 125 feet of two-inch tubing runs under and around the pond and streams. The new bigger pump provides the volume of water that allows the split entry to finally satisfy my original vision. The new walk and sitting areas provide one of the most interesting vantage points of a water feature that I have seen.
Standing on the path, with a chest high, two-foot fall just to my left, I can bend down slightly and stare down the stream. From here I can see five falls, some dramatic, others subtle. All the gurgling and hissing of the water, the vision of the fish coming to the top of the pond taking in the delicacies of the spring insect buffet, the beauty and peacefulness of the paradise Planted Earth has created. “Bigger is better!” I think. “I should have built it bigger.”
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
November 12th, 2025
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