Larsen Landscape | Blog

PONDLESS WATER FEATURES

One of the more popular landscape features has become “pond-less” water features.  It seems that there are two main reasons to have a water feature.  The traditional pond, possibly with a waterfall attached, lends itself very nicely to some fish or turtles and can be a nice addition to a landscape as well.  It does, however, require some work to keep it in shape, and, while some people love fish swimming in their yard – not everyone fits into this category.

This brings up the other option.  If you are looking for the sound of falling water which not only tends to mask things like traffic noise but also lets you shut your eyes and feel pretty much like you are in a remote campground somewhere or maybe a tropical island.  And you can do it without the work of keeping up a pond.

We have been constructing quite a few waterfalls that fall in this category lately.  They do have a pond, actually, but it is an underground pond.  The water feature itself can be a waterfall with boulders that sounds like Niagara Falls (small version) or it can have a light trickle of water depending on the pump system used.  It can be water cascading off one or more statues, spilling out of a pot or maybe trickling down stone columns – or some other, completely custom, approach.  In all cases, the water falls into a layer of stones which lie over a sturdy grate and ends up underground where it is recycled up again.

Pondless Water Feathre

There are a number of advantages, all of which add up to little or no maintenance.  The sunlight doesn’t get to the water so there is very little trouble with algae growing.  On this type of waterfall, we always add an automatic fill system so the water in the underground pond always keeps itself topped off.  Except on very large pumps, the pump is usually in the water which keeps it cool and extends the life.  Normally, a timer system is installed so it re-circulates every day which helps keep the water fresh.

Instead of cleaning and maintenance, the client’s job becomes sitting on the patio with a tropical drink or cracking a window in the bedroom to let in the sound of a distant waterfall.