From my inbox

Dear Jan,
I don't know if you remember me but I wrote to you last fall and we talked about Gregg Wittstock and Aquascape and their CAC's. I have now been fighting them for 10 months to get the pea gravel out of this man-made waterfall and stream because I found pea gravel clear up in the biofalls and my pump failed because it was pumping gravel instead of the water. To make a long story a bit shorter, they have finally decided to finally get the gravel out of the basin and put in AquaBlox. They will do this for free. But do you know anything about these glorified milk cases? They are only warranted for 1 year. After that who knows, another fight. Do you feel this is needed? They are supposed to give the basin more water volume. ????

Also, I have two plants in the water of my pondless......my contractor put them in. The second season of running our pondless, we noticed tons and I mean TONS of string algae. I have used the NON-guaranteed algaecides, barley straw, bleach, chlorine tabs and nothing has worked. Should I take OUT the two Sweet Flags I have in the water? Are they causing the algae to form? Any information would be greatly appreciated. OR is there something the contractor did that would lend to this production of algae? Like, not making the biofalls level or something like that. I was told to put in bleach, but how much and how often? My pondless is 4' by 12'.

Without bad luck, I would have no luck at all..............after spending over 20 hours getting the pea gravel out of the basin and stream........I would say we were able to get at least 90 percent of this stuff out........now Dreamscapes call and say they will take out all the pea gravel.........I am sure my husband and I got more out than they would have, so although it was really hard work, I now know what is in and around the centipede......and it is not pea gravel!! My husband is 68 years old and he must really love me to do all that work because he knew how I was fretting over it. I just didn't want to put in a new pump and have it ruined by all the pea gravel. Also, could you tell me again what pumps you would choose to put in the skimmer that have good guarantees? You told me before but I must have misplaced your information. Thanks.

If I could just get rid of the string algae..........I did put barley straw in the biofalls in March a couple of years ago. We live in PA. It worked for a while but then seemed not to do anything except muck up the stream bed.

I wish there was a way to really blog about Aquascape Design, Inc.-- I really can't stand them or their products. They are crooks in my book.

Thanks for letting me vent again. Hope to hear from you soon.

Pondlady sez:

Try Microbe-Lift for your string algae.
I don't know a thing about Aquabox.
Ya know, you could remove the irises, plant them next to the pond and use swimming pool chlorine and your pond water would stay crystal clear. The irises are not causing the algae, nor did the contractor. Sun + water = algae. Use more chlorine than you have before and you should be fine.

As far as pumps go, I like Oase brand pumps.

How to build a pondless Waterfall

Pondless waterfalls have become all the rage in the past few years. They have all the good parts of a water garden, but none of the green water or sick fish worries of a pond. For those people who want water sounds in their garden, a pondless waterfall may be a great way to have it. They are easy to build if you wish to do it yourself.

What is a pondless waterfall

A pondless waterfall consists of a lined hole in the ground filled with rocks, a rock or rocks made into a waterfall and a pump that recirculates the water. That's all you need. I prefer to add some plants around it so it does not look like a rock pile. Plants soften any pond or pondless waterfall and make it look natural instead of made by human hands. Depending on your climate, you can use any plants that grow where you live. They need not be water plants, because they will not be in any water.

You can buy a pondless waterfall kit containing a pump, some tubing and a plastic tub if you wish. They are available most everywhere. I find the kits too expensive and prefer to buy each item individually.

How do I build a pondless waterfall?

Start with a tub that you will bury in the ground. You can buy the tub at a big box store, but their tubs are plastic and don't hold up very long. The sun destroys them within a few years. And they have a built in shelf for plants, so you have to dig your hole to fit those shelves and that digging and positioning will give you gray hair. Those tubs are made for ponds, not pondless waterfalls. So here's what I buy. Go to your local feed or pet store. They will have horse watering troughs, usually made by Rubbermaid. They are cheap, normally under $40.00, and are indestructible. There are no shelves to worry about either.

Dig a hole, put the tub in the hole and back fill with the soil you dug out. If that is unsuitable, use kiddy play sand. Get the tub as level as you can, but leave it elevated about four inches. Fill it with water now. I know it will get filthy, but do it anyway. You will pump it out later. Now, use the hose to wet the sand you used to backfill. That makes it settle into all the air pockets and makes your tub stable. If you don't have it filled with water, the tub will float up while you are hosing the sand into place and you will have to start digging all over again.

Now that you have the tub in place, it's time to put your pump in. I usually put the pump somewhere where I know I can get to it later, because it will need cleaning periodically. Connect a long piece of flexible tubing to the pump and lay it outside the tub. This tube is what water will go through to get up and over the waterfall or through the rocks, so be sure the tubing is long enough.

Next, place big rocks, any kind you like, in the tub. Put big ones on the bottom. Remember, you will have to get to the pump to clean it at least twice a year or so, so either cover the pump so you can remove it easily or put it in an 8" - 10" wide piece of PVC with the cord sticking out. Don't let the PVC stick up over the top of the tub. Cover it with a flat rock.

Put topsoil around that 4" of tub that you left sticking up. You will plant in that later. On the top of the topsoil, cantilever flat rocks over the top of the tub so no rubber is showing.

Now you are ready to either build a waterfall using flat rocks or, my favorite, use a rock with a hole drilled through it. Push the tubing through the hole and let it bubble up and back down into the tub. You may have to have the hole drilled through the rock at the rock yard if you do not have the equipment to do it yourself.

Thread the tube through. Plug in the pump. Plant some pretty plants around your new piece of art and mulch it up.


You have a pondless waterfall.