u/Kindly_Panic_2893

I'm really happy with how this turned out! This was our first major landscaping project so we learned a lot. We used plants from garden in a box and totally overhauled the front yard. New drip irrigation, bringing in soil to create some variation in height, and building out a water feature with multiple little pools with different depths of water for different species (shallow for insects and small birds, deeper for larger birds).

It was SO MUCH WORK! We did everything by hand - tearing up the lawn, digging trenches for irrigation, moving the 8 cubic yards of soil, planting, laying all the drip, mulching, digging the hole and hauling stone into place for the water feature. We got the dirt, pathway stone, pond stone, mulch, and plants for free through the garden in a box program and fb marketplace finds. Not to mention all the work researching how to install irrigation, care for the plants, how to install a pond, etc.

I can't wait to see what it looks like next year and the year after when all the plants are fully established and thriving, but it's already paying off! We've seen a lot of bees and other insects we hadn't seen before, and the birds are really liking coming down to get a drink and take a bath in the water.

Last picture is what it used to look like a couple of months ago for reference. Love this community, very inspiring!

I just finished this waterfall and pond feature that I DIYed and I'm pretty happy with it!

We overhauled the whole front yard ourselves - installed underground irritation and drip lines, removed the flat grass yard and added some elevation variation and planted native low water plants that support pollinators. It was a TON of work to do by hand. I figured the thing we were missing was some water for the birds and bees, especially given the fact we live in a dry place without a ton of natural water sources near us. Of course the simple bird bath plan turned into a fountain, which turned into a pond, which turned into a small fall, which turned into a multi-fall stream with two smaller pools for different species' needs (shallow beach for small insects and small birds, deeper pool for larger birds, largest pond to keep the water cool and for whoever else wants to take up shop in there). Also quite the project to do solo!

We have a flat yard so making it look somewhat natural was a challenge, but I think it worked out well by adding some variation to the surrounding soil height and having some ups and downs built into the rest of the yard.

Any suggestions for any final improvements I can make would be appreciated! I'd like to get a little more greenery in close to the stream itself so it isn't just rock and water, but I'm not sure what would work to get into the rock area given all the rock is on the liner. We live in the Colorado front range so it gets pretty dry and hot in the summer and dry and cold in the winter.

Hi all!

I just installed my first pond/water feature and I'm very proud of how it turned out. I had two areas I'm a little stumped on how to handle so I figured I'd turn to this community for ideas!

1. Where the waterfall filter outlet is, I'd like to hide the black plastic in the above photo. I've thought about some kind of adhesive with pebbles or something else... Ideas? The top is just a trashcan lid that I turned upside down and filled with dirt and rocks. I live in an area with not a ton of rain and hot days so I don't know that I would want to plant anything on top with only a couple inches of soil max.

2. Part of the black lining is showing here. If I were to do it again I'd contour that section differently, but I'm committed now. My problem is that the shelf I built below this spot has my hose from the pump laying on it, so there isn't really space to set a large tall rock there. I planted a couple of nettle hoping that they'd grow over the edge but I'm curious again if anyone has experience hiding lining in this situation. Some kind of adhesive and gravel/dirt mix to mimic an eroded bank?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice!