12 Backyard Waterfall Ideas to Transform Your Space

When you want to build a waterfall in your backyard, there’s a lot to consider, but most importantly you’ll need to decide the style and design of your water feature to fit your home, your tastes, and your lifestyle. This guide to backyard waterfall ideas will help you decide if you want a private retreat, a place to entertain guests, a low-maintenance waterfall, or a pond with extensive plantings and fish. Here are some spectacular water garden ideas to help you get inspired to build a backyard waterfall.

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Natural-Looking Waterfall

Pull up your lounge chair and relax in this private retreat setting. The multiple cascades spilling over natural rocks emphasize the reflections off the water’s surface. Surrounding the pond with a combination of plants and trees that have various colors, leaf forms, and textures creates a cozy woodland garden.

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Small Water Feature

You can achieve the splashing sound of a waterfall with a small backyard setup. Whether you choose to attach your waterfall to a pond or a stream, it’s important to surround it with landscape edging. Broad, flat edging, such as wood planks, encourages passersby to walk on top of it like a path. Surrounding your waterfall with multiple rocks and flowers adds variety and interest to your landscape.

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DIY Waterfall Kit

The simplest way to build a waterfall on your own is to install a ready-made waterfall unit. Installation usually involves topping a preformed water reservoir with a lightweight artificial stone made for waterfalls and then surrounding the reservoir with natural stone. Ready-to-assemble kits are available online, including pondless waterfall kits and mini water gardens that make building a backyard water feature quick and easy.

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Large Waterfall

Take your love of water and nature to a grand scale with a large backyard waterfall. This rock waterfall cascades over a few flat stones and into a pond that’s surrounded by a conifer garden. Entertain on the nearby brick patio and get a first-hand look at the soothing sights and sounds of nature.

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Waterfall Stream

A winding stream is a perfect addition to a woodland or rocky hillside. Here, the stream is separated by low falls or cascades. Water-loving plants and shrubs of all shapes and sizes invite visitors to linger in this landscape. 

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Modern Backyard Waterfall

This modern waterfall with a triangular steel basin provides a relaxing sound near an outdoor fireplace and helps drown out traffic noise from a nearby highway. It’s a simple water feature addition that brings beauty and a sense of tranquility to a patio. Add plants around the basin’s perimeter to soften its edges.

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Pool Waterfall

Enhance the beauty of your pool design with a waterfall. This trio of waterfalls along a retaining wall creates a dramatic effect with its simultaneous water flow into a pool. A waterfall setup like this can be constructed from rock, stone, or concrete and requires a pump to push water out and into a pool.

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Waterfall Planter

Showcase your flowers in a planter that houses your plants atop a beautiful waterfall. Enjoy the colorful fragrance of your potted plants plus the up-close view of water flowing peacefully into your landscape pond. Your backyard guests will love the convenient deck seating to watch your pond fish swim among the waterlilies.

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Small Corner Pond

Climb the meandering steps for a breathtaking bird’s-eye view of this corner waterfall. Notice how large gate stones are positioned on both sides of the waterfall to help channel water over the spill stone. A flagstone patio provides easy access to the water plants and fish that bring vibrant color and movement to the pond.

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Tall Vertical Waterfall

Make a statement with a vertical waterfall. Due to its height and large cascading falls, this waterfall is designed to create loud splashing sounds as the moving water falls into the pond. Lush water garden plants line the falls to make the waterfall look like it has always been there.

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Aboveground Waterfall

An aboveground waterfall is striking when it becomes part of your yard’s architecture. This waterfall blends seamlessly with the yard’s plantings and stone steps. The water trickles down a stone wall and drains to an aboveground basin.

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Backyard Wall

Create multiple waterfall cascades with a wall waterfall. Your guests will wonder in delight at the site of water plunging out of a cut-stone retaining wall. Surround the pond with plants to tie it to the rest of your landscape.