"Leanne" wrote in message
...
Hi!

I've always been interested in gardening, especially when water features
are
involved.

I've finally got the time to make something in the garden i really want. I
was wondering whether any of you had a guide to building garden
waterfalls,
or if you have done them yourself, how did you do it?

TIA

Leanne.


I have been thinking about the same thing. I have long thought about making
a water feature monstrosity, and making it attractive to the local frog
bothers, so they might like to vacate the toilet....Negotiations have been
underway for some years now, but they remain the tenants from hell....

I have the ability to move large rocks(Backhoe & Hi-ab truck crane), as well
as cut them to approximate shape, but am interested in a water\light
feature that works on solar power. The light is for attracting insects for
the frog brothers, and so make it a bit of a must-visit place. If I can
make a few little nooks & crannies for them to sleep away the day hours, I
might just get them to move. Fingers crossed, anyway.

What I envisage is a feature that operates during the day, but continues for
a number of hours each evening. For this, I will require power storage, as
well as a daylight sensor for the lights. The lights I have in mind are a
few of the high intensity white LED lights that are used on heavy vehicles &
trailers etc(white clearance lights are around $20-$25 each). They draw
very low current(0.5Watt?), handle a range of voltage (8-36V DC)and a few of
them should be well bright enough to attract passing moths, etc.

My questions to you a

Any better or worse solar pumps to circulate water on a largeish water
feature? Are there different voltage models, or are all the solar ones
12Volt? I would estimate I will have between 400-600 litres in the whole
setup. I expect the pile of rocks to be 2 metres high, with a pond at the
bottom. Pools of water overflowing down eventually into the large pond at
the bottom. Water will be topped up via a float valve. I envisage the panel
to run this would be in the order of 5 amps of peak power(approx $560 for
the panel), so there should be heaps of power for the pump during sunlight
hours.

Any obvious problems with this sort of idea?

Is it wise to lay poly sheeting below the whole feature, to reduce ground
soakage? Does this cause other issues in doing so?? I did wonder if I
mightnt be better starting with half-burying one of those large round poly
troughs, as they can be easily drained, and have a defined wall that might
keep some undesirables out(I'm thinking of the possibility of cane toads in
the future). Mind you, that would then require something to hide the poly
side walls, but this mightnt be too large a hurdle to address.

Would sand be a good bottom for such a feature? I would be filtering the
input to the pump, but wondered if sand was the best media. What about
pebbles? I have both sand and pebbles in quantity.

I will need a regulator to handle charging the battery and the feed to the
solar pump, but I am wondering if I am better off running the pump directly
from the solar panel or through the battery. Running it direct from the
panel would be more simple, but running it via the battery might give some
options to run the pump for an hour or so after dark. This might keep a
rocks a little cooler in the summer months.

Are there daylight sensors that would turn one circuit off (solar pump), at
the same time as turning another on (lights)?

Should I also include a time switch on the lights, to ensure the battery
doesnt get completely discharged every night? If so, has anyone seen one for
12-36 volt DC systems? I am not competent at building my own electronics,
but can wire simple gear in myself.

And finally; any good negotiation techniques for the frog brothers? At this
stage they are holding both loos hostage, and we are getting
desparate........Very, Very Desperate! Talks with Toiletto Frogoli (our rare
bum-patting Green Tree frog) have failed a number of times, and my last
effort to explain my grand plan was met with a cold eyed boggle, before he
slid under the rim.....When I wandered past 10 minutes later, the whole loo
started croaking, so I expect I was being told what I could do with my grand
vision.

Sigh......Dont you just love wildlife....

Ideas and suggestions welcomed.

Cheers,

Rod.....Out Back
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