DEVELOPING A WATERFALL 
NORMAN K. MORSE 
Landscape Gardener & Engineer 
One of the Most Subtle of Natural Features This is One of the Most Difficult to Im- 
itate Successfully, Yet Such Imitation is Possible When a Plan is Made and Followed 
[Editor’s Note: — The waterfall illustrating this article is the overflow for a concrete dam on the estate of Mr. Clarence 
Illingworth, near Philadelphia. It is entirely artificial, even the foundation on which the rocks were placed being filled in with about ten 
feet of earth. The plan shows in detail how the rocks were set to form the pools, and also the series of walks, so placed that the fall can 
be viewed from different angles. The planting is arranged with an idea of allowing only part of the water to be seen at one time. It 
makes the feature more interesting and invites further inspection.] 
B ROBABLY the very best way to start is to find a natural 
waterfall which you admire, and then sit down on a log 
and study it. Notice the pools — deep ones and shallow 
ones — and the formation of the banks above the fall 
and below it. Get hints for the 
planting from the natural vegeta- 
tion. Note the variety in size 
and type, and the contrasts in 
color and texture of the foliage, 
and notice where it grows. 
As to the waterfall itself, it 
must first be decided where the 
right setting is and what the 
general size is to be. The one 
illustrated herewith is about 
twelve feet high and twenty-five 
feet long; and the size generally 
should be governed by the num- 
ber of feet the water drops, the 
flow of water available, and last 
but not least, the amount of work 
one wishes to do. 
The whole character of a water- 
fall should be as close to nature 
as possible; to get this effect it 
must of course be built in con- 
genial surroundings. "Yet certain 
surroundings are not congenial to 
start with, even where the water- 
fall itself may quite naturally 
come in. But these can usually 
be made so by studied planting. 
The point is that the waterfall 
should not be the only naturalis- 
tic feature. There should be 
winding walks through the trees 
or shrubbery adjacent and a 
secluded seat or two near; and 
all the planting should be such 
as you would find in the woods — 
Ferns, Violets, Trilliums, Ane- 
mones, Dogwoods, Hemlocks, Junipers, Rhododendrons, etc., 
which are in keeping with the naturalistic scheme. Cultivated 
flowers of course are not. 
T H E selection of the stones is very important. These should 
be rough and weather-worn, and as large as can possibly 
be handled. Some of those used for the fall in the photograph 
weighed almost two tons, and while such large ones would nat- 
urally be out of proportion for a small piece of work, they should 
scale down accordingly. If there are no suitable rocks on the 
property and it is necessary to use quarry stones, try to avoid 
those which are light in color and look “brand new.” It is 
usually possible to get what is known as quarry waste stones 
that are quite large but because of their rough, rugged formation, 
or because they are too soft, are not suitable for building pur- 
poses. If the stones are bought from a quarry, however, each 
one should be selected and marked by someone familiar with 
the requirements of the work. 
Before starting decide on a 
general scheme of strata. Most 
stones have a grain, noticeable to 
a more or less marked degree; for 
nature in forming aqueous rock 
built it up gradually, layer by 
layer, like the sand on the beach, 
and for centuries it slowly hard- 
ened. Then through a great up- 
heaval, parts of this rock were 
raised above the surface of the 
ground, with the layers thrown 
entirely out of relation to one an- 
other sometimes, and sometimes 
with the strata remaining intact, 
still quite even and regular. 
With this idea of an upheaval 
for your motif each stone must be 
placed carefully and with relation 
to every other. Imagine that all 
of them are part of a ledge of rock 
and visualize the way they would 
look if a part of this ledge (that 
where the waterfall is to be) were 
slowly pushed up from the bottom 
and broken, leaving jagged ends 
with quite a space dividing the 
two sides. 
Another scheme, which uses a 
series of flat ledges, is probably 
easier to handle successfully. In 
this case the natural upheaval 
(imaginary!) raised a solid ledge 
or backbone of rock bodily, with- 
out splitting it in two, then the 
action of water gradually wore it 
away, breaking it off in layers — which gives the cascade effect. 
As to actual construction, after the soil of the dam that backs 
up the stream and gives height and volume of water for a water- 
fall is allowed to settle thoroughly (for several weeks) the foun- 
dation is ready for the concrete. All the stones should be laid 
in crushed-stone concrete, so that none of the water shall be 
lost between the rocks on the way down (And do not use 
cinders for this concrete, by the way, as they are very porous). 
S TARTING at the bottom of the cascade, cut “steps” 
in the soil, deep enough and wide enough to allow for about 
eight inches -of concrete as a base for each stone. In addition 
to the base, fill in concrete to make a watertight back for each 
190 
DETAIL PLAN FROM WHICH WORK WAS DONE 
The photographs of the finished cascade shown opposite were 
taken at the foot of the fall and consequently do not show the 
bridge. Note the stone steps ascending the slope at the side 
