Faux Rocks

Faux rocks are becoming a great way to build a waterfall when we build our ponds. Rocks from a quarry are heavy, are never quite the right shape or size, are really hard to work with. I know. I did it for 20 years. Faux rocks existed 20 years ago, but they were a poor substitute for the real thing. Most of the time they were just poured into a mold concrete and just as heavy as real rocks and uglier than you can imagine. After the concrete set up, the waterfall was painted all one color, usually a pink (I always wondered who thought up pink for a waterfall color.), sand colored or gray. They were uninspiring, in fact, downright ugly. Other preformed waterfalls were fiberglass, lighter for sure, but even worse looking than concrete. They were all the same, of course, so it was easy to see your waterfall in your neighbor's yard as well as yours. This is undesirable if you want your own unique landscape with your personal touches throughout.

Faux or synthetic rocks were fabricated as far back as the 70's, but were not really what the customer wanted. Techniques have been refined. The preformed waterfall can be customized for specific regions. Acid stains, colors and tints are available for just your tastes. These waterfalls are watertight, lighter, easier to work with and never need mortar applied to a brand new hole in the waterfall.

Hoses are often already installed in the preformed concrete waterfall, thus making installation even easier for both the contractor and the homeowner. The concrete mix usually incorporating a sandy rock material, fiberglass, silica, polymers in proprietary mixes are moldable and durable. They are essentially reconstituted rock. No longer does the contractor need heavy machines to move materials around because the cast rock is lighter to use.

You can find cheaper preformed waterfalls made from fiberglass and foam in big box stores, but usually those are the ones you will see in your neighbor's yard. They can be great for the beginner, but once you see other prefab falls, you will want to change.

Some companies are making faux rocks for the sides of ponds as well, making building a pond even easier for the do it yourselfer. Some of these rocks already have shelves build in so the danger of the sides caving in is greatly lessened.

Some rock fabricators take molds from the sides of mountains or other stone formations. The finished falls is an exact duplicate of what is found on the mountain side, complete with texture, grain and detail.

Check these sites for pictures of prefab falls:

Have a look at this art by David Long in Idaho.

These folks make the entire pond, waterfall and all for easy homeowner installation. I might be a bit careful of products that make the entire pond from faux rock. Concrete can be most unforgiving when used as a pond as we have discussed in previous articles about repairing leaks in concrete ponds.

http://www.superiorfauxproducts.com/ponds_installation.htm

Or you can make your own faux rocks:

http://www.artificialrock.com.au/artificial_waterfalls.htm

No matter how you choose to use faux rocks, you can be assure that the quality is usually high, and oh yes, moss does grow on these man made rocks just like it does on the ones we harvest from nature.

~Jan Goldfield