Edging pond-- again

[Kristi Kelty]

Hi again~
I know I have posted this question in the past.....am hoping to get moving on this soon again and get it done now finally! I have a pond that is 17 X 8' with center island, that is with a flexible liner, and has two areas which are both 19" deep, about half has a shelf 8" deep. I just have it now with no sides of rocks, or rocks/pebbles on the bottom. The liner extends about 1' on one side and about 2' on the rest of the sides. Some river rocks are on the edging placed there to hold the liner and give me an idea what it could look like....
I want the finished pond to have half flagstone edging that butts right up to a flagstone patio....the rest of the pond I want to look more natural with various rocks, boulders and plantings. There will be a small stream and waterfall also shortly I hope.
What are my options to get the edging done the way I am envisioning it?
I know people sent diagrams of how the liner could fold under rocks, which looked interesting-- is that my only option now vs. installing rock sides?
I guess I am hesitating to remove the water and build a wall up from the sides now...it looks too pretty. I was hoping that the edging and flagstone would be able to extend out over the liner by about 1/3 of the stone in order to hide the liner above the water level.
Any "re-advice" would be so welcome!
Thanks all~
K

 

[Lisak1]

If I'm understanding correctly, you want to lay a flagstone on the edge, suspended 1/3 over the water and 2/3 on the edge of the pond with no rocks inside the pond to provide any support to the flagstone... correct? My concern would be someone stepping on that 1/3 of the stone that extends over the pond. Engineering would tell you that you would need a really large flagstone on the non-pond side to counterbalance the weight of an average adult, or even a child.

But maybe I'm missing your vision!

 

[Lisak1]

I was thinking "this sounds like the other person who wanted to glue rocks to her liner..." Then I realized it was you!

Can you post a picture of your pond? It might help to have a visual.

 

[adavisus]

If you set a well drained foundation of a bed of gravel, with a length of concrete to set over it along the pond edge, the rock edging with the overhang could be set in groups of four or so blocks with a desired overhang.

Each group of blocks is bonded to a substantial cement foundation that can take 200 lbs weight at any point.

An edging of over an inch thick of cement, block, rock is going to bear the same foot weight as a paving slab

 

[Kristi Kelty]

Thanks all! Lisa and all here is a pic....Just ignore my goose-- (she is why I built the pond in the first place! She doesn't care too much anymore for swimming as she is OLD. So anyway here is a pic. Adavisus I am not clear about your idea-- where to set the foundation. I think it may work if I can lay the block at the pond's edge and not at the bottom of the pond......?
Thanks again!

 

[Lisak1]

A goose! Cool!

I think your idea could work - I would plan to lay the field stone so it just barely overhangs the edge of the pond. Could you double stack the stone on the pond edge to create the illusion that it is at the same level as the patio and still give yourself a solid edge? I think you will find that the liner will "grow" a nice layer of algae that will help disguise it. Is your patio stone mortared?

 

[Kristi Kelty]

Lisak1 what about if I lay brick all along the pond edge on top of the liner and then mortar the flagstone and fieldstone/river rocks on top of the brick....Would that work? The flagstone would overhang the edge of the pond by about 1/3. I haven't started my patio yet-- perhaps if I continued on with the brick to make the patio it would provide more secure holding power?? Any ideas are welcome! Thanks~

 

[Lisak1]

I will defer to others on the actual construction technique required. My rocks are all dry stacked for a reason!

I've been looking for a picture that I took of a pond that sounds like what you're thinking about doing - we saw it on a pond tour. If I find it, I'll post it.

 

[Lisak1]

Well, I found the pictures I was thinking of, but naturally I didn't get a good shot of the pond edging. It's there in my mind though!

Anyway, I did a brief google search on "patio edging garden pond" and found a couple of interesting ideas.

This one uses a brick edging. We actually have this edging on one small part of our pond (our gravel basin, actually) that borders our patio and it works great. It keeps the pavers from shifting and the edge is stable without any mortar required. Like I said, this one uses brick, but you could use any type or style of paver or cobblestone to create a stable edge. If you're using interlocking pavers for your patio, you can use edging that matches or contrasts to create any look you want, from very formal to very rustic:

http://www.edg-keeper.co.uk/Images/EdgKeeper/Edgkeeper brick 1.jpg

This one shows how you could use the same brick edging idea and continue with a flagstone patio:

http://www.allscapesgardens.co.uk/images/landscaping/pond-01.jpg

This one reverses that idea. The flagstone gives the appearance of overhanging the edging, although I think it's just a small portion that overhangs and creates a shadow to camouflage the liner underneath:

http://simonslandscaping.co.uk/see_our_work/Our_Work/images/6/Lakes_Ponds_01_big.jpg

This one sort of demonstrates the double stacking I was referring to earlier:

http://st.houzz.com/simgs/ccd1b7ec0fc3e969_4-0939/contemporary-patio.jpg

Lots of ideas! I think a lot depends on A. the look you are trying to achieve and B. how big of slabs you can handle. We got the biggest rocks we could manage without a machine (and some that we probably SHOULD have used a machine to move!). The bigger stones give you much more stability and to me, look good around the pond edge. They give the appearance of something that has been in place forever.

I just love looking at pond pictures! (I hope these links work - none of these are my pictures... I just borrowed them for illustrative use!)

 

[Kristi Kelty]

THANK YOU SO MUCH, Lisak1! So helpful to see the actual steps in laying the edging also~ What do you think they have the dry stacking flagstone resting on? It is on top of the liner but what holds it there? Same with the brick edging~ is it resting on top of anything do you think?
file://localhost/Users/kristikelty/Desktop/Screen%20shot%202014-01-27%20at%207.26.52%20AM.png
This I LOVE! But just need to know how it is done.....(Doing it myself hopefully and I "Ain't no spring chicken!")
K

 

[Kristi Kelty]

Plus I want to add a small bog, 6' stream and waterfall at West end, and another stream leading around the other side of the patio going back into the East end of the pond. (The patio will be surrounded by the stream. Thoughts on this??

 

[Mmathis]

Lisak, those are neat ideas! But noticed those are UK addresses -- wonder if there is anyone in the US that carries that type of edging equip. It makes for a nice, neat edging, and might be what Kristi is looking for! Thanks for finding and sharing!

 

[Kristi Kelty]

Here is my idea~ (Sorry I don't know how to do freeform curves/shapes!) Anyway, you hopefully can get the idea for how I want the layout to look.....Any input on this would be helpful, especially regarding the size of the pump/waterfall Biofilter to get. The pond right now is 1440 gals. All ideas and suggestions welcome!

 

[Kristi Kelty]

Thanks TurtleMommy and Lisak1 for all!!!!

 

[Kristi Kelty]

Thanks Mmathis!!!!