45 replies to this topic

[jacquirenee]

Hello! I'm attaching some pictures of our new garden pond. I posted here several months ago and got some truly invaluable advice about it! I tried finding the old thread so I could thank the people who helped out, but no luck. Anyway, if you're reading this and remember me: thank you!

The backstory for our pond is that somebody else originally built it, then somebody else was evidently in the process of taking it out...when we moved in it had a slashed liner and all the coping/edging stones were in a big pile several yards away. We have always wanted a pond, so that was a bit of a selling point with the house, even. We just didn't know how much work we'd be in for rebuilding! But this spring we completed it and are very happy with the results, though most of the budget was blown on the new liner, so we are only slowly building up the plant population.

Anyway, the previous builders had constructed a concrete spillway at one end of the pond. It is three feet high (this creates the "deep end") and goes straight down on both sides. What can we do to hide the liner on the inside? On the outside, my husband has built up a really nice stone facade wall in front of the concrete to hide it, but on the pond side, there's still a few inches of liner showing up above the spillway line.

Here are my thoughts so far, and none of them are even close to satisfactory to me: 1) plant some potted plants on the outside and drape the foliage over the top...this would be prohibitively expensive, I think, as it is at least six feet of coverage. 2) Get some plastic foliage, anchor it under the stones, and drape it over...this is just distasteful to me. That's basically it! Anybody else have ideas? I would really appreciate it!

The last picture is from before it was done, but the showing liner looks exactly the same now. Thanks in advance for any ideas!

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[addy1]

probably a dumb question, but can you raise the water level? by building up the low part?

[koiguy1969]

if you want to find your old posts....click on your name "jacquirenee" on your post above then click on "find more posts by jacquirenee"

[jacquirenee]

Sorry, I should have specified. This is the spillway...one end (the left-most part if you can see it in the picture) of the concrete was poured and built several inches lower to create the spillway, so that is the highest water level of the pond. The entire rest of the pond is that same level. I can't for the life of me figure out how they did this before when they first built it!

[addy1]

jacquirenee said:

Sorry, I should have specified. This is the spillway...one end (the left-most part if you can see it in the picture) of the concrete was poured and built several inches lower to create the spillway, so that is the highest water level of the pond. The entire rest of the pond is that same level. I can't for the life of me figure out how they did this before when they first built it!

You could take concrete blocks, treated wood, etc what ever would work, put it on the spill way under the liner and raise the pond level. That is prob what i would do, rather than try to hide all that liner.

o/w it is looking good

[jacquirenee]

addy1 said:

You could take concrete blocks, treated wood, etc what ever would work, put it on the spill way under the liner and raise the pond level. That is prob what i would do, rather than try to hide all that liner.

I thought of that, but unfortunately, we'd have to build up the entire perimeter of the whole pond if we did that (remove all the coping stones, build up extra fill and sand underneath liner, re-level and replace the stones). The water level now is the level for the whole thing except those six feet or so. It's approximately 20x30, so that is a far bigger job than I'm willing to undertake. This is the same level the previous builders had, so I figure there just has to be a way they did it! What am I not thinking of?

[addy1]

Use the black pond foam to stick small rocks to it?

[jacquirenee]

addy1 said:

Use the black pond foam to stick small rocks to it?

Hmm...great idea! I'll have to research that. I just knew some of y'all might have ideas I'd never heard of.

[addy1]

jacquirenee said:

Hmm...great idea! I'll have to research that. I just knew some of y'all might have ideas I'd never heard of.

It is good guey stuff if you stay with small rocks, I bet it would work well.

[jacquirenee]

When I searched for the black pond foam, I also found some links to "rock on a roll"...looks like the two put together might just solve my problem!http://www.rock-on-a...rchase_page.htm

[y2kdejesus]

Is that black foam strong enough to hold decent size rocks or will they fall down under the constant weight of a rock. Can you use mortor or cement some more rocks downward to hide the rest of liner?

[addy1]

y2kdejesus said:

Is that black foam strong enough to hold decent size rocks or will they fall down under the constant weight of a rock. Can you use mortor or cement some more rocks downward to hide the rest of liner?

I have no clue, lol, but would love to hear if anybody does!

I may use it to help out with our edge problems. (stream not pond)

y2kdejesus - I lived glendale, north/ north west phoenix area for 38 years. Still have a house there, and pond lol

[DrDave]

I have no personal experience but it is foam and foam has air bubbles trapped in it. That said, time and weight may cause it to sag or compress. If a rock has some support before the foam is used, then everythign should be ok.

Remember almost all synthetics shrink with age. If you have an older car, just look at your dashboard. It is plastic over foam.

[Pondmaster]

Have you ever checked out Rock-on-a-roll?

[Sunshine]

I used the black foam to hold one of those "fake" rocks. It let go after about a year. I think the ice in the winter probably popped it off.