Ideas needed

[mouseams]

We inherited our ponds and stream with the house which served as the dog swim club for the previous owners. After much though decided to add fish... plants.... filter... above ground scaping... lights... etc. We live at the foot of a small mountain, a very rocky terrain and this fellow we bought the house from built the pond into the end of the mountain and part of it is above ground and he put the pond liner over two large rocks rather than removing them, which we have covered nicely.

Now at the one side where it is below the lawn we just noticed that the pond liner was covered with stones, but he did no build it up to the ground surface for a spot about 2' wide I am guessing. Won't know until I pull out the mulch I put there and the stones exactly how wide this opening to the pond is. The bed is about 15"deep and has another plank of wood which is holding the lawn back.

I have two options, if the liner is long enough, which I doubt, add rocks under the liner to build up that section, which would also entail ripping up the half buried plank, or turn as much of this into a bog/marginal garden.

It is such a strange set-up. That end of the pond is about 14' across and I am thinking that from the corner at the mountain base to about 1/3 of the way may be like this. I have two cattails I got this year and they seem to not be doing so well, I might think about doing stone and just let them be bare root in that soggy area. Any ideas would be great. I am not looking to bury any kind of filtration in this, so I am thinking more of a marginal garden would be the way to go.

 

[mouseams]

Here is a picture of the entire pond, the area to the left of the tall waterfall is where this is.

 

[addy1]

A marginal bog garden would work great and help filter the water. Does this area hold water, i.e. you are not worried about the water that is sitting there, like a leak out of the pond. Other than that nice looking pond you have there, looks like it would be neat to sit by the water in those chairs.

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

Nice looking pond. When was your last rain? mulch can hold water a long time, or are you sure it is leaking out of the pond? I'd just watch the water level to be sure.

Personally, I'd tear out enough to be sure of what was going on. I never trust wood around water, I don't have much experience with ponds yet, but I do have experience with construction. Concrete blocks, filled solid with concrete and rocks and scrap metal or rebar, are much stronger than wood, and you can cover with bricks, dirt, stucco, whatever you want. IMHO, anyway.

 

[addy1]

My honey sort of saying the same thing, I was explaining what his issue is. i would want to know if it is a leak or is the liner under the wood and not really leaking out.

 

[mouseams]

Thanks all, no- not leaking, just saw the mulch cave into the pond. The pank is about 6" above the water line and the verticle plank is about 15" back and I believe the liner ends under that.

 

[addy1]

I would make it a bog garden then. Marginal plants can be really pretty.

Dig a little outside the vertical plank, gently, you may be able to feel the edge of the liner.