Rebuilding the edge

[Shdwdrgn]

I've started going around my pond, lifting the edge of the liner up to give a definite lip above the water line. One of the things I would like to really change is the area along the stream bank. I originally dug it with a shelf for the large rocks to sit on, but I've discovered that they tend to slide into the water when the dogs approach the edge. Since I have the liner completely exposed along that area, I want to attempt digging underneath the liner, removing the small shelf, and leaving a bank of about a 30 degree angle, which I will then line with rocks back to the edge. This should still leave me at least 6 inches of liner behind the top lip, and I'm hoping the shallow angle of the rock edge will create a solid base that the dogs can step on without anything moving...

I'm just wondering if anyone else has thoughts on this, or if I have it pretty much covered? I'd hate to have it not work after all this work.

 

[addy1]

My pond edge holds up under me walking on it well. What I did was made sure the back (away from the water) edge of the rock was angled down. Also the majority of the rock not over hanging. This kept the rocks very stable, they did not slide into the water. With a 30 degree angle, I think the rocks would tend to still slide down if they walk on them. There is nothing at the base of the angle to keep the rocks from moving, unless during your rebuild, you dig a shallow trench, or build a bump, to rest the rocks in or against at the base of the edge (in the water)

 

[capewind]

I'm having a hard time visualizing what you are saying... ok, shelf removed, got that ... where would the rocks start? at the top only to hold the liner, or on the stream bottom? also, the smaller the rock, the easier for the dogs to "kick" around ... I dont know much about the digging end, but thought you needed somewhat of a shelf to hold the base course of rocks?

Here's a pic of when hubby dug ours ... the "shelf" in this pic is just to have the rocks hold down the liner, and then more liner went up behind the rocks vertically...

Then more courses of rocks were added for decor or retaining...

 

[Shdwdrgn]

@capewind - You missed the part about "shallow stream"

The water is less than a foot deep through here, and there is a layer of gravel along the bottom. The idea is to dig the edge down to the same level as the bottom of the stream bed, then the first layer of large rocks can sit right on the bottom, with the gravel pushing against them. Then I can stack decreasing-sized rocks back from there.

 

[capewind]

@capewind - You missed the part about "shallow stream"

The water is less than a foot deep through here, and there is a layer of gravel along the bottom. The idea is to dig the edge down to the same level as the bottom of the stream bed, then the first layer of large rocks can sit right on the bottom, with the gravel pushing against them. Then I can stack decreasing-sized rocks back from there.

Nope, I didn't



so if you are resting on the bottom, you just need to find the rocks that best lock together. It doesnt matter if the angle was to be 30 degrees as you said, or 90 degrees.

BTW, love your stream ... really pretty

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I think with the amount of extra liner I left, I'm going to try and widen the stream a little. If I could get another 6 inches out of it, that would be great. With all the plants growing over the edges and down into the water, it was really starting to choke the waterway last year. I'm also thinking that once this is finished, the water standing around all the rocks might make a good place to try and grow mini-cattails. I have never had any luck getting them to grow, and this will create a whole new type of water area that my pond really hasn't had before.

30 degrees was just an estimate really. For no deeper than the water is here, the entire bank will be covered with only two rows of rocks, and all the roots from the moneywort should really help lock the rocks together.

 

[capewind]

The only issue I see with waiting on the moneywort to help lock the rocks in place is the issue you are already having with the dogs knocking them in. It is time consuming, but if you can find rocks that lock together, without the aid of the plants, it may save you more work later ... Apples and oranges, but hubby does a lot of dry lay fieldstone rock walls... I've watched him on job sites with 20 tons of basket ball sized rocks at a time, just tossing them aside til he finds the ONE rock he likes for a spot. He is always saying "Every rock has a face, and for every rock, there is a space."

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I finally got around to working on this, and just in the nick of time! As I've been working, I noticed a lot of the plants are coming in fast. I managed without disturbing the plants too badly, so in a couple of months I figure they'll be growing over the now-exposed edges of the liner and cover everything up again.

So in comparison to the picture above, here's what I have now... By the way, I forgot to reset my camera to auto, so the shots I took today all have a distinct brownish hue. y yard doesn't really look like the wild-west

I found at least three different areas where the water was probably leaking over the sides of the liner. After re-digging around the stream, it is quite a bit wider now, and there's plenty of open space for the moneywort to grow in without clogging up the water flow.

I also moved plants around. This area just before the bridge had been reduced to a channel about 8 inches wide that all the water was funnelled through. I pulled out a big clump of irises (bottom-left) and set them up on the shelf, then I cut the big bundle of umbrella-plant in half and set those up on the shelf. One bundle is in a spot where the shelf immediately drops off deeper than the plant will grow... hopefully that will prevent the plant from expanding so much this year. The other side -- we'll have to see. But as you can see, the channel is wide open once again for water and fish to pass through.

Overall I managed to bring the water level up almost another 2 inches. My only low spot around the edge now is where the bridge is pressing into the liner, but it makes for an easy spot that I can check the water level. Also with the water higher now, it is up around all those shelf rocks, which gives me a great place to plant marginals now! I'm going to try once again to plant some mini-cattails this Summer. Maybe this time they will be happy and survive. I also plan to move my snake grass and corkscrew grass into shallower waters.

At least its finally done, and so far there are no apparent leaks, nor have I noticed the water level dropping any. Crossing my fingers that I finally have the pond properly contained!