Rocks and stones

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Hi, I am at the stage where I want to add quality underlay and liner but I keep reading about no rocks and stones. My ground is 50% rocks and stones - see images.

How perfect does this need to be before I add a quality underlay, the stones don’t end so when I take one, another appears there are millions!

Any advice welcome!

M
 

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Hi, I am at the stage where I want to add quality underlay and liner but I keep reading about no rocks and stones. My ground is 50% rocks and stones - see images.

How perfect does this need to be before I add a quality underlay, the stones don’t end so when I take one, another appears there are millions!

Any advice welcome!

M
I had many, many rocks and stones like you. It is impossible to get rid of all of them. You do the best you can to find the larger stones, ones that have sharp edges etc. The whole point is to avoid having a stone puncture the liner because of course when you fill the pond with water and line with boulders you are putting a lot of pressure on that liner. The recommendation is to use quality, thick underlayment and a good liner. You should have extra underlayment that you could put in some spots that you think are especially prone to puncture, same with extra liner. Some people even put two layers of underlayment.
 

JRS

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Welcome to the forum Marco. I had a similar situation as you and Pablo. I used a geotextile landscape fabric for my underlayment off a roll. Did about 4 layers on the the bottom of the pond as insurance against the rocks since I would be walking on it at times.
 
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WELCOME TO THE FORUM seems your missing a step, you've dug the hole but now you need to rake up as much as you can this is tedious but critical , Then you want to use a hand compactor and knock the surface rocks back into the dirt.

Now fortunately your rock is rounded and not sharp and there realy isn't that much. But what you do seem to have a lot of is roots. These can be just as bad as rocks if not worse. Rocks don't grow, though they can move from being pushed around by frost and rains. Tree roots can grow right through fabrics and liners with ease. Cutting back the roots are critical. The easiest way to do this is to over dig the excavation and then back fill with sand. The alternative is to use a sawsall, pruners or shears and cut them back into the dirt as best you can.

lastly there are different grades of geotextile and different products that you can use as underlayment. Some have used old carpeting, cardboard, rags old towels and sand. Non woven needle punch geo fabric is the most popular for many reasons and the most common is is that you can get a box store standard of about a 4 oz " not recommended for anything other than soils with very few rounded rocks to 8 oz which is very tough and can keep sharp objects from getting to the liner. to give you an idea how sturdy 8 oz is . you will notice a utility blade dulling and leaving you looking for a fresh sharp edge after only cutting about 40 lineal feet.
 

addy1

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Welcome to the forum!

Nice hole you have. We have tons of shale, i put carpet pad under my liner.
 
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Very nice dig! Quality underlayment is the key, but you do want to be as sure as possible that you have nothing sharp. Imagine walking in your pond - could any of those rocks poke up through the underlay and liner? A layer of sand might give you some peace of mind it would cushion the underlayment from the rocks.
 

Mmathis

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Hello and welcome!

Pick up and remove any surface rocks (unless they are entirely smooth), and use a good quality underlayment, as well as what other members have said. Your liner is and should be your most important investment, so you want to protect it!
 
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I had many, many rocks and stones like you. It is impossible to get rid of all of them. You do the best you can to find the larger stones, ones that have sharp edges etc. The whole point is to avoid having a stone puncture the liner because of course when you fill the pond with water and line with boulders you are putting a lot of pressure on that liner. The recommendation is to use quality, thick underlayment and a good liner. You should have extra underlayment that you could put in some spots that you think are especially prone to puncture, same with extra liner. Some people even put two layers of underlayment.
Hi, I am at the stage where I want to add quality underlay and liner but I keep reading about no rocks and stones. My ground is 50% rocks and stones - see images.

How perfect does this need to be before I add a quality underlay, the stones don’t end so when I take one, another appears there are millions!

Any advice welcome!

M
I am in New Hampshire where rocks are very plentiful in fact we call them NH potatoes. I'm happy to share some photos/video of what I did. (e-mail address removed). I have an upper pond, lower pond, and a 35 ft stream that drops 12 feet in elevation. I worked to get the surface as smooth as I could. I sifted dirt and added some sand. then wet it down, and brushed it with a broom, then tamped it. Both ponds have a tarp down first, then geotextile underlayment and I used 60 mil EPDM rubber. I did not feel the need for the tarp under the stream since most of the rocks are smaller. I am about 85% done, just need some additional rocking and landscaping this Spring. Here is a video from September. https://studio.youtube.com/video/21fb1a9mbic/edit
 
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Welcome ands howdy neighbor, I lived in NH for ten years and grew up on the border. YOUR LINKS AREN'T WORKING. CREATE A YOU TUBE ACCOUNT FOR VIDEOS THEN COPY THE LISTED ADDRESS , you seem to have copied the editing page. as to pictures as long as they are common formats you can simply attach them directly from your pc by using the attach files button in the bottom left of these posts. the videos again have to go to you tube and copy and paste the address to the text here. Here is a video i made that may give you some ideas
 
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Well I thought why not update. In the end I raked, removed big and sharp stones, cut all the roots, raked. Then I used a tamper and flattened the whole area, then sand and tamped it down and then many underlay liner and now ready for the lining!
 
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See below.
 

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Looking good. You have a perimeter shelf that will hide the liner. Sand a fabric under the liner as insurance against leaks. what I don't see is the perimeter built up to prevent water run off from getting in the pond.
 

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