Stacking a Rock wall

[Koko]

Hi all my first post
Im in Australia and building a pond and the only location i was allowed ( girlfriend haha ) has caused more headaches then i wish i had.
First i had to rerun the stormwater as it was running through the spot which was ok but then because of this i had to rebuild my shelf inside my pond which has turn out good i can stand on it without it collapsing.
But now with stack the rocks to hide the liner i am worried that it will just fall in to the middle over time and i was hoping someone here had a idea on how or what to do ?
Im all ears as i want to do it right the first time so if anyone has done or know how to could you spare a few minutes on showing me the way.
I have attached a few pics so you can get a idea
Cheers

 

[Koko]

I should add the shelf to the top is 30 to 40 cm so that is how high the rocks will need to built to waterline

 

[MitchM]

Welcome!
For the most part, people will use a pond foam product to secure the stones in place with larger stones on the bottom.
There is a pond expert in the US that has a great series of videos that could help you along.

 

[Koko]

Thanks yeah i have been watching alot of you tube and thought i had it sorted untill i started and now just worried it isnt going to work and thought someone here may of came up with a idea/solution

 

[j.w]

@Koko

 

[Ray G]

Thanks yeah i have been watching alot of you tube and thought i had it sorted untill i started and now just worried it isnt going to work and thought someone here may of came up with a idea/solution

Hi Koko.
If there is comacted bedding sand under the liner where the rocks will be then there should not be any problem. The rocks will stand ok as long as the base is compacted under the liner.

 

[Koko]

Yeah i built a sand shelf all around and its hard enough that i can stand on but its the rock being 30 40 cm high im worried about it tipping into the pond.
I have some pond spray foam coming and will bind the rocks but once i build a 3.5 meter long 30 cm high wall just wanted to make sure it was the right way to do the rock stacking

 

[Ray G]

I would stack them flat and so there are NO sharp edges that stick into the pond lining OR into the area where the fish will be. the spray foam is good for filling in gaps only. I dont believe it offers any great stability or strength. It is a lightweight foam that is a good filler of gaps.
Ray

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group! Add a small shelf that you can stack some rocks on to hide the liner. Red = rocks hides the liner really nicely.
If you want, don't put rocks in the pond, the liner gets covered with algae etc after awhile you can't really see it as a black liner. Some love rocks in the pond some don't.

 

[Ray G]

I agree with Addy dont put rocks down below the shelf as they will be green in a month and you cannot see them. Also they detract from the fish a bit I reckon.

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome!

I know this is probably not what you're looking to hear, but I would have made the shelves shallower. We have some deep shelves (15 or 16 inches) in our pond, but they are also much wider (some are as wide as 24 inches) so they could accommodate "two man boulders". Stacking the shelves like you are planning is going to be tricky and I think your fear that the rocks will get tipped into the pond is well founded. Ideally a shelf should be deep enough and wide enough to hold one rock and the rock should sit about 1/3 to 1/2 under the water with the rest out of the water and forming the top edge of the pond. @addy1 drew you a great picture - you could use the rocks you have (we call them "steppers" here and use them to build retaining walls) would be OK to use around the top edge of the pond if you want a more formal look. But they would be outside of the pond, not in the water. We only used granite boulders under water as they are smooth and round - no danger of puncturing the liner or injuring a fish.

Also, as someone mentioned, pond or waterfall foam is not a structural building material. It will help fill gaps between rocks and some pond builders do use when building rock walls, but it's not holding anything together. The wall needs to be dry stacked so it's structurally sound without any attempt to glue it together.

 

[mgmine]

Don't worry about the falling in and don't try to glue them down. As Addy said once the liner gets covered with algae you won't see it. I would also keep the rocks out of the pond. You can always put them in later. I did the same as you and dug a ledge a foot down to support the rocks on one side. I did that because one side was a foot higher and I needed to hide the liner. I did a youtube video on it.

 

[poconojoe]

Addy's drawing is exactly what i do. I have my plant shelves, then another shallow shelf above that where I have partially submerged smooth large flat stones. Then I stack other smooth large flat stones on top of them stepped back away from the water. Then if need be, a other layer stepped back. Each layer is placed on the seam of the bottom layer which helps lock them in. Think of a brick wall.
I never use spray foam. I strive for as natural as possible. However there are some that do use it and what they do is stick small rocks and or sand to it before it sets up. This obviously helps to hide the foam.
Another thought on permanently securing the stones... in my experience, I can tell you that a pond is construction "always in progress", so I personally wouldn't glue anything. What I mean is...I'm always out there moving things around, making improvements, changing the shape of things. I must have rebuilt my waterfall 4 times. If I had glued anything, that would have been a mess.
In the end...do what you want...it's your project. Take everyone's ideas and decide what's best for you.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Don't worry about the falling in and don't try to glue them down. As Addy said once the liner gets covered with algae you won't see it. I would also keep the rocks out of the pond. You can always put them in later. I did the same as you and dug a ledge a foot down to support the rocks on one side. I did that because one side was a foot higher and I needed to hide the liner. I did a youtube video on it.

Would you mind sharing a link to your video? I would like to see it.

 

[Koko]

Thanks to everyone for the replys
i really shouldve came here before digging. guess never to late to start again (at least its before water ).
With regards to the algae i had a pond in the same spot before (fibreglass) and i really didnt get anything at all ( only gets about 3 to 4 hours sun) so unless the rocks with cause more ?

@mgmine I too would like a link to your video