During one of our projects we designed two large ponds connected by a stream, these would eventually be filled with wildlife and surrounded by naturalised planting to blend in with the rest of the wild garden.
The soil had a high clay content and held a certain amount of water but not enough to rely on it to hold the water so we constructed the ponds as we would in any other garden deciding against using clay to line it. The site was windy but normally we wouldn’t recommend trying to line a pond this size on a windy day as the liner did threaten to take myself and my two companions with it across the beautiful Norfolk fields.
We also had a slope away from the top pond to the bottom pond which dropped by 1m, meaning that if we didn’t want all the water from the larger top pond to end up in the bottom pond we would need to construct dams at the entrance and exit of the connecting stream. This movement of water from the top to bottom stream and back would help to grow the watercress we planned along the length of the stream.
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Top Pond
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Bottom pond and stream
So first we needed to dig out the ponds and give it ledges for planting on after which we installed a layer of soft sand. On top of the sand we installed a heavy duty geotextile membrane that would stop any stones or roots from reaching the pond liner creating holes.
Next we unfolded the rather large PVC liner supplied by http://www.water-garden.co.uk/ . There is a large choice of pond liners on the market and the decision on which to use will be governed by budget and the size of the pond to be lined, as well as the look as there are even liners that have a layer of decorative stone.
In cold conditions PVC liner can be a little stiff so the top pond was a bit harder to lay than the bottom. The bottom pond had a glorious sunny day and PVC liner is a dream to lay when its warmed by the sun as it is loose and is shaped easily moulding to all the different contours.
Once we lined the ponds we would normally then fill the pond to let the water pull the liner into place. This is done because if you cut before doing this it can end up to short when the weight of the water pulls it. Unfortunately we didn’t have the luxury of choice as the dams needed to be built and allowed to harden before it rained so much the ponds filled naturally and the windy conditions would mean the liner would not have been there in the morning. I wouldn’t recommend you do this at home but we then cut the liner and buried the edge and then constructed our dams. We left enough extra liner under the edges to allow for a little give when the water pulled it into shape.
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Long view
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Covering the edges
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Pond and Jetty
Once the ponds have filled and the edges have been planted this pond will eventually look like its always been there.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
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