Finishing Off the Pond
Edge
This guide has
a few different sections. Simply click on the link of the section
you'd like to jump to:
Basic
Edging
Dry stone
wall style edging
Supporting the
pond edge
Edging your pond may
seem difficult but it can be very easy and will make all the
difference to the look of your pond if done properly. If you have
any more questions, feel free to give us a call on 01904 698800 for
some advice.
Basic
pond edging
Basic pond edging
Once you have filled up your pond
it is worth giving it a couple of days to settle before you start
edging it. This lets the soil and sand under the pond liner compact
and avoids stretching the
liner.
When edging you’ll need to
trim off excess pond liner for a neat finish, but make sure to
leave enough overlap to go under your edging.
The kind of edge that you use is
a matter of personal choice and can be affected by your budget. The
most common method is just to put some slabs or crazy paving around
the edge on top of the liner overlap and back-fill any joints or
gaps with gravel. This is quick, easy and can be quite effective.
The downside is that you might be able to see a little of the top
edge of the
pond liner, but you can always hide it with
plants, either growing from inside the pond or
overhanging.
'Dry stone wall'
style edging
'Dry stone wall' style edging
The next solution is to use
‘dry stone walling’ to disguise the liner entirely.
This gives a very professional finish but involves some work and
expense. You can reduce these factors by only doing the side of the
pond that you will see most (often the opposite side to where you
will stand).
Cut a double width shelf into the
earth about 12” to 18” down. Using a piece of offcut
liner to protect the actual pond liner, build a wall of stacked up
rocks like a dry stone wall. These should overlap for support and
might slope toward the pond wall a little for stability. It is not
usually necessary to mortar these stones together (and adding
mortar to the pond can cause significant problems). Add a capping
stone that sits on top of the ‘wall’ and partially on
the earth that surrounds the pond.
Supporting the
Edge
Supporting the Edge
If the earth at the pond edge is
solid then there is probably no need to support the edge but if you
have sandy soil then you might want to add a concrete ring
foundation. This would go either under the ‘wall’ (and
the liner as shown) or around the pond edge for the slabs to sit
on. Before the main excavation begins you can dig a hole the size
of the foundation, and about 8 to 12” deep, pour the concrete
and then when it has set continue with the remainder of the
excavation.
Now that you
know how to edge your pond, why not take a look at one of our other
guides:
Planting
Pond Filters
Connecting the Pond Pump and Pond
Filter
Fountains
Waterfalls
Adding fish to the
pond
Or click here to see the full
list of guides
