Pond Fountain Info

26. How do I hide the liner around the edges?

Hiding the liner around the edges is one area where many pond kit instructions are very deficient. The most common way is to excavate our step around the pond about 3 inches below the intended water level. Often this shelf is 1 foot wide but this can be varied to fit the size of stone to be used. This shelf needs to be fairly level, within 1/2" inch. On the outside of the shelf, there needs to be dirt mounded up about 4 inches high. As the liner is put in the hole and on to the shelf it needs to drape over the ‘backsplash’. With this arrangement, we can fill the pond to about 2 inches above the shelf. This way, the bottoms of the rocks have their feet wet and there is no liner visible above the water line.

A common omission in pond kit instructions is this need for the liner to be vertical behind the rocks. If we did not have one, then we would not be able to have the rocks partly submerged without have water leak out from under the rocks.
There are other ways to hide the liner. Decks can be cantilevered over an edge of the pond. Care should still be taken to secure the line with the ‘backsplash’. Gradual slopes into the pond can be covered with gravel. This gravel should be buried to half its depth in mortar to prevent it from sliding into the pond.

For more information about Pond and Fountain Pros, please check out our website at Pond and Fountian Pros.

Thank you!

Jim Wilder