Hi All

We have a circular pond around 12' in diameter.The rim is paved, but
the slabs don't quite extend over the edge of the pond, leaving a
strip of pond liner exposed. Depending on how much/little rain we
have, this strip ranges from a couple of inches to about a foot above
the level of the water.

We want to cover up this strip, partly because it's unsightly, and
partly because of the apparent problems caused by excessive sunlight
on liners. But we aren't sure how best to do this. It would be nice to
be able to smear the liner with some sort of natural-looking clay but
I don't know of anything that would stick permanently (it's a fairly
perpendicular angle), and wouldn't just crumble into the water as the
level rose. Next thought is edging plants but we can't get these
anywhere near dense enough. So we thought about attaching some sort of
webbing around this exposed strip and growing some plants that would
grow through the netting and become a thickish barrier between the
sunlight and the liner. These could be planted either submerged at the
pond edge, or planted above, and let to trail downwards and grow
around the netting.

Is there a better idea than this, and are there any suggestions for
which plants would happily thread their way through netting like this,
and wouldn't mind being dunked in pond water?

We are in the UK, which may affect availability of plants.

Thanks in advance

Will

http://weloveteaching.com/mypond/etc/lineredge.gif

it sounds like your pond is rather formal. I solved this problem by using wood
(cedar altho cypress is even better) to build a veggie filter over the pond where the
liner would be seen. http://weloveteaching.com/mypond/2000/p2000.htm
however, is use the edge of the wood as an indicator of when to fill the pond too.

at one time I used netting to hold plants along the front edge (first picture)
http://weloveteaching.com/mypond/changes/changes.htm
but I removed it when the plants just grew too large and/or too scraggly and blocked
my view of the fish. the fish ate the roots of the plants. if they can get to them,
they will. in a well filtered pond there isnt such an abundance of nitrogen that
water plants will grow lushly enough to overcome nibbling. which is why I have
filters they cannot get into. Ingrid

On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 08:48:53 CST, wrote:
We have a circular pond around 12' in diameter.The rim is paved, but
the slabs don't quite extend over the edge of the pond, leaving a
strip of pond liner exposed. Depending on how much/little rain we
have, this strip ranges from a couple of inches to about a foot above
the level of the water.

We want to cover up this strip, partly because it's unsightly, and
partly because of the apparent problems caused by excessive sunlight
on liners. But we aren't sure how best to do this. It would be nice to
be able to smear the liner with some sort of natural-looking clay but
I don't know of anything that would stick permanently (it's a fairly
perpendicular angle), and wouldn't just crumble into the water as the
level rose. Next thought is edging plants but we can't get these
anywhere near dense enough. So we thought about attaching some sort of
webbing around this exposed strip and growing some plants that would
grow through the netting and become a thickish barrier between the
sunlight and the liner. These could be planted either submerged at the
pond edge, or planted above, and let to trail downwards and grow
around the netting.

Is there a better idea than this, and are there any suggestions for
which plants would happily thread their way through netting like this,
and wouldn't mind being dunked in pond water?

We are in the UK, which may affect availability of plants.

Thanks in advance

Will

wrote:
Hi All

We have a circular pond around 12' in diameter.The rim is paved, but
the slabs don't quite extend over the edge of the pond, leaving a
strip of pond liner exposed. Depending on how much/little rain we
have, this strip ranges from a couple of inches to about a foot above
the level of the water.

We want to cover up this strip, partly because it's unsightly, and
partly because of the apparent problems caused by excessive sunlight
on liners. But we aren't sure how best to do this. It would be nice to
be able to smear the liner with some sort of natural-looking clay but
I don't know of anything that would stick permanently (it's a fairly
perpendicular angle), and wouldn't just crumble into the water as the
level rose. Next thought is edging plants but we can't get these
anywhere near dense enough. So we thought about attaching some sort of
webbing around this exposed strip and growing some plants that would
grow through the netting and become a thickish barrier between the
sunlight and the liner. These could be planted either submerged at the
pond edge, or planted above, and let to trail downwards and grow
around the netting.

Is there a better idea than this, and are there any suggestions for
which plants would happily thread their way through netting like this,
and wouldn't mind being dunked in pond water?

We are in the UK, which may affect availability of plants.

Thanks in advance

Will

Might be something here you could use?..........
http://www.arghamvillage.co.uk/produ...nd_edging.html
--
Pete C
London UK

On 17 Feb, 20:07, "Pete C" wrote:

Might be something here you could use?..........http://www.arghamvillage.co.uk/produ...nd_edging.html
--
Pete C
London UK- Hide quoted text -


Thanks Pete -- I did look, and I could be interested in the product
but to be honest the company selling it gave me no confidence that I
should be dealing with them. No telephone contact, no order tracking,
no fax. They "monitor" their emails, and they apologise that their
website will be out of action for a week in September. Which
September? 2007 or 2008?!!

If I can get some info on the product elsewhere I will take a look.
Thnaks again.

Ingrid -- thanks for the interesting pics and website. Wood would give
a nice finish, but it's a circular pond, and also I'm not sure how I
could fix the planks.

wrote:

We have a circular pond around 12' in diameter.The rim is paved, but
the slabs don't quite extend over the edge of the pond, leaving a
strip of pond liner exposed. Depending on how much/little rain we
have, this strip ranges from a couple of inches to about a foot above
the level of the water.

Why not just keep enough water in it to keep the level just below the top?



San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

On 17 Feb, 21:16, Joe wrote:
*wrote:
We have a circular pond around 12' in diameter.The rim is paved, but
the slabs don't quite extend over the edge of the pond, leaving a
strip of pond liner exposed. Depending on how much/little rain we
have, this strip ranges from a couple of inches to about a foot above
the level of the water.

Why not just keep enough water in it to keep the level just below the top?

San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

Easier said than done, Joe. I don't want it to be a high maintenance
pond, having to constantly check the level and top it up (it's some
distance from the house). I actually like the fluctuating level as
it's a natural thing, and prefer that it eventually gets topped up
again with rainwater rather than the chemically water from our mains
supply.

wrote:

On 17 Feb, 21:16, Joe wrote:
*wrote:
We have a circular pond around 12' in diameter.The rim is paved, but
the slabs don't quite extend over the edge of the pond, leaving a
strip of pond liner exposed. Depending on how much/little rain we
have, this strip ranges from a couple of inches to about a foot above
the level of the water.

Why not just keep enough water in it to keep the level just below the top?

San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

Easier said than done, Joe. I don't want it to be a high maintenance
pond, having to constantly check the level and top it up (it's some
distance from the house). I actually like the fluctuating level as
it's a natural thing, and prefer that it eventually gets topped up
again with rainwater rather than the chemically water from our mains
supply.


Do you keep fish?

San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

We have low junipers that do grow over the edge enough that you could
not tell what is under them.

We also use a toilet level control to regulate the water level (using
city water to top it up).

Jim

On 18 Feb, 01:26, Joe wrote:
*wrote:
On 17 Feb, 21:16, Joe wrote:
*wrote:
We have a circular pond around 12' in diameter.The rim is paved, but
the slabs don't quite extend over the edge of the pond, leaving a
strip of pond liner exposed. Depending on how much/little rain we
have, this strip ranges from a couple of inches to about a foot above
the level of the water.

Why not just keep enough water in it to keep the level just below the top?

San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

Easier said than done, Joe. I don't want it to be a high maintenance
pond, having to constantly check the level and top it up (it's some
distance from the house). I actually like the fluctuating level as
it's a natural thing, and prefer that it eventually gets topped up
again with rainwater rather than the chemically water from our mains
supply.

Do you keep fish?

San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Joe - Well, I did have a dozen thriving goldfish until the heron
visited a few months ago. I will get some more, but will wait till
after the tadpole season.

Jim - thanks, I'll take a look at junipers.

Two thoughts:
as you know the edging stones are normally mortared to the lining. So when
the pond level is low you can simply brush onto the liner a wet mortar mix.
This will change the colour from black to mortar colour which will then
green over as it becomes mossy. Don't get the wet mortar into the water cos
it might harm the fish.
Secondly, is the slope of the liner such that you could cover the liner with
gravel?

Davy

wrote in message
...
Hi All

We have a circular pond around 12' in diameter.The rim is paved, but
the slabs don't quite extend over the edge of the pond, leaving a
strip of pond liner exposed. Depending on how much/little rain we
have, this strip ranges from a couple of inches to about a foot above
the level of the water.

We want to cover up this strip, partly because it's unsightly, and
partly because of the apparent problems caused by excessive sunlight
on liners. But we aren't sure how best to do this. It would be nice to
be able to smear the liner with some sort of natural-looking clay but
I don't know of anything that would stick permanently (it's a fairly
perpendicular angle), and wouldn't just crumble into the water as the
level rose. Next thought is edging plants but we can't get these
anywhere near dense enough. So we thought about attaching some sort of
webbing around this exposed strip and growing some plants that would
grow through the netting and become a thickish barrier between the
sunlight and the liner. These could be planted either submerged at the
pond edge, or planted above, and let to trail downwards and grow
around the netting.

Is there a better idea than this, and are there any suggestions for
which plants would happily thread their way through netting like this,
and wouldn't mind being dunked in pond water?

We are in the UK, which may affect availability of plants.

Thanks in advance

Will

Two thoughts:
as you know the edging stones are normally mortared to the lining. *So when
the pond level is low you can simply brush onto the liner a wet mortar mix.
This will change the colour from black to mortar colour which will then
green over as it becomes mossy. Don't get the wet mortar into the water cos
it might harm the fish.
Secondly, is the slope of the liner such that you could cover the liner with
gravel?

Davy

...

Interesting thought about the mortar. That could work.

The angle is mainly steep. At a couple of shallower points we've been
able to pile up some attractive pebbles to conceal the liner but this
doesn't work for most of it.

Will

Hi Will,

You mentioned you had fish till a heron took them, and you're planning to
add more. You might want to check your pH & KH and see just what your water
chemistry is now. Over time a pond changes, and your fish may have
gradually gotten use to it, but new fish might be put into shock.

Most of us take 10-20% old water out and add fresh in as often as once/week
for good fish health. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

wrote:

On 18 Feb, 01:26, Joe wrote:
*wrote:
On 17 Feb, 21:16, Joe wrote:
*wrote:
We have a circular pond around 12' in diameter.The rim is paved, but
the slabs don't quite extend over the edge of the pond, leaving a
strip of pond liner exposed. Depending on how much/little rain we
have, this strip ranges from a couple of inches to about a foot above
the level of the water.

Why not just keep enough water in it to keep the level just below the top?

San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

Easier said than done, Joe. I don't want it to be a high maintenance
pond, having to constantly check the level and top it up (it's some
distance from the house). I actually like the fluctuating level as
it's a natural thing, and prefer that it eventually gets topped up
again with rainwater rather than the chemically water from our mains
supply.

Do you keep fish?



Joe - Well, I did have a dozen thriving goldfish until the heron
visited a few months ago. I will get some more, but will wait till
after the tadpole season.

Jim - thanks, I'll take a look at junipers.


Will, the reason I asked if you kept fish was, that if you do, you should
not count on evaporation and rain to set your pond level. You will want to
make water changes of about 10% every few weeks (depending on fish load.) If
you don't remove water, impurities tend to stay - despite good filtration.


San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

Regarding fish, I must admit that I don' t really want to have to
replace a lot of water every week. As I said, we had a few goldfish to
make the pond more exciting, and they seemed happy enough with the
naturally fluctuating water levels. It never got dangerously low, and
if it did, of course I would take steps.

I respect both Joe and Jan's dedication, though at the same time I do
tend to believe that nature will usually look after its creatures.
Despite no filtration, we have a lot of oxygenating plants in the pond
which seem to do a pretty good job of keeping the water clear. If I
don't replace the fish it would be because I don't want the heron to
come and get them again. I'm reluctant to have netting over the pond,
which seems to detract from the pleasure. I'll see.

Another thing against the fish is that they tend to eat our frog spawn
and tadpoles -- and a big part of the reason for creating a pond in
the first place was to encourage frogs in the garden. (We have a big
vegetable patch, and want the frogs to eat the slugs!)

Hmm -- I seem to have got off the subject of my pond liner, but no
worries. These are all interesting points that are teaching me things.

Thanks -- Will

I am a fan of the frogs, too.
Also a fan of a natural looking pond, so we put slabs of turf
over parts of our liner and let it grow all shaggy. What falls over
into
the water provides home to all sorts of critters. The fish live to
nose
around in it for bugs.
k :-)