Don’t Forget to Line your Pond
I remember trying to make a pond as a young child. After digging a modest hole at the end of the garden I would run back and forth with a watering can for a day attempting to fill it with water. Of course, all the water would simply disappear into the earth and being no more than 7 years old, I had no idea why my pond wouldn’t hold the water like the ‘natural’ ponds I would see outside.
What I didn’t know back then was that ponds need to be lined because the earth is porous. Just like your sandcastle moats, without a liner water just drains away.
Using a pond liner in pond construction is a no brainer. Pond liner comes from a roll similar to a carpet so you would simply need to work out the amount of liner you need for the size of your pond. Pond liner calculators are very handy for this task, just measure the depth, width & length of the pond.
What about Pond Underlay?
If you have quite a large pond construction project pond liner underlayis a must. Especially if there is the likelihood the liner could be punctured from rocks or tree roots!
Got the Liner – What next?
Once you have lined your pond and filled it with water it doesn’t end there. You have to prevent the water becoming stagnant. Depending on the purpose your pond will almost certainly need a pump, particularly if you intend keeping fish! Choosing a pond pump, like liner, has a lot to do with the size of the pond. The pump must be powerful enough to pump and renew all the water in the pond within a certain time frame.
I doubt I would have discontinued trying to fill that childhood pond in my childhood had I known the truth about pond liners and the science of building ponds. Racing to get back with buckets of water before the previous contents soacked into the mud and turning my parents kitchen into an indoor paddling pool was so much fun!
