If you thought laying underlay in a pond was a big faff then wait until you have to fit the pond liner. Believe me, I don’t ever want to have to do that again!
Great care needs to be taken when fitting a pond liner. You want to make sure you don’t snag or puncture it in the process or else it will be useless and money wasted hence why I'm fitting this in situ to prevent rips from moving.
When making up the corners, try to get as few creases as possible and ensure the corner folds are above the waterline or the pond may leak. This is easier said than done as pond liners are made of thicker, less flexible material than underlay so a lot harder to work with.
Again, I started this process by laying out the entire liner on a flat surface and folding into thirds to create my pond liner ‘sandwich’ in order to get the thing into the pond.
Carefully fold the liner over the top edge of your pond box but before securing it down, push the liner well into the bottom, around any plant shelves and into the corners so it won’t pull when you fill with water. The last thing you want after all this effort is for it to tear with the weight of the liquid. Use the clamps from the underlay layer to help you keep the liner in place as you work your way round the edges.
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| Liner clamped into position |
When you are satisfied that everything looks flat, folded and is not pulling then secure into position at the top edge. I used a staple gun for this but remember not to staple below the natural waterline or you’ll get leaks from the staple holes. I found it best to partially fill the pond then adjusted the liner with the weight of the water before finally stapling it down.
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| Partially filling with clamps in place |
And
now, the moment of truth. It’s time to
fill that pond with water. Do this
slowly and keep checking for any leaks or fabric that looks like it’s being
over-stretched. Woo hoo – there are no
leaks!!
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| Unlike the Titanic - no leaks |
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