Installing Your Pond Liner
Properly installed, pond liners serve to keep artificial ponds contained and leak-free, which can help to create a self-sustaining ecosystem for fish and plants. These tips will help you with the installation process, ensuring that your pond liner lasts for many years.
Materials
- Shovel
- Rope
- Measuring tape
- Liner underlay
- Utility knife
- Pond liner
- Stones
Process
Your pond liner installation will begin once you've dug and shaped the hole for your pond. This tutorial assumes that you've already gone through the process of choosing a location and size for your pond, checked that the hole will not interfere with local gas lines and that you've already dug out the general shape of your pond.
- Use your shovel to smooth the pond hole. Remove any sharp stones and smooth any hard features that could cause a puncture in the liner.
- Use your shovel to dig a small, shallow trench around the outer edge of the pond. This trench will contain the edges of the pond liner and will also prevent runoff from entering your pond in the future.
- Stretch a rope from the outer edge of the trench, through the width of the pond and all the way to the outer edge of the trench on the other side. Give the rope adequate slack so that it lays flat along the sides and bottom of the trench and pond. Take this length of rope and hold it against a measuring tape. This measurement is the width of the trench and pond combined.
- Use the method described above to measure the length of the trench and pond combined.
- Use the measurements taken above to purchase enough liner underlay and pond liner to cover the area of the pond and the trench.
- Wet down the pond underlay and lay it across the trench and the pond so that the pond and trench are completely covered.
- Smooth the underlay, then trim the material using a utility knife so that it fits inside the pond and stretches to the outer edge of the trench, but goes no further.
- Lay the pond liner over the underlay. The underlay should lay flat against the floors and walls of the pond and trench. Trim the liner so that the edges of it can be tucked inside the trench.
- Fill the liner with water, smoothing the edges as you proceed. The water will weigh down the liner and help it conform to the shape of the pond.
- Use natural stones and pebbles to weigh down the liner within the trench.
With this process complete, it will be time to fill your pond with plants, sand and other natural elements. Following these steps, your pond liner, from a place like Billboard Tarps, should be secure and free of leaks.
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