Use stones or piles of cobbles to trap the liner to finish vertically:
To edge an informal pond:
- Add edging rocks or cobbles to trap the liner upright between them and the ground around the pond.
- Before adding sharp rocks to the shelf area lay an off cut of liner on the shelf to protect it from damage.
- Hold the folds of the liner in place and keep the vertical upstand in position by piling the stones up against the rim.
- Blend the hard landscaping from the shelf level up and over the rim edge.
- The vertical liner should be covered so not seen or damaged by sun.
- Fill with water halfway up the vertical liner upstand.
- Use rainwater if possible as this does not contain chlorine from tap water.
- If you use tapwater please use Chlorine Guard.
- Leave pockets or gaps between the rocks to add baskets of suitable shallow shelf plants later.
- Plants will grow between or over the hard landscaping and soften the look.
Edge an informal pond by adding stone to the top shelf edge
- When all the stone work is in place there should be no slack in the liner.
- All folds should be weighted into position.
- Fill the top shelf with water to its planned level.
- Wait a few days to check your pond holds water and is not leaking.
- Trim off the surplus liner.
- The finished pond with all edges complete has no liner visible.
One side of the pond edge completed and trimmed off at ground level
- The stone edge forms the link between the water and the rest of the garden both visually and for the protection of wildlife visitors.
- You can also use logs and place plant baskets behind a curving wood branch (see Right-hand side of image)
- Next add shelf pond plants in baskets onto planting shelf areas and waterlilies, Aponogeton distachyos and oxygenating plants to deeper areas of water.
Read our Tips and Advice on How to plant a pond
Completed pond edge with no liner showing
