"My daughter wanted a bigger drop with the falls. Do you think that abrupt drop is too much?" No not at all it will look great. Splashing is a problem but you can deal with it, just leave enough liner so that you can bring it up if needed. To hide the liner you can put rocks up the side.
Overflow?
- Thread starter Marinegrunt
- Start date
Good.....I didn't feel like packing in more clay to make it a gradual slope. I had to pack clay on the sides of just about the whole pond after rain washed a lot of the sides and shelves away.
Instead of buying more liner I decided to try and seam it first. It's on a downward slope in the stream so hoping it'll be okay. I did a row of tape, a 2" strip of polyurethane sealant, and another row of tape. Since it's a shallow stream I'm considering laying a thin coat of mortar and embedding some river rock or something. That should help too. Are there any downfalls for laying mortar besides tearing it up if I ever need to redo anything?
As for filling the pond.....do I need to treat the water with anything or should I just let it run for a few months before stocking? I'll probably wait until spring to stock it anyways. Might throw some cheap goldfish in for the heck of it tho. Would there be any benefit to pumping lake water in instead of using tap water? It is township water so I'm sure there's chlorine.
Thanks!
Instead of buying more liner I decided to try and seam it first. It's on a downward slope in the stream so hoping it'll be okay. I did a row of tape, a 2" strip of polyurethane sealant, and another row of tape. Since it's a shallow stream I'm considering laying a thin coat of mortar and embedding some river rock or something. That should help too. Are there any downfalls for laying mortar besides tearing it up if I ever need to redo anything?
As for filling the pond.....do I need to treat the water with anything or should I just let it run for a few months before stocking? I'll probably wait until spring to stock it anyways. Might throw some cheap goldfish in for the heck of it tho. Would there be any benefit to pumping lake water in instead of using tap water? It is township water so I'm sure there's chlorine.
Thanks!
I don't know if I would bother laying mortar. If you do there is a chance that you will see it and that will take away from the "look" and there won't be any benefit. You want to be able to move the rocks around to change the flow and the sound. Where I had to seam my stream I laid a float stone on top and it seems to work but my sloop is pretty good. Notice in this first picture how there is some water at the top. This is what happens in the stream, the water can come from an unexpected place and wash over the side. Even the placement of the rocks can make the stream leak. That is why you want to have the sides high enough and to have enough liner to bring it up higher if necessary. The second picture is the side of the pond. It was done like this because the yard was not level (off by a foot) and too much liner was showing. After the liner was in I had to pull it back and dig a ledge for the rocks to sit on. As far as filling the pond I would use the lake water and if there is anyway that you could use gravity then I would hook up an automatic filler using the lake water.
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The lake is at the bottom of the ravine so would have to run power and leave a pump in the lake. Maybe the auto fill is something I can do in the future. Our house at at the end of a cove so a pump wouldn't be in the way of anyone out on the lake.
The sides of my stream are not very tall. I was thinking of lining the bottom of the stream with 1-2 inch rocks and then placing bigger rocks here and there for a ripple effect. I didn't know if the smaller rocks would stay in place so that's why I was thinking a mortar base to hold them in place. You wouldn't see the mortar because the smaller rocks would be embedded in it. Do you think that would work?
I was able to dig about 3 feet more out of the pond where the stream empties. That allowed the seam to be on a steeper slope. I'll be surprised if it ever leaks.
The sides of my stream are not very tall. I was thinking of lining the bottom of the stream with 1-2 inch rocks and then placing bigger rocks here and there for a ripple effect. I didn't know if the smaller rocks would stay in place so that's why I was thinking a mortar base to hold them in place. You wouldn't see the mortar because the smaller rocks would be embedded in it. Do you think that would work?
I was able to dig about 3 feet more out of the pond where the stream empties. That allowed the seam to be on a steeper slope. I'll be surprised if it ever leaks.
If possible I would go with the lake water. As far as the mortar are you saying that you would use it to hold the small rocks to the liner? If so I personally wouldn't do it, I would go with foam. I used a little mortar in my stream but it was at the top and sides of some larger rocks to redirect the water from the edges. Did this to keep it from leaking out in spots.
Lake water it is.
Yes, mortar to hold the small rocks. Think of that rock on a roll that they sell. Pretty much the same idea. Maybe a half inch to an inch of mortar spread out and then dump 1 to 2 inch rocks on it. I don't think foam would work well for a bunch of smaller rocks. You were probably picturing bigger rocks tho. I could probably get by with 4" rocks too. Hopefully it will work out to where I don't need mortar. I'd have a mess on my hands if I ever needed to make repairs.
Yes, mortar to hold the small rocks. Think of that rock on a roll that they sell. Pretty much the same idea. Maybe a half inch to an inch of mortar spread out and then dump 1 to 2 inch rocks on it. I don't think foam would work well for a bunch of smaller rocks. You were probably picturing bigger rocks tho. I could probably get by with 4" rocks too. Hopefully it will work out to where I don't need mortar. I'd have a mess on my hands if I ever needed to make repairs.
I would try it first without anything holding the rocks. You can always take them out and redo it. Unless the water is moving pretty fast I don't think the small rocks will get washed away.
Meyer Jordan
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I must disagree. Do not use mortar. It is not necessary unless you are planning on having white-water rapids. Mortar will over time disintegrate and it would fill in the normally occurring voids that are inhabited by myriad organisms that add to the total diversity of the pond. If you are concerned about the water flow moving the rock, use rock size appropriate to the water flow, just as Nature does. You will not find any small rock or gravel in a fast moving mountain stream. Depending on your final flow, use no smaller than Egg rock and smaller cobbles with varying sizes of l;arger stones for accent and interest. With any of these rocks/stone, seat them by lightly tamping with a rubber mallet. You will not damage the liner. Over time sediment will fill in some of the voids.