A rigid liner offers you a fast and easy way to create the central eye catching feature of any water garden. You just dig a whole and drop in the liner, fill it with water. The rigid liners are easy to install, take a little time before hand to pick a good spot. If you’re considering a fountain, water pumps or lights, you’ll need to run electricity to your water garden. The elevation and grade of your yard are also big factors in deciding what kind of water garden feature to create. Slopes are naturally good for waterfalls, but don’t choose the lowest point in your yard for your water garden, it might be prone to flooding.
If you want water garden plants, position your water garden in full sun, a space that gets at least 6 hours a day of direct, unfiltered light. After you decide where to place the pond element of your water garden, you’ll have a lot of choices, because the liner you’ll use to make the pond comes in a variety of shapes and sizes; round, oval, kidney shape and rectangle are all available. Basically there are two kinds of liners, rigid and flexible. Rigid liners, also called preformed liners, are made of a rigid plastic or less commonly fiber glass. Rigid liners are easier to install than flexible liners. They’re easier to repair. Any cracks or punctures tend to be more apparent on a rigid surface, which takes well to a patch. And there are a lot more shapes and sizes made giving you more design options.
Here’s what you’ll need to create a water garden using a rigid liner, a round point shovel, a level, trowel, sand, and a rigid liner. Once you’ve assembled your materials, it’s time to dig in. Dig a hole for your new water garden. We’ll talk about how to dig later on this DVD.
Leveling is an important step in the creation of your water garden. Check the level of the hole along the ledge. Using extra long level, or set the level on top of a straight piece of lumber. Check the shape and levels in the whole by setting the liner down inside it. Be sure to allow extra room for 1 to 2 inches of sand along the horizontal surfaces. Next, position the liner and use the level to make sure the liner is sitting level on the ground. Once the liner is level, it’s time to add sand. Pull the liner back out of the ground and 1 to 2 inches of sand to the bottom of the hole. This gives the liner a level bed.
Now, set the liner back into the hole and nestle it into place. It should sit flat and not wobble from side to side. If this happens, pull out the liner and refit, packing down or adding a little more sand as needed. Keep checking the level because once the liner is filled with water, it would be impossible to make any changes without draining it and starting over. Fill the liner with 1 to 2 inches of water and check the level again. If the water isn’t level, make adjustments until it is. Keep filling with water and watch to make sure the liner is sitting level in the ground. Something else to look for as you’re filling the liner with water is buckles or liner distortion. Either of these means that the liner isn’t sitting level, or there’s a pocket of air some place.
If you find a buckle or distortion, back fill with sand or soil until the liner goes back into its intended shape, when the liner is about half full, back fill around the side of the liner with sand. Here’s a tool you may not have thought to use, once you’ve added sand under the lip, use a simple plastic dust pan to slide sand under the edges of the liner. Tamp the sand around the edges of the liner so that it is compacted and not easily brushed into the water. Rigid liners have exposed lip that looked best covered up with a natural material. You can use a number of attractive options that include brick, or cut, or natural stones.
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