At last we are nearing completion. For six weeks we have had a pond with no water! The liner and the underlay were draped into the pond and losely held in place with small stones. We then began to fill the pond gradually with water from the garden well. The lining was lose enough to allow it to move down with the weight of the water without stretching. As the pond gradually filled we folded the excess liner into large tucks to make it neat.

Before the water level reached the beach we lined it with gravel and small stones. The water has now just begun to wash onto the shallow beach area and is covering the shelf designed for the marginal plants.

Filling the pond took a long time. The outside edge of the beach area was finished off with a cement collar. The lining was sealed in between the collar and the final layer of flat stones used to form the finished edge upto and over which the grass can grow.

The water is not quite at its final level. The surplus liner has been trimmed off. The pump has been tested and the pools of the water course have filled nicely and the water is flowing well. One final task remains before it is time to plant up the pond. The final layer of stones to hide the liner need to be fixed into position.

A row of stones was cemented into place to seal down the liner. This picture (right) shows the stones under the waterfall.