rock/stone selection

[mitten]

Quote from Minh "I will have one shallow edge of the pond where it will be a slight slope of bed rock and small pebble."

I had this I think when I built my first pond. A little beach area where you could see stones going down into the water. It was very beautiful and serene. A miniturization of a scene. Because I used pea stone and because of some "hanging out" I did in Georgetown a long time ago I called it "P Street Beach."

Funny thing though. The herons looked at it as an invitation. And they walked into the pond using it as their ramp. It was eliminated after their lunch.

The big stones are fine if you understand the logistics of moving them, placing them and supporting them long term. Have you decided to use concrete to stabilize your soil around all the edges of the pond? Concrete can be formed thick enough and wide enough to make a stable ledge for these rocks all at the exact level of your water. Liner would go over the concrete and would also be raised along all of the back edge of the stones. An overflow of the correct height keeps water and food from going into the rocks, but you will still need to keep rain from washing things out of the rocks into the pond. Discreetly mortaring these rocks in place, over the liner, may be the best way to avoid this runoff and the entry of debris that has been caught in the rocks. The mortar should probably be sealed so it doesn't leach into the water when new. If there is a pronounced slope away from all edges of the pond it could be only a small problem about this runoff and you could maybe skip the mortar but still, keeping all of these crevices clean would be a vigilant precaution.

Mickey the windowman

[Minster49]

Thanks for the info. I am having problem with getting enough clearance to get the big rocks in the yard also...so this design might have to be scaled down to rocks that are less than 400lbs....

[redhotkoi]

Minh

This is what i did on my pond. The rock is granite, 12" x 12" x 12 to 12" x 24" x 12". The pond concrete block with liner. double layer of carpet padding is under the rock to protect the liner. The rock is mortared in between. The pictures also show how I hid the liner on the more formal side of the pond.

Andy

[koiczar]

Quote: Originally Posted by saratogatan If you are in CA, I will recommend 'Yerba river Blue rock' for what you want. Yerb river blue rock has higher density that most rocks. they are harvest out of river, therefore they have almost no sharp edge. Last but not lest, the color is great. stan

Stan

Last time I checked, the YUBA RIVER BLUE rock was no longer available. Seems the residence of the area got up in arms that too much was being harvested from the Yuba River and it was ruining the salmon/steelhead spawning runs. So much for that idea!!

[Minster49]

Quote: Originally Posted by redhotkoi Minh This is what i did on my pond. The rock is granite, 12" x 12" x 12 to 12" x 24" x 12". The pond concrete block with liner. double layer of carpet padding is under the rock to protect the liner. The rock is mortared in between. The pictures also show how I hid the liner on the more formal side of the pond. Andy

Wow, Andy. You did a lot of work. I'm going to go rock shopping, again, this weekend to see what I can come up with. Right now I am leaning towards decking over 2 of the pond's sides and using rocks on the sides away from the house/deck. It's 106 here in the midwest so I've slowed down quite a bit this week.