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How to Hide a Pond Liner

I did some work on my pond this weekend. I divided some plants and repotted some others. They’re all set to grow nice and big now. And I think I’ve solved a problem that’s been bothering me: the sides of my pond liner have been visible when the water level drops. During the summer, evaporation would cause the liner to be exposed almost all the time. Normally, a person digs a little ledge and makes the edge of the pond two stacks of stones high. I didn’t have the foresight to do that. Noticing that some of the moss on my coping stones has come to life, I decided to buy sheet moss and use it to hide the exposed liner. It looks really good. And now I’m wondering if it will live. Live, moss, live!

The 'after' part isn't wet yet in this picture.  It looks better wet.

I also got my first pond fish. Yay! I got comet goldfish, because they’re really tough. I decided on one solid orange, one solid white, two mostly orange, and two mostly white.

The last time they'll ever be seen from the side.

Don’t they look like swimming jewels? That’s what all the pond books say.

They stayed in a group at first.

Max supervised my work from the upstairs window.

He's not as sad as he looks.  He really likes sitting in the window.

11 Comments

  1. Lauren

    That cat’s not sad – he’s hungry. Yummy swimming jewels…..

    How do you get the moss to stay put?

    • Brad

      They grow it in sheets, so I could just tuck it under the stones and let it flap in the water. It is an actual possibility that the moss will come back to life. Air dried moss can enter a state of dormancy.

      • Lauren

        Hey – maybe you’re in a state of dormancy, and that’s why you fall asleep in doctor’s offices!

  2. Lloyd

    I don’t know if you can really call getting a couple of each type of thing “deciding”.

    • Brad

      If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.

  3. Peggy

    Excellent!!!!!!!

    Live long & prosper little shishes! We hope not to see your lovely sides again any time soon!

    http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/1076298/2/istockphoto_1076298-goldfish-dead-in-frozen-pond.jpg

  4. Peggy

    PS Are these the kind of goldfish that get enormous?

    • Brad

      They only get six inches long at their largest. Koi are the ones who grow to be two feet long.

  5. bobbi jo lee handerson

    wow i got my 1 gold fish today i am 11

  6. Melanie Lawrence

    I was wondering how your sheet moss held up? Did it live? We are wanting to hide the ugly liner in our pond, too.

    • Brad

      Hi Melanie. Some of it disintegrated over time. Some of it became a surface for algae. But I was most excited to see that some of it grew! I have two patches of living moss on the edge of my pond. I also have quite a bit of moss growing on the rocks of my waterfall. I think the difference between places where it grows and places where it doesn’t is sun exposure.

      I’ve replaced old or missing moss twice since I wrote this post. After using this method for three years, I would pronounce it an okay method. The pond liner naturally gets all kinds of dirt and stuff on it, and begins to be naturally camouflaged, but I still like the look of the moss.

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