Pond restoration, pond repairs and pond maintenance.

Pond renovation

This is a broad topic and the projects are often challenging. In our normal areas of operation, Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire, there are thousands of ponds in private ownership and every year many of these will require some form of restoration or improvement. For us, this work ranges from fairly straightforward to ‘almost impossible’. However, we have yet to fail to restore an old pond to its former glory. Often a pond restoration is more rewarding than a new build as we return a dried up eyesore in the heart of a garden to a thing of beauty.

Our most common type of pond renovation involves the installation of a new liner in a leaking pond.

These ponds are often in mature gardens surrounded by lawns, shrubs, planting beds and trees. This makes access difficult but probably the hardest task (after removing the silt, water plants, tree roots, and detritus) is creating a clean, level and stable pond edge on which we can install the new liner. Because the work is so time-consuming the cost can equal that of building a new pond.

We find the commonest cause of leaks are in clay ponds that have been built using imported clay to cover a porous substrate. Clay is rarely a good choice as a liner. It might seem good in theory and look good straight after installing but the chances are it will leak before too long.

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Bentomat it also another pond liner that commonly leaks. This is often due to incorrect installation. PVC and plastic liners are also often unreliable. Synthetic rubber membranes are the most reliable and Greenseal EPDM or Firestone liners are what we use most often. The oldest one we know of was installed in the 1960’s and is still in excellent condition. However, to be on the safe side we always recommend they are buried under soil or gravel in the margins, to avoid being damaged.

Pond maintenance

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