Your next job will be to check out the excavation itself. If you’ve had a significant or longstanding leak, there may be actual erosion or soil loss along the banks or at the bottom of the pond. Nobody wants their garden to disappear in a sinkhole, so it’s vital to catch this. If you find signs of erosion, it’s probably best to consult with a company specializing in pond building to develop a solution.
Assuming that your initial problem was related to tree roots, and you didn’t choose to remove the tree, you’ll need to install some sort of rigid barrier at this point to protect that entire side from similar assaults. Tree root barriers are available as plastic panels that can be sunk into the ground up to 48”. You’ll want to either encircle the tree in question or install a wide enough wall that roots won’t seek to go around them. Keep in mind that “root control fabric” is a geotextile not unlike HDPE or PPE. Still, it is infused with herbicide nodules that permeate the soil and kill approaching roots. This kind of herbicide can damage or destroy other nearby plantings, so it may not be a good option in a situation where you have a garden pond with a planted border.
Loving the Wildlife
Whenever damage to your liner is the result of an assault by wildlife, it’s time to consider your options. A visit from wild creatures can not only threaten your pond liner; it can be deadly to your fish or even your plants. You may discover you have several compelling reasons to develop a coordinated control strategy.
Herons, raccoons, otters, and even bears love to dine on plump, juicy koi. Fortunately, bears are only rarely seen in urban environments, but they can put quite a strain on your liner as they relax among a virtual smorgasbord of tasty sashimi. On the other hand, whether domestic or feral, cats are expert fish hunters and are ubiquitous throughout urban, suburban, and rural settings.
Whether you see damage from sharp claws or distinct punctures that could have come from a powerful beak, it’s time to do some serious thinking about your priorities. Most people with backyard ponds enjoy having wildlife around and don’t want to drive their visitors away. People with individually named koi, though, are probably willing to do a lot so that Princess Pearl isn’t the featured dish on tonight’s menu.
If your primary concern is your fish, the easiest solution is to provide plenty of hiding spaces deep in your pond for fish to escape to when the local raccoon family comes calling. Include overhanging rocks in your pond edging or add fish tunnels and cave-like structures in the deepest parts of the pond. Your fish will happily retreat to this comfortable refuge until the thwarted predator moves on to greener pastures.
If you just want to keep all creatures away, except those you’ve specifically invited, then you have different options. While not particularly attractive, strong netting can prevent almost any animal from snagging a fish and damaging your liner. Most will eventually learn that it’s not worth the time to visit your place. Decoys are a possibility, but not many feral cats will be taken in by a ceramic heron. Animated decoys like coyotes are probably a better choice. Even a powerful motion-activated sprinkler or an ultrasonic noise repellent might work unless they drive Bentley the beagle next door to howl through the wee hours of the morning.
Suppose your primary concern is the soundness of your pond liner, and yet you still want to invite wildlife to visit. In that case, your best bet is to choose a solid, durable liner, virtually invulnerable to punctures or tears, like BTL’s AquaArmor. You can even give it extra protection with a geo ribbon or secure river rocks on the upper slopes to prevent animals’ direct contact with the liner.
In Short
This is the ideal time to make adjustments, add protections, or add new features to your pond. If you need to extend your plant shelves, for example, do it before you go any further. If you want to move pond equipment around, now is the time. You can also add some new features at this point — has a stream or waterfall been on your wish list? You can install it now without having to retrofit the liner. Thinking about it two weeks too late is a recipe for frustration.
