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Pond Liner Material
Pond Liner Materials You’ll See Advertised EPDM Rubber (usually 40 or 45 mil thick) This is extremely durable, very puncture resistant (good if you’re using large rocks as islands) and flexible. Note that flexibility is good for ponds with lots of corners or ledges or curves. Polyethylene Pond Liner (usually 30 mil thick) This is the cheapest alternative. It degrades rather quickly in sunlight, is stiff to work with not overly puncture resistant. It is roughly half the cost of the others though and if you have a huge pond with a sandy bottom (and can bury the edges of the poly so they don’t show, this might be your cheapest alternative) Not a great product for a small pond as the guarantees are not all that long.
Polypropylene Pond Liner(usually 40 mil thick) Good polypropylene is more durable than epdm and likely more puncture resistant but it is a heck of a thing to work with (like polyethylene) because it is stiff and not very flexible. Really small water gardens with ledges and planting holes should stay away from this material because of its stiffness. It is slightly more expensive than epdm. Its strength is a bonus on larger ponds. In summary, you can use whichever pond liners material you like but the best material for smaller ponds is the EPDM. I do get asked about using an old swimming pool liner for ponds. The cautions are the same as above; it depends on what those liners were made of whether it will be fish-safe. I also note that most old swimming pool liners have sun degradation around the upper edges are are "stiff"; these two characteristics will make it a problem for both long term use of the liner and for installation. So the answer is the same - you can use an old pool liner but you take your chances. Is it worth the savings? Only you can answer that. Underlay As a last note, good underlay will save you time and money in the long run. I know that there is advice out there on using newspapers and old carpets (I’ve used both) but they can be a pain to use. If you’ve ever tried laying old newspapers on the vertical side wall of a pond, you’ll have some sense of what I mean. Carpets and newspaper can be used on the bottom of ponds if you have the time to mess around with laying them smoothly and evenly but for my money, I’d still use the proper pond underlay over top of them to protect the liner along the edges of the pond. Click here for free newsletter or to ask Doug about a garden pond liner
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