Wildlife pond and sandstone

TreePretty

We've put a wildlife pond in place yesterday. Its well lined and surrounded by sandstone rocks. There were a couple of edge leaks yesterday where the sides had got too wet and collapsed slightly but these were fixed and there doesnt appear to be any obvious leaks.

Overnight the water level appear to have dropped an inch or so and the rocks look like they are soaking up water.

Should we just keep topping up the water until the rocks have reached saturation or is there something else we need to do?

lily6

It really looks lovely, can you post another pic for us to admire next year when its matured please. I can't answer your question though! 

Fairygirl

You'll need to look for the lowest point and your final level will be that. If that's too low for your preference, you'll need to find a way of raising it so that you get the level you need/want. 
Front right looks to be the lowest point. It would be worth filling with your hose slowly to see where the water comes out, and then just address that bit if you want it a little higher. Sometimes it's just a case of pushing a bit of soil or turf under the liner. 
I can't really see anything wrong with it though. It'll be lovely when all the plants mature 

roystonpickleJbbhQrny

Hi. Just wondering what the outcome was with the pond level dropping? I have just made a similar pond with sandstone edging, however a lot smaller than yours. The level keeps on dropping and I assumed the same as you that the sandstone is too porous. Just wondering if it resolved itself? 🤞

Fairygirl

Hi @roystonpickleJbbhQrny - the thread's now 3 years old, and the OP hasn't posted again, so we don't know what happened. You'd have to tag the name and if they accept notifications, they might reply.

I'll tag the name, and perhaps they'll see it and respond 
@TreePretty - there's an enquiry about your pond problem, and we're wondering if you can offer any info 

Cottage Compost

I have a pond, and i've used sandstone and experienced the same issue. Having filled the pond to full, the water level dropped significantly overnight.

It takes a few days to settle itself down.

Using sandstone that had then become saturated with water from the pond became a secondary problem insofar as the exposed sandstone suffered frost damage and some of the stones are disintegrating.

Slowly replacing a few with a harder, non-porous stone as and when.

ezelott

This is my pond, I had the same problem too. I'd fill it up and a day or two later there would be a noticeable drop in water. What I found was that the weight of some of the larger sand stones had sunk into the ground allowing water to seep out. After I reinforced the edges of the pond it stopped the problem. Its worth having a look to see if something similar has happened to your pond.

Pete.8

Great pond @ezelott
Love the jetty!

ezelott

Pete.8 said:

Great pond @ezelott
Love the jetty!

Thanks, it was just a few tree poles and some 2x1 and I wrapped it with hemp rope. Cats, foxes and pigeons love it.

Pete.8

A wildlife diving board - fantastic 😁

ezelott

Pete.8 said:

A wildlife diving board - fantastic 😁