The walls of my pond are very rough clay with lots of jagged bumps from being chiseled out. I was originally going to put underlay around the sides and bottom, but the walls are too steep. I could use a few long spikes to hold it in place, but I'm concerned the frost will pop them out into the liner. The clay is too hard to chisel smooth, it will just crack and create more bumps. I'm not sure this really matters though, since the old hole was smooth as glass when I took the liner out. Granted I dug it earlier in the spring when the ground was softer, but I can assure you I didn't spend all that time polishing. So perhaps time and the weight of the water will be all I need. I did not really encounter any tree roots when enlarging the hole, which was surprising. Any ideas on smoothing/covering if required at all.

"Phyllis and Jim" <jimandphyllisrp@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1191238961.267907.20630@k79g2000hse.googlegroups.com... > The smoothness of your old sides is likely a prediction of what will > happen over time as water presses on the sometimes-moist clay. Right > now, however... > > Is there any way to hang rug with it pegged at the top? The water > pressure will force it into place as the liner fills. > > Jim Thanks, that may be the way to go. I foresaw much cursing and swearing trying to keep it in place otherwise.

In article <4700f17d$0$1346$834e42db@reader.greatnowhere.com> dr-solo@wi.rr.com writes: >our sides were up and down and concrete block, but we used rug underlayment tucked >behind the top block and hanging down into the pond. no "staples" and the pressure >of the liner and water keeps it in place. Is this the pond on your web site, or a previous one? I've been looking at http://weloveteaching.com/mypond/2000/p2000.htm as I'm thinking of a similar style pond. I thought that pond was framing lumber and plywood. Did that hold up okay?