Pebbling help please?

[Buzza]

G'Day All. I have a picture of my pond up elsewhere on the forums, but I have included a slightly different picture here as I need help to finish the job off. I want place cement around the top edge, and sit flat round river stones into the surface of the cement. I also want to be able to walk on it.

Would 40mms be thick enough?

Do I use premixed concrete mix or mortar mix?

The box area is 2.70 x 1.70 mteres, will three bags be enough?

[Bleedin Thumb]

What I would do...... that should ring alarm bells to start with is would be to use larger chunks of rocks without mortar joints with some planting in between to make it look more natural.

If you bebblecreted it all around don't you think it may look a bit 1970's "ethnic villa" for want of a better PC description. You don't want to give the yabbies a complex.

Anyway to answer your question. 40mm is too thin. I would say seeing as you have built it up with fill, I would go 65mm min and only after you gave that fill a good pounding to compact it. Even then as it is an uneven shape it will be hard to get your control joints right.

Are you going to place glass sides up over the timber edges?

Mate this rough and ready yabbie tank seams to be turning into Chez Buzza, we tried to warn you. Looks like the yabbie Hilton.

[Buzza]

Thanks BT. I'm already beginning to see these problems occurring myself, and seeing as this soil I live on is notoriously mobile, I may change my plans altogether. This pond was cracked and so if I compact the soil fill too much, the sides may start to bend inwards.

The rockery without mortar sounds like a good proposal, and a few salad plants growing right there will keep the Yabs in check. Me picking salad plants will have them worried.

In fact it can't be the Yabby Hilton, as they will discover my patch near the bottom of the pond, and of course will just have to see what's behind it. This will be for "Show Fish".

I'm starting to think plastic membrane with drain holes, and fancy stones with plants potted between them.

[Bleedin Thumb]

I'm starting to think plastic membrane with drain holes, and fancy stones with plants potted between them.

Yeah that's a good idea too except I wouldn't use the plastic, you're better off to use some roadbase first then the stones. Or if decomposed granite is available in your neck of the woods do the whole lot with that.

EDIT on second thoughts just replace the plastic with a 14gsm geotextile.