Water in the garden in the form of a pond and/or a gently babbling stream creates its own feel-good atmosphere where you enjoy spending time outside and watching the water flow. However, to ensure that the valuable water does not seep into the ground unused, you should waterproof the subsoil of the artificial stream.
How can you seal a stream in the garden?
To seal a stream in the garden, you can either use pond liner or a concrete layer with a waterproof seal. Pond liner is flexible and easy to remove, while concrete provides a more stable base but requires additional sealing.
Why sealing the stream makes sense
Why is that, some people might think, after all the water in a natural stream doesn't just disappear. That may be true, but such a body of water is continually fed by its source - if this dries up, the stream also dries up and its bed becomes dry. The water in an artificial stream, on the other hand, is in a continuous cycle in which the pump transports it from the source to the collecting basin and back to the source. If water is lost in this cycle because the stream bed is leaking somewhere, the stream will carry less and less water over time. If you don't want to constantly feed in fresh water (which can be quite expensive depending on the size of the stream), the subsoil should be made waterproof from the start.
Ways of sealing
There are many options for sealing the stream base. We present the two most practical options.
Pond Liner
What keeps the garden pond nice and tight can also be used for the stream. Pond liner is flexible and allows for numerous individual design options, but it also has a disadvantage: the soft plastic can quickly tear or become porous and therefore leaky due to the influence of UV light over the years. However, the advantage is that the material can be removed quickly and without much effort.
Concrete layer plus waterproof sealing
Many garden owners play it safe and decorate the stream bed with concrete. However, this material is not waterproof, but rather absorbs water - which not only causes the water level to drop, but also attacks the concrete itself. For this reason, a stream bed modeled from concrete must be provided with a waterproof seal. Pond liner (€34.00 at Amazon), which is also available in a spreadable, liquid form especially for this purpose, or a special sealing powder that is mixed with water and applied to the dry concrete like paint is suitable for this.
Tip
Also consider the influence of sunlight, as a lot of water is also lost through evaporation. For this reason, watercourses should, if possible, not be constructed in the blazing sun, but rather in partial shade or light shade.
