Wonderful primer in thermoplastics vs reaction cured cross linked polymers Evelyn. This all seems to miss the chance to provide some practical advice however. Yes HDPE is used widely for large scale projects. The reason is isn't used by homeowners or small gardens is that it takes special (expensive) equipment to carefully melt and reseal the seams used to join small pieces into big ponds. HDPE is the same "visqueen" material that is widely used for everything from throw away dropcloths to shipping bags. When thick enough (and High Density enough) to act as a geotextile material, it gets stiff, hard to handle and hard to seam. And you won't find it at the Home Depot. So if you are Rowdy Yates and have a back 40 to work with, good luck. If you are building a pond that big and looking for advice on the internet, you will need some luck. EPDM is widely used by homeowners and small commercial installations because it works well and is widely available. It is made for the commercial roofing industry and works great (for 20 or 30 years, even in direct sunlight). They leave out the biocide used in roofing to kill moss (who would want to do such a thing?) and sell it as pond liner. It works because it is saggy and conforms well to uneven bottoms, just like that underwear. It is also available in wide widths and can be glued by an average homeowner with nothing more than his glue tube. Not the premium choice, but hands down the most popular. Go to the Ponds forum and see how many people use it - nearly all. The problem with any liner is achieving a satisfactory slope to the pond walls. Pond people, and Japanese Garden Pond people are included, hate losing fish to predators, and the best deterrent is steep slopes to the sides. Not easy with liners. And nobody wants any liner showing above the waterline, but without good design and engineering, it usually happens. I have seen a lot of liner showing at public and private water features that spent a lot of money on water recirculation and filtration etc. but didn't get the basics covered. The liner has to be buried well below the dirt, rocks and other edging. Easy to damage any liner if you don't know what you are doing, so many ponds have a sort of gravelly slope that tries to hide the liner. Not very attractive. If you have enough water or course, it doesn't matter much what your pond is lined with. This is the Kyoto approach, limited nowadays by constraints on those endless supplies of clean water. Bentonite falls in the middle ground - not really a waterproof membrane, but it can slow down the leakage rate to an acceptable level if applied and maintained correctly. First you start with a sheepsfoot roller... (Evelyn's clue to ask why you would roll their little feet) I agree with Edzard's comments on bentonite and moving water - just the wrong application. If you have an acre of pond bottom and clay soil, get some local help and give it a try, but it isn't good for streams. There must be a reason the majority of good JG's in the US and Japan use cement where they don't have a natural water body. It does work, isn't all that difficult to design, can be fixed, and lasts a long time if built well. Plenty of house foundations are expected to last a hundred years. and they see freezing cycles on the outside and heat inside - worse than many ponds. It just seems like a big undertaking for most people, and is admittedly too expensive for really big projects. And you are much more likely to get a natural looking edge if you build in a rock shelf with reinforced concrete. Of course you can also have a gradual slope and a pebble beach, but they usuall end up being raccoon and heron dining rooms. Another key issue with liners, natural ponds, and cement is the whole water treatment/filtration question. Acre plus ponds can become naturalized with a low fish load and a high tolerance for turbidity. Everybody else needs some water treatment, and with koi that means bottom drains and skimmers. No way around it, and it adds another challenge to both liners and cement. There is one other alternative. If you have a very loose grasp of appropriate priorities, you can find a natural canyon (courtesy of the Wisconsin glaciation) in impervious granite bedrock, excavate everything that doesn't look like a pond and fill it. Good luck to all with your water features.

Didn't we talk about your fireplace some time back? It feels so familiar to me, and I remember those mirrors. I love the stone and the rustic feel. I am sorry, but the mirrors are much too formal and gilded for the rustic feel of the fireplace and the wall around it. I think they are wonderful, but they need to be in a different spot. They are also too small for the mass of the stone and wood. WIth the new fireplace screen being so detailed, I would pretty much clear the mantel and perhaps use a grouping of great leather bound books in various colors of leather, perhaps three or five taller ones standing vertically and then two horizontally, and put the clock on the horizontal stack. That would be on one side. On the other, a grouping of pottery vases or containers, with a bit of a rustic or handmade feel, in some colors that would pull the colors from the fireplace screen. Since the kitty won't stay on the mantel (LOL!), in the center you could use a low container with a lush green plant or plants in it. A large round platter could stand behind that, something lighter in color to stand out against the dark wood wall. If you really want to use the brass candlesticks, I think you need to get glass hurricanes to put over them, stand them together, and then use a color for candles taken from the screen. They are too small and skinny to stand up there spread apart.

Hey Segrieb, yes it is small pea gravel. The piece is about 36 inches long by 24 inches tall Slow, the polka dots are beaded pearls in black and white. The faces are small plastic beads. The ones that are faceted yet kind of flat. The body of the white horse is tumbled hobnail glass, a broken chrismas frame and a broken vase. The body of the black horse is a broken lamp body. The decorative pieces on the white horse between the body and legs/face are part of a bracelet. And the ones on the black horse are part of some very large earrings. The face on the White horse has 3 diamond as the blaze. And the face on the Black horse has a broken piece of jewelry to represent a marking on the face. Tails on both horse are back painted irredecent glass.

No but I didn't loose any on the value of this house either. You can never realize your investment back in dollars. I just happened to have known this person for a few years and the garden was a benefit to him. Loves conifers and very knowledgeable nursery man. Without my contact it could have been a difficult sell. How many working families are going to find that would want to take on the added work to maintain this garden? This garden is a full time job. It does afford you coffee breaks and a snack but you have to provide that yourself.