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Can I replace a pond liner in spring?

Hi all.  Our garden had a 3m x 2m wildlife pond when we moved in a few years ago - it was badly maintained but over the years we have added plants and it has thrived.   About 2 years ago I started to suspect that there was a leak as it seemed to be going down and not getting replenished by the rain. I tried to patch it up but i think the real leak is somewhere at the bottom as it still persisted. I failed to get round to it last year what with one thing and another, but this year I'm realising that it is becoming more urgent - the pond is already as low as I've seen it and we haven't got to the heat of summer.  My understanding is that you should normally wait till Autumn to do this, but I worry that it may dry up by then and we could lose all the newts, dragonflies, plant life etc. So my question is: is it a really bad idea to change the liner now?  And will the pond survive if we leave it until after the summer, even if it pretty much drains out?  Also, if anyone can recommend a good liner I'd be very grateful. Thanks so much...

  • I can't help regarding pond liner Robert as only have a couple of prefabricated ponds one of which I had to clean out a couple of weeks ago as feared predators of my frog spawn ... I simply & carefully transferred plants & baby goldfish to a container using original pond water,cleaned the pond of mud & excess algae, replenished with clean tap water plus Aquasafe & put all back in plus a new batch of tadpoles, all seem healthy ... never did find any Newts or Dragonfly larvae or Great Diving Beetles!
  • Hello Robert,    ideally, as you say, it is better to do this work during autumn months, however, if it is a case of having a pond completely drying up when summer arrives you will be saving more creatures by replacing the liner.    My only suggestions are to try keep as much of the original pond water as you can by using water butts or as large containers as you can find.     If you have rocks or stones in the pond, maybe keep these semi submerged even if you have to use tap water temporarily until you can put them back into the pond  using something like Wendy mention with Aquasafe or similar which will help resolve the chlorine or other chemical issues with tap water.    Pond plants the same.

    Before adding new pond liner I would try add 6+ cm. of sand to the soil base of your pond area and a fleece liner on top of the sand if you can as this will cushion the liner from sharp stones or such piercing the new liner.    A good quality butyl liner on top of the sand and fleece will give you years of service.      Once liner is replaced just gently pour the saved pond water back an the stones/plants, etc.     Good luck and enjoy your refurbished pond !