The Garden Pool

This is part two of a series of articles about revamping my garden.

With the excavation for the pool complete it was time for to purchase a liner and a chance to visit my favourite garden centre. The measurements and chequebook tucked away in my pocket the seventeen-mile journey only took about twenty minutes thanks to a new road system.

My own calculations had concluded that the liner should be 5 sq metres, 2.5 x 2.5 but I just wanted to be sure. The assistant had to get help from the manager for to make the necessary calculation, which was as I had expected.

After purchasing the liner and a pump for the fountain which I almost forgot about, I spotted some pond plants and had to add them to my list before making a quick tour of the rest of the garden centre.

Back home again and my son who was enjoying one of the better days in recent times was coaxed back to work again, this time to the local hardware store for sand and cement.

Just to be sure that the walls were strong enough to take the water pressure when the pool was full, I decided to plaster the inside area, the remainder of the sand was for the bottom of the pool under the liner.

As time was against us and I wanted to finish before any more rain fell and turned the bottom into a soggy mess before the liner was in place, we decided to continue before the cement had set. A large carpet mat used in the past for covering the frames when frost threatened and won't be needed for that purpose now was commandeered as a substitute for underlay. After carefully cutting the piece for the bottom, we discovered that with careful management there would be enough from the sides as well.

It worked exactly as planes and there was little or nothing left except for the carpet fringes. The liner was carefully lowered into place and the hose turned on to fill it up. Time for a welcome cup of tea as the liner was tucking itself into place as the water level rose. The occasional quick dash out to lift the bricks that were holding the liner in place and take the pressure of was all tat was required for the next hour until the pool was full.

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