Plant Doctor Archive

Water Gardens — Sealing ponds

CAN I use a block wall sealant, like those available from a hardware store, to seal a concrete pond? All the pond sealants I see seem to be very expensive.

YOU get what you pay for. Proper pond sealants are Elastomeric membranes. This means that they stop water from passing through both ways, so ground water will not seep in and lift off your sealant, as will happen with a block wall waterproofing sealant.

Proper pond sealants are well worth the extra cost, otherwise you will be resealing every couple of years.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.