Not sure I posted the picture correctly...let me know if it didn't work.

Sorry, don't have any specific advice. Just wanted you to know that I looked at your album - beautiful pond!

-Chris

I am sorry, I don't have any advise. But... your pond is beautifull!!! It really is amazing.

OMG My dream pond!!!! Brought tears to my eyes to see it. I hope you don't mind that it will be my new wallpaper!!

I like your idea of the stepping stones, though your bridge is so lovely it seems a shame to do away with that; maybe you can find another spot for it.

One thing I've read is that you want some kind of solid support (or well packed dense sand) under the underlayment and liner if you are using heavy stones as stepping stones.

Aha!! A thought just came to mind. When reparing gravesites the technique is to dig down about 1 foot below where you want the bottom of the stone to rest; then place bricks or flat stones as a base; then very coarse gravel; then sand, stirring the gravel a bit to get the sand filtered down; then more sand, packing it until you reach the level of where you want the stone placed. For a stepping stone that would be the surface of the surrounding dirt. This gives a solid but soft base that will not shift over the centuries.

Thanks again for the picture. I love it.

Anne

Thanks for the kind comments. I do have another spot for the bridge. My stream meanders through the backyard so I can put it there. Anne, Thanks for the tips. I'm envisioning that the base for the stepping stones would be on top of the liner. Maybe cement pillars under the stepping stones? But you raise a good point that the ground beneath the liner needs to be solid too.

You have the most stunning pond I have ever seen. and I love streams too so I guess it wouldn't hurt too much to mess with what you already have.

Since you are in serious freezing territory, I suppose that you should get a solid base there. However if you have a rug (or similar)underlayment, I was thinking more along your lines, although I would just lay down heavy rubber like material and raise the stones up with brick. The rubber material that I have used for small projects is the trim around linoleum floors. Vinyl itself would work, and peole often just use an extra layer of pond liner (2 for you). The object is to just prevent the liner from being cut (from bottom or top).