The plant bays I cast onto the shore of my fish pond are working reasonably well, however I am wondering if I should try to deepen them to give the plants more soil depth. Currently the soil will be 3" deep at the most and tapers off to nothing.
Below is a cross section through the pond's wall and shoreline.

and here are some in real life during their addition

and this is effectiwvly the current state of play

Do you think I would be nuts to chip away, down to liner, the cement floor inside each bay, except around the outer lip, then give the exposed liner a 1/4" thick coat of fresh cement?
The cement is to protect the liner and stop any invasive roots getting between the liner and the existing cement.

I suppose the altenative is to mound up the soil so that the soil surface slopes and is roughly parallel with the original cement.

I am not the best person to advise on pond plants etc you as you know sean, but would have though 3" not very deep for the plant roots

What plants are you growing or plant to grow?
The problem with low soil levels is the lack of water holding material meaning constant watering atleast daily, Im assuming that they arnt submerged. ie they are above waterlevel?

Goldy, 3" isnt a lot but thats roughly all there is depth for.
James, kaffir lily, loosestrife, skunk cabbage, etc, there are holes drilled through the pond side wall of each bay to let water in, so they are effectively bog or land 1" above the watertable

Then I recon they will just be a bit restricted on growth and should be fine water wise.

Just a little tip.
When using a pondliner it is essential not to puncture it.
To lift water to the surrounding plants plant a fast growing pond weed or watercress & drape it in the pond. The pond side will grow profusely and the osmosis will lift the water to the surrounding plants. Sometimes the weed disconnects from the flowerbed but just a handfull re-dug into the bed sets the waterflowing again.
Regards

Sean
Not all plants have the same planting depth. Decide on what you want then find out the depth required. Have you concidered planting bog plants around the top with the foliage hanging over the top of the water.
What ever you decide good luck

Gerry