How to Use a 5-Gallon Bucket to Make a Fountain With a Ceramic Pot

Ceramic planters can make decorative fountains.

Decorative fountains add charm and whimsy to your garden, flower beds and yard. You can make a decorative fountain with something as common as a 5-gallon bucket, then add a colorful ceramic pot as the focal point. Place the ceramic pot fountain anywhere on your landscape that you can dig a 5-gallon-bucket-sized hole. The bucket disappears from sight and the ceramic pot appears to continuously pour water into the ground.

Things You'll Need

• 5-gallon bucket
• Shovel
• Submersible fountain pump
• Pavers
• Waterproof construction adhesive
• Ceramic pot
• Drill
• 1/2-inch diameter ceramic drill bit
• Plastic tubing
• Scissors
• Chicken wire
• Wire cutters
• Decorative moss

Instructions

1. Dig a hole in the ground 1 inch deeper than the height of the 5 gallon bucket and as wide as the widest part of the bucket.

2. Place a submersible fountain pump inside the bucket. Feed the power cord over the side of the bucket to rest on top of the ground.

3. Dig a 2- to 3-inch-deep trench from the buried bucket to the power source. Bury the power cord in the trench. Do not plug in the pump yet.

4. Arrange a section of pavers three rows wide and three rows deep along one edge of the buried 5-gallon bucket. Stack another layer of pavers on top of the first, using waterproof construction adhesive to join the pavers securely. Stack two more layers of pavers, one at a time, to build the height of the paver platform. The platform will elevate the ceramic pot over the 5-gallon bucket. Adjust the number of layers to make the platform higher or lower.

5. Drill a 1/2-inch hole on the underside of the ceramic pot using a ceramic drill bit. Rest the ceramic pot on its side on top of the paver platform. Position the mouth of the ceramic pot over the 5-gallon bucket. Glue the pot to the paver platform using waterproof construction adhesive.

6. Cut a length of flexible plastic tubing to fit from the spout on the submersible fountain pump to the drilled opening on the base of the ceramic pot, plus 6 inches. Attach one end of the flexible plastic tube to the spout on the fountain. Drape the other end over the side of the bucket to rest on the ground.

7. Cut a section of chicken wire equal to the width of the top of the 5-gallon bucket plus twice the height. Shape the chicken wire into an inverted U to fit inside the bucket. Make the section that fits across the top of the bucket flat. Fit the wire into the bucket, feeding the plastic tubing through one of the holes in the wire. Fill the bucket with water.

8. Feed the end of the flexible plastic tube inside the drilled opening on the ceramic pot. Cover the chicken wire on top of the 5-gallon bucket loosely with decorative moss.

9. Fill the ceramic pot with water until the water begins to spill from the mouth of the pot. Plug in the fountain pump. Rearrange the decorative moss as needed if it impedes the water from the ceramic pot from flowing back into the 5-gallon bucket.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear eye protection when drilling.

References

• Graystone Creations: Frequently Asked Questions about Fountain Pumps