How to Make Your Own Garden Fountain

An urn can be used as a fountain.

When you think of back-yard fountains, perhaps you picture elaborate concrete statues spitting water. You also may believe installing a fountain is way too difficult and costly. But you can create a back-yard fountain with a water pump and materials that may be lying around your house. One example is an urn fountain. You can use a ceramic urn or any other kind of object that holds water. Water will spill over the side of the vessel and down to an underground basin, where the water pump will recycle it.

Things You'll Need

• Urn or other water-holding vessel
• Drill
• Rubber fountain plug
• Shovel
• Plastic basin
• Metal screening
• Metal cutting shears
• Submersible water pump
• Garden rocks

Instructions

1. Decide on a container for your fountain. This container will be the base for your fountain and will hold all of the water. One idea is to use a decorative urn. If the container does not have a drainage hole, drill a hole in the bottom. The hole needs to be large enough to accommodate a water tube that is approximately 2 inches in diameter.

2. Dig a hole in the location where you want your fountain. The hole must be deep enough and wide enough for the plastic basin. The basin should be a bit wider than your fountain so that it can capture the water that trickles off the sides of the fountain. Dig the hole and place the basin inside. Make sure that that the top of the basin is level with the soil line.

3. Fit a piece of metal screening over the top of the basin. The metal screening can be a bit wider than the top of the basin. Next, cut a hole in the center of the screen. Use a pair of cutting shears and cut a hole in the screen that will be wide enough for the water pump's water tube and power cord.

4. Put the water pump in the bottom of the basin. Thread the power cord and water tube from the pump through the hole in the screen. Then place the screen on top of the basin.

5. Add a rubber fountain plug to the hole in the bottom of the fountain base. This plug must create a seal so that water will not leak. Push the water tube through the hole in the plug into the fountain base. Then place the base on the metal screen. Drag the power cord to a nearby electrical outlet. You can hide the power cord by burying it an inch below the ground or by snaking it behind plants and rocks.

6. Fill the receptacle and the underground basin to the top with water. Hide the exposed metal screening by placing garden rocks and colored stones on top of it.

7. Plug in the power cord to a GFCI outlet (see warnings). If you have set up the fountain correctly, water should start pouring out over the sides of the urn. The water will then fall on to the rocks below where it will seep back into the underground basin. The pump in the basin will continue to recycle the water through the urn.

Tips & Warnings

• When purchasing your water pump, find a pump that is designed for moving small amounts of water. There are larger pumps, but they are intended for ponds and larger backyard projects.

• The rubber fountain plugs can be purchased from most hardware stores. The plugs will already have a hole for the water tube. If you use one of these plugs, you don't need to caulk the hole in the bottom of the fountain base.

• To power your fountain, make sure that you are plugging the water pump into a GFCI outlet, also known as a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt outlet. If there is a short in the pump, the GFCI will cut the electricity to the line, which will eliminate the possibility of electrocution.

References

• "Garden Pools, Fountains & Waterfalls"; Scott Atkinson; Sunset Books; 2007
• "Water Features for Small Gardens"; Ethne Clark; 1998
• Nelson Water Gardens