How to Build Floor Water Fountains

Floor and similar vertical water fountains simulate waterfalls.

Floor water fountains are placed in the ground of your garden with the fountain flush with the earth. The water spray shoots up and falls back into the container. Some floor fountains direct water up so it can cascade down a thin vertical wall. Floor water fountains add a unique feature to your yard or garden and can usually be built in one afternoon with materials from a home improvement center.

Things You'll Need

• Shovel
• Measuring tape
• 6-inch paver stones
• Sand
• Hand tamper
• Gravel
• Damp rag
• Two bricks
• Submersible pump
• GFCI receptacle
• Landscaping fabric
• Scissors
• 9-gauge, 3/4-inch expanded metal mesh
• Bolt cutters
• Rocks
• Plants

Instructions

1. Choose a plastic bucket or tub without any holes or cracks. Add the thickness of the paving stones to the height of the bucket or tub. Dig a hole with a shovel that is 2 to 3 inches wider than the bucket or tub and 4 inches deeper than the combined height of bucket or tub and the thickness of the paver stones. Keep the edges and bottom of the hole straight and level.

2. Set the bucket into the hole and remove soil from the bottom of the hole with a shovel until the container sets level.

3. Remove the sod from around the hole in a 30-by-36-inch rectangle. Dig out the excavated area to 2 inches deeper than the thickness of the paver stones.

4. Spread layers of sand to the excavated area by wetting the sand then tamping down with a hand tamper and adding more layers of sand. Build the sand up until it is 2 inches thick.

5. Pour a 3-inch layer of gravel into the hole. Add 3 inches of sand over the gravel. Set the bucket into the hole on top of the sand. Add sand if needed so the bucket's rim is level with the excavated area.

6. Set the lid onto the bucket to prevent sand from getting into the bucket. Pour gravel, then sand, around the bucket's edges to secure it in place. Fill the edges around the bucket until the sand is up to the bucket's treads.

7. Take off the bucket's lid carefully so as not to disturb the sand around the bucket. Clean out any sand that may have gotten in the bucket with a damp cloth.

8. Set two stacked bricks into the bucket and set a submersible pump on top of them. Position the pump's cord so that it runs to a GFCI receptacle.

9. Cut a sheet of landscaping fabric with scissors to cover the excavated area and to extend 6 inches into the bucket from around the rim of the bucket.

10. Fill the bucket with water. Plug the pump into a GFCI receptacle and adjust the fountain according to the manufacture's instructions. Unplug the fountain once the fountain is adjusted.

11. Place a 30-by-36-inch piece of 9-gauge, 3/4-inch expanded metal mesh over the excavated area and the rim of the bucket. Push the fountain's head though the metal mesh or cut an opening with bolt cutters.

12. Set the 6-inch paver stones in rows on top of the metal mesh, leaving a gap for the fountain head to peak through.

13. Camouflage the pump's cord by setting rocks or planting plants along it. Plug the pump back into a GFCI receptacle.

Tips & Warnings

• Drain the water from the bucket and remove the pump for winter storage. Cover the fountain with a trap.

• Use caution when working with electricity and water.

• Only run the pump when it can be supervised.

• Check the water level of the bucket to make sure the pump is always covered in water. Do not run a pump that is not completely submerged.

References

• "The Complete Guide To Creative Landscapes"; Black & Decker; 2000
• "Gardening Essentials"; Barbara Pleasant; 1999