When I saw ideas for an easy DIY garden water feature popping up all over my social media feeds, I immediately wanted to give one a go. My husband has been going on about creating some kind of water feature in our garden for ages because he finds the sound of running water relaxing. However, his plans were much grander than a quick hack and involved complicated landscaping and expensive water pumps.
To get something done quicker (and for a lot less money), I thought I'd give this super straightforward DIY mini pond a go, even if we end up replacing it with something bigger in the long term.
What you'll need
- Container – a planter (I used a ceramic bowl planter like this one from Crocus) or steel fire pit like this one is ideal
- Pebbles and cobbles
- Pond plants – I used Salvinia Natans floating plants from Amazon
- Solar water fountain like this one from Amazon
How to make your own DIY garden water feature
It took me all of five minutes to make this budget-friendly DIY garden water feature. First up, you need a container. I picked up a glazed bowl planter in a sale at my local garden centre (mine has a 35cm diameter), but you can find very similar at Crocus or B&Q. I've also seen people use steel fire pit bowls like this one from Amazon and I think that's a great option for a more contemporary look.
I blocked up the drainage hole in my planter, and then filled it about two-thirds full with pebbles. I placed larger cobbles around the rim of the planter, leaving a pool of deeper water in the centre.
To make it look a little more like a pond I went to Amazon for some hardy floating pond plants which I scattered on top of the water.
The final step was adding the under £10 Amazon solar fountain I'd seen all over my social feeds. It didn't do anything straight away, so I was worried I'd bought a dud, but it just needed a little time for the sun to power the pump and then away it went!
I also ended up popping the bowl onto a plant caddy on castors from Amazon so that I can easily wheel it around as the sun moves.
The solar water fountain pump came with four different nozzles so that I could choose the type of spray pattern I liked, and this took a little bit of trial and error to get right. I initially opted for an upwards spray, but when the fountain was in full sun, this was way too powerful, and the spray shot the water up so high it started to empty the mini pond!
After some experimenting, I decided to do away with the nozzle altogether. Without it, the fountain just bubbles on the surface of the water, which creates a lovely, relaxing sound and feels a bit calmer on my patio.
My DIY garden water feature with its mini fountain may be small (my teenage twins laugh at it every time they come outside!), but it adds interest to my patio, creates a zen-like background noise of bubbling water, and so far we've spotted birds using it as a bird bath, and a dragonfly has visited it a couple of times, too so it's doing a great job so far at encouraging wildlife in the garden.
One thing I would say is that although the solar-powered fountain is great in full sun, it doesn't run continuously when it's in shade. I'm also not a huge fan of the look of the black disc, and I think I may prefer one more like this fountain with a separate solar panel from Amazon . It's a bit more expensive, but I could locate the panel somewhere that gets more consistent sun, and the fountain itself is a bit neater and more hidden.
Solar water feature options
This is the exact solar water fountain that I have – perfect for small spaces and for getting started with water features.
This fountain can be retrofitted onto existing water features, has the option of lights and stores power for up to 5 hours of use without sun.
Get everything you need to create a small pond with a solar water feature in one with this kit - it includes a planting area, too.
It might not be the height of garden design, but it has added a fun feature with not much effort at all and makes me smile when I see it. Would you be up for giving this hack a go?
