Vanishing Waterfalls Easy DIY Planter Pot Fountain

this city is patch of landscaping near my driveway needs some love I didn't know what I could do until I was inspired the other day while at home they had a great selection of poly resin planters that gave me an idea why not turn this eyesore into a fountain I knew I had nearly everything else I needed from other projects so really I just had to get these they look like Stone and resist impact UV rays and weather in general making them perfect for this application plus I've used this brand before with a low-tech guppy Pond and had good experience then so I bought them and got to work cleaning out the canvas I pulled out the mulch and leaves and dug up various weeds to remove their root systems entirely I was focused on my work and almost didn't notice that I had a friend this millipede I didn't want to hurt it so I moved it to a safe place in the woods I continued removing everything including these plants I put them aside for future projects I can get to work building now that I have a blank slate I measured the space to determine how to proceed I decided to dig a four by four foot hole that I marked out with strings I excavated the surface within the guide to start then I removed the string and continued I never enjoyed digging but I have to say that this is some of the best soil I've dealt with yet typically I'm stuck going through clay and rocks which is a nightmare anyway I had to be mindful of the slow power moving dirt the hole had to be flat on the bottom meaning that I had to dig more on the high end I tamped it down to stabilize it all I went down roughly 20 inches at the lowest point giving me a reservoir of approximately 200 gallons I'll treat this hole more or less like a pond I added geotextile fabric first it's left over from the latest Pond build as with other projects it will protect the liner this on the other hand is a Remnant from when I built the original DIY pond it's been collecting dust since 2019 so it's cool to find use it again I left it loose at the bottom so it doesn't get pinched I also placed rocks along the edges to keep it stable even though I did my best to level it out I know inconsistencies are present I planned for this though I filled the bottom with a layer of pea Pebbles which will allow me to level things out more easily getting a proper foundation will be especially important for the way I'm designing this I'm using pavers to create a flat and stable surface on the bottom to work off of and if it's not level these won't work I put geotextile around the edges to protect the liner from them here you'll see that as I added the subsequent slabs I ensured it was level and adjusted the gravel base as needed it took a while to get it all together but I had to get this right otherwise the whole thing could literally fall down as I explained I'll use these three Planters to create a fountain I could do that in this formation but it would look more Dynamic on top of stones I can't go directly into the Basin though the cheapest way I could devise adding more height was with cinder blocks they're inexpensive I already had some and they're strong to get a direction to follow I put the Planters in this gave me a good idea of where to begin with the big planter I placed two blocks on the bottom which I spaced out to account for tubing I put an additional set on these then I continued adding blocks until I filled the majority of the hole I was mindful of water flow as I did that's why the blocks on the bottom face sideways and are connected however the top blocks face up which will allow the water to enter the Basin more easily it might seem excessive but this is a strong and cost effective option you'll see that I can walk on them safely which is excellent here you can get a better view of how I left room for a pump and the orientation of the blocks I need a solution for the top though I came up with something on the Fly that ended up working well I have a bundle of pressure treated spindles here that I used to make a frame around the Basin I screwed them together in a way that accounts for this slope it's not pretty by any means but it doesn't need to be I pulled the excess liner and fabric up around the frame and secured it to the top with stainless steel staples this will keep soil from entering the Basin which wouldn't be ideal the main purpose of this Frame though was to account for galvanized mesh which will create a permeable barrier above the Basin I rolled it out over the top and stapled it in place as I did I made sure the fit was loose and conformed to the opening again it's not pretty but you won't see any of this shortly it's just functional let's go back to the Planters the largest one will rest here right above the cinder block Gap I cut out a hole in the center to account for the pumps tubing then I roughly situated the others on the side I thought something like this would look cool but we need more height I brought over the stones and placed them around the opening to start I adjusted them until the formation supported the planter I thought to myself Stones alone won't cut it I also wanted to include Driftwood this branch is a leftover that I never used from the 350 gallon paludarium it's very dense which will make it perfect for this application I adjusted everything to account for it and one of the cool features about adding this is that I was able to Nest the smaller planter on it I just had to put another Stone on the side and it was good to go with the scape coming together I could address the plumbing I drilled a hole in the big one which I outfitted with a bulkhead I connected a coupling to the exterior and interior of this I put one on a miscellaneous Barbed fitting as well I secured a PVC pipe to the inside coupling to create a stand pipe so water can't drain below this point I put one on the outside too but it will serve a different purpose I also had to make spillways on each container I just drilled a hole near the top to create a divot after that I deburred the edges and cut the sides straight here's the result from the front and the inside then I put the pots back and level them for ideal performance they should be level from left to right but tilted toward the front to encourage the spillover effect they're stable because of how I built up the stones and wood underneath but it would be best to take an additional step I added smaller stones to fill in the spaces between the various contact points I then applied expanding foam this will further ensure everything stays in place I need to hide the phone though and what better for that than Moss I pressed it directly into the wet foam to keep it from expanding it doesn't harm the Moss and actually gives it a jump start to grow on the surface the foam made everything more stable but it could look better I added smaller Stones throughout to blend things more effectively then I added the final planter I leveled it like the others and added different planter pots in the bottom to create void space this allowed me to minimize the amount of River Rocks I filled it with I'm adding these to stabilize the Planters further and I think they'll look better than just water I used this old bucket to create void space in the large one I removed the handle and drilled a hole in the bottom this allowed it to fit perfectly around the stand pipe I filled it and the other one with stones as well now I could finally do a test run well sort of I sprayed things off and put the hose in the smaller container I just wanted to see if the spillover effect would work because at this point it was all in theory luckily it did it will be more forceful with the actual pump but this gave me the confidence to proceed I let it run like this until the Basin was full as it filled I secured the mesh to the wood more effectively with stainless steel screws and washers I'm sure the Staples would work but these will add more strength with all of that addressed I can finally make this look nice I placed a few flat Stones around the edges to start then I added the larger plants I split a few hostas from elsewhere in my yard and put them along the back Edge I also added ferns here which I pulled from my yard as well both will Thrive here and complement the fountain well I placed other plants in appropriate locations you'll see that I mainly selected creeping plants like sedums even though it would likely look better I don't want anything here that would get excessively tall because I wanted to remain manageable since it's near the house hiding the mesh is simple I just poured on small River Rocks these added much needed variation and will allow water to pass through I blended these with other Stones as well to ensure the transition remained clean I poured pea Pebbles around the edges of the entire thing in addition to that I placed Geotech style under the final Spillway this will Wick up water for the part we've all been waiting for the Moss I added a carpet in this area that truly brought the look full circle I gave it and everything else a spray down to remove debris the only area I left exposed is where the pump will go I cut out a flap to account for the Aldo osw waterfall pump that was connected to the Overflow of my DIY Pond I secured tubing to it with the hose clamp I did the same to the barbed fitting from earlier that brings us back to the tube I attached to the bottom of the planter I designed it like this so I could connect the tubes together with a pipe Union this is easier to do in such a small space than screwing something together which will make maintenance easier as well after dropping the pump into the Vault I concealed it with various Stones I also got the waterfalls running and completed the look with a few impatience [Applause] foreign [Applause] try to share on this channel is how you can turn everyday objects like planter pots into a unique and functional piece of art I also love seeing the transformation I began with the crummy looking planter bed and now I have a unique Fountain I know a Justin tweak things with it over time and I'm sure there are ways I could have made it more efficiently but I did it on a whim and I primarily fit random components together just to recap here's how it works the pump sends water into the large container which Cascades down and out into the Rock bed the water is somewhat polished as it enters the reservoir which is then cycled through in a continuous loop although I will have to do occasional water changes it should be a pretty hands-off piece this spot doesn't receive much direct light so I don't think algae will be an issue either all in all though I'm really pleased with how all of the pieces came together and I'm so excited to share it with you I'm also glad that I was able to do another outdoor project but this time at my place I have more in the works for the rest of the yard as well but I'll save that for another time until then I'll enjoy the sights and sounds of DIY water feature

Channel: SerpaDesign

Views: 813,378

Keywords: fountain, pondless waterfall, waterfeature, water garden, planter, easy, DIY, do it yourself

Id: zVN_V_QpiEc

Length: 11min 21sec (681 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 17 2023