I'm wanting to create (or buy) some type of fountain to place near our front door.
I found a couple images that are similar to what I'm wanting...
Image #1 is a fairly simple urn (BTW, I borrowed these images from a mail-order place that seems to be defunct: http://gardencreationsonline.com/fountains.htm or I'd simply ask them for prices...)
Idea #2 is a little more ornate:
I need to be able to move this thing once it's in place because it's unfortunately VERY close to our septic waste line. So it can't be real stone, and it can't be permanently placed. Any ideas for lightweight substitutes? (Especially of the do-it-yourself variety?)
Terry-
Since you live near me, I know that your not too far from Huntsville, Alabama. I don't know if you've ever been to Bennett Nursery in Huntsville, but they have every kind of fountain imaginable and some that I believe would fit what you need. It is on the main street into Huntsville from Fayetteville, TN. It is almost beside the campus of the University of Alabama A&M. I promise it is worth going there just for the flowers-not to mention the fountains. They also have the most extensive accessories and fish for ponds and fountains I've ever seen. From Murfreesboro, it would take you about 2 hours to get there. Tell me if you go how you like it. It's one of my favorite places.
Terry they are both very pretty. I have looked at those cement things and they tend to be pretty expensive too. I did a little searching on the internet thinking I could buy a mold and do it myself or something. But then I saw the price of molds and thought that it was ridiculous. So now I have this idea of taking my wishing well that my DH built for me and turning it into a water feature. The well is large enough to perfectly hold one of those 33 gallon plastic blue round garbage can(Rubbermaid) and putting a bucket across the little roof part and make it look as though the bucket is pouring into the well. I don't think it would take a very big pump. I will see if I can take a picture. Joann
Here is the picture of my wishing well; it sets right in front of our woodshed and the open door leads to my DH's farm office where I visit with fellow DGers.
I have edited this to add that I mentioned a garbage can as the liner as that is inexpensive; my first thoughts were to use that pond liner that you can buy.Even if I had to do some cutting down of the height of can it would still be worth it.
This message was edited Jul 2, 2004 7:34 AM
Hmmmm. The wheels are turning ;o)
You would *THINK* that someone would have come up with a faux stone fountain (similar to the molded planters that look like terracotta or stone)
In fact, a book (gardening, of course) I was reading last night showed a glazed plastic (fiberglass, resin, I'm not sure...) "millstone" used for a bubber-type fountain. Now I'm wondering if similar materials have been used to create fountains (and if not, WHY not? It would be wonderful to get the look of a $$$$ heavy stone fountain for a fraction of the price and weight - it would allow you to set one up on a deck or balcony, move it to store it for the winter, or when you move to a different home....)
I have a water feature that AngelSong purchased online. It looks like a rock with a hole in the middle and has water bubbling up through the rock. The water runs down across the "rock" and onto a hexizon tray. This tray sits on a hexizon tub that you place in a hole or whatever. You can cover the tray with your own rocks. If you want to see a picture let me know.
If you've got a picture, I'd be delighted to take a peek...thanks!!!
Yep, I have one. I'll post this evening.
Lenjo, here's something you might be interested in, from a design standpoint: http://poolandgarden.com/wiswelfoun.html
Hi Terry -
I have a couple of fountains, both caste concrete and they will forever have to live where they were originally placed because of the weight. DH and I managed the smaller one on the front porch, but it took 4 gorillas from a local nursery to move the big fountain into the backyard. It was the first thing that went into the garden 5 years ago. It's never moving!
There are lots of resin fountains appearing here in CA, some at home centers are fairly reasonable in price ($130-250), they are all fairly small and not very tall. You didn't say how big you were thinking of going.
A couple of things I have learned with my fountains (ours run 24/7 all year).
The smaller the fountain the more work it is (I have an additional fountain that is a concrete bowl about 20" in diameter on a wrought iron stand, that I no longer run because it requires water/cleaning just about every other day): Evaporation rate is higher (we don't get any rain from Mar-Oct); Algae growth is higher in a shallow fountain; smaller pumps require cleaning more often.
For the larger fountains made from resin, the prices I have seen reflect about the same pricing as the concrete ones. They can be moved more easily, but still must be drained before moving them.
Depending on your situation, cleaning a big fountain can be a big job. I use the built in 1/2" drain on the large fountain in the back garden, but must remove the rest of the water and scrubbed out muck with a shop vac.
An added point of interest is that we occasionally have to redo the wiring to the pump because the pocket gophers love to dig around and loosen some of the connections which come from the power source for our pond. :-)
Try Googling with "fountain resin"......a lot of info and sites come up, some with better prices than other and some with free shipping.
http://www.google.com/search?q=fountain%20resin&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iw
I have also wondered how the resin ones will stand up over time. I have quite a few of the large containers made from the poly/resin mixtures and some are beginning to show their age and feel slightly dry/crispy/crumbly on the rims after 5 years in the heat and sun.
This is an image of the larger fountain taken last year (about 4' in diameter at the base):
Here's the one on the front porch:
Those fountains are so interesting-I especially like the one
on the front porch-I've never seen anything like it. You were so kind to share all that information with us-it's a great help to all .
Please ignore the green algae. :( But you get the idea.
Terry, thanks for the link, I think I am going to email those people and see if they would tell me the pump size and sell me a wooden pail.
Happenstance love your fountains especially that first one. I could easily found a place for something like that. I bet a person could almost make one of them using some pretty plant pots. Just have to figure out how to get the larger basin below. Now you have got my wheels turning.
Oooh, sledder - that is neat, and it's actually similar to what I originally thought of doing. But this is the front of our house, and I really need it to be tall enough to be a feature you can see as you trek down our 50' runway (I mean sidewalk!)
Happenstance, I now have fountain envy!!! Too bad the one I really REALLY covet is the one that it took 4 burly guys to move. Sigh....
I wonder....what if I found a largish glazed pot similar to what's in the top of Happenstance's fountain, and a plastic "pan" similar to Sledder's. Drill a hole in the bottom of the pot for the bubbler tube thingy, and fill the sunken pan with river rock to make it seem a pot is sitting on a bed of stones...
Hmmmm. It'd still be kinda heavy to move when we need to get to the septic line (an infrequent need, but when you need to, you don't want to have to fool around with moving a bunch of heavy stuff), and it can't get too heavy or it could cause damage to the line itself.
The wheels are still turning (always a dangerous thing!) thanks for sharing your pictures, y'all!!! (and keep 'em coming!!!)
Lenjo, I'm glad that was helpful - I hope you'll post pics when you get your wishing well all converted!
Sledder - I LIKE the algae! :)
How about using a galvanized water trough, round or rectangular, as the base. It could be faux painted with exterior paint to look like stone (one base coat, that is then merely rubbed with an antiquing gel or darker colored paint to give it some interest) or they have that quick instant gratification spray on stuff in a can! Then you could choose your pot to suit your taste in style, color, and the drilling a hole is an easy enough thing. Add a pump, figure out how to exit the base with the cord (ours goes out through a hole drilled in the round base of the big fountain). Site the pot at one end of the rectangle (or the center) ....... lots of possibilities here.
I'm not really that familiar with watering troughs for livestock, but I know they exist. Here's just one example, 1' tall x 4' diameter, that might work and holds 80 gallons.
http://www.rockinrwellservice.com/wildlife.htm
Another idea I've seen is to use a LARGE tractor tire as the round base, but you don't see that many big tractors around our neighborhood. :-)
Edited to add additional info:
The large fountain with the big pot and round base, actually consists of 3 parts. The round base, the urn/pot, and a concrete "doughnut" that is the same dimension plus a little to spare as the base of the urn/pot. The pump sits in the doughnut and the doughnut also raises the urn/pot to the same level as the rim of the round base.
This message was edited Jul 2, 2004 3:13 PM
I don't know how well the galvanized metal would hold up with water in it 24/7 for several months out of the year. But, I actually have a heavy duty black rubberized plastic trough (from the farm/tractor supply place), that I'm thinking of using. It's roughly 12" deep and 30" or so across (it's kind of oval-ish shaped.) Bought it last year for a lotus that didn't make it, so.....maybe this it's *real* purpose in life.
I'm thinking it needs some type of really heavy duty metal or plastic grate to set the pot on and scatter the smooth stones to hide it, so the pump can sit submerged beneath. Might have to make a trip to the home supply stores this weekend, in search of a small pump, a proper glazed pot, and all the other little items (caulk, tubing, etc...)
I was embarrased to post that picture but had promised I would. I've been under the weather for over a week and I'm behind in my "tending".
Terry, don't get too big of a pump. Better to start small and move up to bigger. Too big and water will be flying everywhere. And you'd be surprised how much water those little pumps will push. Also get something other than just grating for under your glazed pot. Those get extremely heavy with all the water in them.
Oh, and one more thing...think of what you want to use to kill the mosquito larvae. Dunks work great! Grab that while you're out cause they show up very quickly... unfortunately....
Good luck!
Happenstance, Can I ask where you got your large fountain? It looks almost like the one I saw on a gardening show a couple of weeks ago and have been trying to find something like it (my DH said "maybe a little smaller"). I also like the one in your front yard it seems so unique.
I have one of the large resign pots and find it is wearing out in quite a few places.
Sledder, good points all. Actually, I've got a small pump here that I bought for something else...I'll probably try it out first and if it's just not big enough, then I'll try something larger.
Skeeter dunks...adding to the list!!!
What a great thread!!! I keep wanting a pond but DH is so against it (2 yr old in the house, dogs, unfenced yard, all the work) so I've been considering a fountain.
Everyone has given me lots of ideas and I've bookmarked some of the sites you all posted.
idea--If you could come up with junk container in size and shape suitable did you think of using hypertufa to cover and give stone apperance? Iam going today to pick up old dress form and am going to try a statue for my one flower bed. dixie
I don't know how well the hypertufa would hold up with running water constantly pouring over it. That'd be my only concern ;o)
OK you've all inspired me! I just stuck a galvanized washtub in my front yard, spray painted rust colored and with an old pump I had. I'll get a pick up as soon as I can...
Oriole- what's with the dress form????????? Gotta see it!!!!!
Ok here's my effort...
Gotta get some mulch over those tubes!
Excellent job!! You have a nice water feature!! You can also add some water lettuce and even a fish or two for the mosquitos which will show up. Plus, every critter in the neighborhood will also show up for a nice drink.
Atta girl!!
Good point sled - IOW I've just provided every dog in the neighborhood a nice fresh drink! Guess they'll leave "presents" on my lawn to thank me, too!
I do have some water lettuce to get in there, and I want to add some more purple and chartreuse to the color scheme. Plus mulch of course...wouldn't want to actually have to WEED!
Delph-Given your great love of crepe myrtles, why don't you stick a few in there with your fountain? LOL I love it, and I know it sounds great-now I have to go and get my galvanized number 2 washtub out of the barn. It's just being wasted over there-taking up space! Now I know just where to put it.
Looks good Delph!! Wait til it fills in!
Crepe mytles to you LGW!!!!
Kathy -
Both of these fountains came from Navlet's, but I think that was just by chance. One from the Danville store and one from Pleasant Hill. Most upscale garden centers that carry fountains have catalogs of their reps full lines and can order most any style for you.
Navlet's:
http://www.navletsgardens.com/store_locations/store_locations.html
Flipped through the Ballard catalog that came today and thought this was a cute resin fountain for the money (pump and underground container included).
Ballard Designs
http://www.ballarddesigns.com/bd/pdp.jsp?prod_oid=277162&showarrow=y&search=y&cursor=0
There's a great fountain/statuary place right around the corner (east and north) of the Cow Palace.......for some reason the name escapes me right now. It's probably worth a sidetrip if you find yourself in the City.
Ooooo.....I like that Piazza Fountain on Ballard Designs page!!!
http://www.ballarddesigns.com/bd/pdp.jsp?prod_oid=277165&showarrow=y&category_key=-15259&cursor=19
Really nice fountains in there! Prices not to bad either. You know, Sam's actually had some fabulous fountains this past spring - came close to buying one but dh was with me to exercise budgetary restraint (hate when that happens) - next time, they were all gone, people snapped em up like that! Kind of same formal look as the Ballard ones but for half the price. Not cheap looking at all. Amazing. Might want to check there if you can wait till spring!
I'm thinking of looking later this fall when there might be some sales going on a the local places. I like to do that with pots, patio furniture cushions, BBQ grills, etc. I figure I can hang on to my old stuff and then get some good deals late and then I've got all new things for the next season!
Happenstance-thanks for the information. I didn't know about the Navlet's store and maybe we will go there later this month and check it out. I planted corn where a fountain will go in our yard as I couldn't find one I wanted and just couldn't leave a blank spot for long.
Some additional ideas on do it yourself fountains:
http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/extras/46ezwaterfeature.html
http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/tips/32tip9.html
http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/projects/g22water3.html
http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/tips/16tip5.html
And some interesting garden pedestals from found objects:
http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/projects/26ped.html
