Homemade Container Gardens

Hi i am new to the water garden forum and I am trying to make a container water garden, but need ideas how to start; specially what type of pump to use. Anyone has made one at home?

Thanks :~]

You can make a water garden out of just about any container if you line it with a waterproof liner. Places like Lowes and Home Depot have the actual water garden liner. I have used the rubber tubs meant to feed or water livestock and then you do not have to use a liner. As far as the pump is concerned, it depends on what you want to use it for. Do you want a waterfall feature or just a fountain to oxygenate the water? Do you plan on having fish or just plants? How big of a pool are you considering? You can obtain a good water garden pump from most garden centers and also from Lowes and Home depot. Just be sure to get one meant for that purpose. Some pumps or not meant to run 24/7 like a water garden pump does. Whatever you decide to do you will just love your new water feature. But be aware they can become quite addictive...........

Here is a simple and fairly inexpensive water garden in container. Buy one of the beverage tubs on a stand. I found one at Walmart year before last for $25 and put helvola in it. Helvola is a very small lily but blooms profusely. Then you'll be hooked.

Thanks madrusty!
Is funny that you wrote, just today i saw one of those half barrel containers. It was made from some sort of fiber glass material, it was very lightweight. I hesitated to buy it. I am still shopping around for this container, but already have the seeds for some lotus and a small pump. But your idea looks pretty good to me. Is your container one of those galvanized ones?
~Soris

Yes, it is the galvanized steel. They're great containers. I also use the large watering trough ones (available at Tractor Supply). I have 2 of those in the front yard for the larger lilies, iris and corkscrew rushKim

I have made one before out of a large crock. But because of the lower quanity of water in the container gardens, you may want to not keep it in direct sun all day.

I love the photo of the galvanized tub on a stand...great job, Madrusty.

I'm putting together a container water garden in a large fiberglass pot I got at Sam's. It won't have any pump and I'll be relying on the mosquito dunks to control those critters. I've bought a few plants to put in it and have a question about how to plant them. This will be a warm season container that I'll dismantle in the fall since I don't think it will overwinter here in NW IN. (I'm currently planning on putting the plants in the little greenhouse for the winter.) I purchased the plants in pots and was wondering if I can just set the pots inside the container and cover the pots with gravel.
Secondly, I have city water. Should I start by filling the container with water and letting it sit for a couple of days for the chemical additives to dissipate?
Thirdly, should I fertilize each pot with a fertilizer pellet thing?
Lastly, is there a reference guide for planting depth in a container water garden? I have variegated sweet flag, a black elephant ear and a dwarf papyrus.
I'm totally new to water gardening and this was a spontaneous project so I'm in unknown territory. I appreciate any advise that you can offer.
Many thanks.

Hi CindyM, i am also fairly new. But I am happy to say that my water garden is now up and running. Although the only plants I have so far are a water lettuce and some parrot's feather so I am not too familiar with how to plant them.
I did wait a couple of days for the chlorine in the water to evaporate before putting my goldfish and the plants.

Anyway you do it, I am sure you will love it and won't be able to stop.

Cindy, if you are not planning on putting any fish in you can plant your pot right away. If you do add fish wait a few days for the chlorine to dissapate.

I've had fountains in large pots before but this year I made actually a mini pond in a container kind of by accident. I am in the process of building a pond and because it is going slower then planned I wanted to buy a few fish and plants for a mini-pond to practice on and to jump start the big pond.

I bought a 20 gallon blue plastic planter that looks ceramic but isn't for about $25 at Menards. I had an old fountain pump, 130 gph with a bubbler head and extender. Over that I put my filter media bag that is full of bio balls so I could seed the material for my big pond. I bought 4 tiny feeder fish for like 50 cents each, a few floating plants and 2 water lilly starts. I also bought a pond thermometer and some water test strips.

It could probably be prettier but at this point is more for functional purposes. The water lillies are growing very fast thankfully so they should be nice and large by the time I put them in the big pond. I've lost 2 fish because I bought feeder fish and two were defective. The other 2 look good and strong, so 50% survival for feeders isn't bad. I have to do daily water changes for the fish to keep the nitrates down since I don't have a real filter on the thing.

My son and I have been having fun with our little pond but hopefully the big one will be ready this weekend!

Thanks for the info! I think I'll take the plunge (sorry - too obvious) this weekend and get it put together. I'm not sure if the plants will be patient for much longer. This all came about because I have this huge pot with nothing to plant in it. We've always talked about building a pond with a naturalized waterfall (on a natural slope) and even have the site for it but have never gotten around to it. This little project may be the start of something bigger.
Thanks again.

Evesta, do you have a lot of nitrates occurring naturally in your water? I have a small (about 20 gallon) pot with a couple of feeder fish and I have never changed the water. It is already hot here and we haven't had any rain so I add water about once a week. Fish and plants seem happy. I usually run a small filter for about a week in the early spring, as the weather warms, and that helps with the algae blooms but then the pot is on it's own. No need for dunks as the fish take care of all the skeeters.

I don't think so but I'm not sure. Nitrates only tested high one day after I first started. I just do the water changes to stay ahead of any problems. The fish seem to like it and are growing like mad.

I bought a couple larger fish yesterday and started another larger bucket too. Two sarassas and a shubunkin. They will definately need daily water changes. The sarassas are crazy but the shubunkin just swims around leisurely, I think I'm going to like her best:)

I made a container pond out of an old iron cook pot.

...

Crimsontsavo -
I saw your container in another thread. It looks nice and weathered. How old is it? Do you have to be concerned with rust in the water since the cook pot is iron?
I planted up my container on Saturday. It's still looking a bit sad. I'm hoping that some prolonged warmer weather will perk up the plants. After two beautiful days in the upper 70's, it's supposed to only reach a high in the mid-50's tomorrow with two nights in the low 40's. My impulse buy 2 weeks ago of a water lettuce plant didn't survive until I was ready to plant. I'll have to scout out a new one. Lowe's had water plants but no water lettuce.

Well, I don't have fish in it so i don't worry about the rust. Hmm. I don't know how old it is, hillis daddy had it and it was old when he bought it. There's no telling really. lol it's probably as old as my wagon wheels he gave me lol. Maybe they came off the same wagon train? LOL

Here is one I made with a pot, a pump, and a small water feature.

omg that is too cute.

rylaff -
That's a great looking garden! Is that horse tail growing in there? If so, DH was tempted by a plant but I wasn't too sure about it with the other plants I put in there. Did I read somewhere that horse tail can be invasive? Just asking for my own edification.

Yes, it can be. But I have nver had any problem containing it in the upper part of my pond or in this water feature. In this water feature, it is in a small pot with no dirt. In the upper part of my pond, it is in a pot with dirt. I have some in my garden and it is invasive.

rylaff, do you feed your horsetail?

By the way, here's a great article on container water gardening. http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h103watergarden.html

Nope, dont feed it. Dont do anything.