Let's Create Water Fountains!

I just love the sound of running water, don’t you? It’s so peaceful & relaxing! Two of the neighbors who border the backyard have water features. When I am out in the yard, I can hear them running and really enjoy the sound. At one of our former homes, we built a pond with a little waterfall and I loved it! Our soil at this house is very, very rocky and the thought of trying to dig a hole large enough to build a pond prevents me from doing so. I may create an above ground one, but haven’t researched what that would take. In the meantime, I have created some small water fountains to enjoy!

My friend Cyn made an adorable water fountain for me many years ago. She used a galvanized bucket, drilled a hole for the pipe and added a faucet. Such a cute idea! I have had it outside year-round all this time. Can you believe that little baby still works?! We have a few exterior outlets on the house and for several years, this little fountain sat on the front patio close to one of those outlets. Recently, I moved it to the back deck where we can enjoy it better.

The areas were I wanted to place the new fountains are not near the outlets and I did not want to run electricity to where they would be installed. So, I did some research to see how I could have fountains where there are no outlets, that’s when I discovered solar fountains! What a great idea! But, would they actually work? The only way I would know was to buy some……

I ordered three solar fountains from Amazon and crossed my fingers that they would actually work. One of the fountains is a floating disc, one has a ‘large’ solar panel and the third one has a small solar panel. Below are the links to what I purchased if you’d like more information or want to order some for yourself.

Links to solar fountains

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to order through these links, it will be at no extra cost to you

When the order arrived, I created the three fountains and placed one by the house, one by the South fence and one by the shed. The fountain next to the house is made from 1/2 whisky barrel which is plastic so it makes a good base for holding water. I was pleased to see this little floating fountain work so well! If the weather is very cloudy, the fountain head doesn’t put out as much water as when it’s bright and sunny but still enough to enjoy.

solar fountain — **Whisky Barrel Fountain**

The South fence fountain is made with a metal bucket bought from Ace Hardware for $12.99 and an oil can that I’ve had for years. The stand is from Fred Meyer, a local store and was on sale for $19. I don’t remember where I found the vine but you can probably find something like it at Michaels.

The fountain by the shed is also made with a metal bucket from Ace Hardware. I filled it with rocks that I found while digging in our yard. To keep the fountain head at the top of the water line, I placed a small metal bucket in the center of the rocks. The pump has suction cups on the bottom so it stays in place.

Links to galvanized buckets

Here are videos of the 3 fountains in action!

Video of the South fence solar water fountain.

Video of fountain by the shed

Video of fountain by the house

I’ll be working in the backyard again this summer! There is an area under our large maple tree where the grass is not growing due to the tree roots. I’m not quite sure what I’ll do but I am leaning toward laying down small rock and creating a seating area.

What are your landscape projects this year? Scroll down and leave a comment and let me know!

Videos of the yard

Hubby took a panoramic video of the backyard….it’s a little shaky and I had to cut it into 4 sections, but it’ll give you an idea of the project results.