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Make Your Own Pebble Water Feature
by Mike
Clark
6, May 2001
A pebble pool is easy to make, to your own design.
It can be used indoors or out, and you have the satisfaction of
knowing you did it yourself! Here's how . . .
Installing a pond, or indeed any water feature,
in your garden, is quite a major undertaking. And if you have only
a small garden, it will take up quite a bit of room. In fact, maybe
you don't have a garden at all! But you can still have a water feature.
You can have it on the patio, or even indoors. And what's more,
you can make it yourself.
So without further ado, welcome to my DIY guide
to creating a pebble water feature in a pot!
Shopping List
- Terracotta pot, plain or glazed, at least 300mm
deep, any shape you fancy.
- A bag of washed cobbles.
- Bitumen paint.
- Car body filler.
- A piece of rigid wire mesh.
- An old plastic plant pot, 2 litre size.
- A small pond pump with interchangeable fountain
head.
Method
Plug the drainage hole in the pot with the car
body filler and allow to harden. Paint the inside of the pot with
the Bitumen paint to within a couple of inches of the top. Place
the plastic pot inside the Terracotta pot, centrally, and using
bricks or flat stones beneath it if needed, adjust its height until
the top is about 50mm below the rim of the Terracotta pot. Cut the
mesh to fit inside the top of the Terracotta pot, and rest it on
the top of the plastic pot.
Once you're satisfied with sizes and levels so
far, remove the mesh again and place the pump inside the plastic
pot. Adjust the height of the fountain head to be 25mm - 50mm above
the rim of the Terracotta pot. At this stage, it is a good idea
to do a dummy run. Fill the container with water, plug in the pump,
and stand well back!
Now adjust the volume and height of the fountain
(with the flow control on the pump), and play with the interchangeable
heads until you find a spray pattern you like. You'll probably find
a bubble variation is better than a spray, because the water needs
to fall back into the container, rather than spraying all over the
shop.
Found something you like? Right, if it is a biggish
pot, you will probably find it too heavy to move when filled, so
empty out at least some of the water. Place it wherever you want
it to be, then refill. Put the mesh in place, and thread the pump
cable past the edge of it and over the rim of the container. Then
carefully, and artistically, pile the cobbles on the mesh, building
them up around the fountain. Wedging cobbles against the fountain
stem will ensure it remains vertical.
Plug it in, switch it on, and do some fine tuning
if necessary.
Congratulations! You
have built your own portable pebble water feature!
These self contained water features can be used
in the conservatory, or on the patio. There is no surface water,
which makes them ideal if there are small children around. And in
the winter, you can dismantle and drain them, and store them away.
Obviously, you don't need a permanent electrical
installation. A nearby power socket can be used, with the 10m of
cable normally fitted to these pumps. Use a Circuit Breaker, though,
for safety, as you would with any outdoor electrical appliance.
A small pump is all that is required. Lotus do
a huge range of pumps, and the smallest in the series of pumps with
fountain heads will be ideal.
Of course, you can buy things like these ready
made. But think of the satisfaction of making your own!
©
Copyright 2001. All Rights Reserved.
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