How to Make a Multi Tier Tipping Water Feature

Water features are a calming addition to any garden or yard but are quite expensive when purchased at a store or garden center. Instead of purchasing a water feature, consider constructing your own. A multitiered feature with a tipping design creates a small waterfall effect. The required materials are inexpensive and available at a home center or garden supply store. After constructing the basic outer design, an internal fountain pump circulates the water throughout the feature.

Shovel
12-inch-diameter glazed ceramic pots with drainage holes
Fountain pump
Brick
Rubber band
1/2-inch-diameter tubing
Scissors
Tape measure
Hardware mesh
Tin snips
Pliers
River rocks
Plumber’s putty
Water
Aquatic plants (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  Look around the yard and identify a location for the water feature that is close to an outdoor electrical outlet to supply power to the pump.
- 2
  Dig a hole in the ground that is 2 inches deep and the wide enough to accommodate a 12-inch-diameter pot, or larger if desired. Fill in the back of the hole to create a slope and set the pot into the hole so it leans forward at a 45-degree angle.
- 3
  Dig another hole in front of the pot that is approximately 6 inches deep, or low enough that the top rim rest half way down the first pot. Make the bottom of this hole flat instead of slanted and set another 12-inch or larger pot inside it.
- 4
  Open a fountain pump and lay the main pump housing on a brick. Wrap a rubber band around it to secure it to the brick and place the brick inside the bottom pot.
- 5
  Cut off 8 feet of 1/2-inch-diameter tubing and push one end of the tubing over the outlet hole of the pump.
- 6
  Measure the diameter of the bottom pot and cut out a square of hardware mesh that will overlap the top of the pot by 1/2 inch. Cut the mesh using tin snips. Place the hardware mesh on top of the pot and bend the edges down using pliers.
- 7
  Push the tubing up through one of the holes in the mesh and up through the bottom of the top pot. Lay medium- to large-sized river rocks on top of the mesh to completely disguise it.
- 8
  Press plumber’s putty inside the bottom of the top pot to create a watertight seal around the tubing. Wait until the putty dries completely.
- 9
  Fill the top pot completely with water and then pour additional water into the lower pot through the cracks in the stones. Plug the pump’s cord into the outdoor electrical outlet to start the water circulation.
- 10
  Decorate the top pot in the water feature by filing it with additional stones or by planting aquatic plants in it.

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