Make a Stone Garden Fountain

The city where I live is called Rockville, founded in 1803, named after Rock Creek and the visual flow of the water over the rocks. Our yard has an abundance of all sizes rocks. When I saw the Stone, Cement and Concrete Instructable, I thought it would be fun to create something out of our rocks. After much thought, I decided to make an in-ground water fountain. We already had a round solar-activated fountain disc that we had used at one time in a bird bath. I looked around and dug in the yard for rocks in assorted shapes, colors and sizes. I checked around the house and in our shed for supplies to use for this project. I am happy to say that everything that I used came from our backyard and our house. Here are the steps of how I made it.

large rocks

small rocks

garden hose

large shovel

small shovel

roll of painter’s plastic

tape measure

12-inch flower pot (no holes on the bottom)

8-inch flower pot (holes in the bottom)

scissors

roll of outdoor mini lights

solar fountain disc

ground cover plants

Spread out assorted sizes of rocks. Using a garden hose, spray the rocks with water to clean them.

Choose a spot to place the fountain. We have a garden area of ferns that we had planted years ago along the side of our patio. I decided that would be the perfect location.

Roughly plan how large of an area the fountain will cover. Dig out any greenery.

Place large rocks in a circle to form the frame of the fountain.

Dig out a hole deep enough, large enough and straight enough so that the top of the large flower pot will be even with the ground and sit flat.

Check to see that the flower pot fits properly in the hole.The top edge of the pot should be even with the ground.

Add small rocks to cover the bottom of the large flower pot. Add the small flower pot over the rocks. Place a layer of small rocks in the bottom of the smaller pot. The rocks will keep both pots in place.

Unroll and measure 6 feet of painter’s plastic. Cut it from the roll.

Place the cut plastic over the hole and the rocks. Add the flower pot to the hole over the plastic. Press on the flower pot to form the plastic around it. Carefully remove a rock from underneath the plastic. Place it back into its spot over the plastic. Repeat with each rock until the plastic is completely covered with the circle of the rocks.

Make a base of small rocks to cover the plastic that shows between the large flower pot and the big rocks. Place more small rocks around the outer edge of the big rocks.

Cut off the excess plastic leaving 2-inches around the outer edge of the rock circle. Tuck and push the plastic under the small rocks so you cannot see any more plastic around the outer edge of the small rocks.

Begin unwinding and weaving the light string in and around the rocks.

Add and arrange more rocks all around, filling in any gaps. Weave in more of the light string as you put rocks in place.

The light string that we have has a battery operated power pack. It senses to make the lights come on when you stand near it. Since this fountain is located under our deck steps, we stapled the cord with the power pack under the steps.

Add water to the inner and outer flower pots until the water reaches the top of the larger pot. Place the solar fountain disc floating on top of the water in the smaller flower pot. The smaller flower pot keeps the fountain disc centered.

Find greenery that you would like to use around the outer edge of the fountain. I have had these ground cover plants for years and I decided to plant some of them around the outer edge of the fountain. The roots and plants are very curly so it might take a while for them to straighten up completely, but I think they already look pretty.

Here is how the fountain looks in the daylight.

We love how the fountain looks and sounds at night. The disc changes the color of the flowing water. I am so very happy with how the fountain turned out since I had never made anything like this before! We look forward to enjoying it for many years to come!