What's better than a pretty flower container for the garden? A pretty flower container with a soothing water fountain feature!
Did I mention I repurposed some dreamy vintage enamelware bowls to make it?
In this article, I’ll show you how I used an inexpensive solar-powered fountain to create a lovely and refreshing garden centerpiece. Get ready to add some eco-friendly cottage charm to your garden with this fun and easy DIY project!
Table Of Contents
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How To Use A Mini Solar Powered Fountain To Make A Fountain Planter
Supplies
- Solar Powered Fountain Kit (see below for tips for purchasing one)
- Two bowls of different sizes (my planter bowl was 16" wide x 5 ½" deep and my fountain bowl was 12" wide by 5" deep)
- Potting Soil
- Sun-loving plants
- Drill and drill bits (if drainage holes are needed)
About The Fountain
These types of fountains can easily be found on Amazon. Believe me, there are thousands of them. There are two main types of them though - with a backup battery and without a backup battery.
Solar Powered Fountain Pump With No Backup Power
This is the solar-powered fountain pump I purchased. It is specifically made to work in bright sunlight ONLY. The height of the water shooting out of it is greatly diminished when it gets cloudy (see my video below) and will not work at all when it gets dark. So it's really made to be put in a full sun area during the daytime.
Pro: It is less expensive than the battery-powered option. Plus not having it run at night when no one but the skunks and groundhogs are around isn't a horrible idea.
Con: It pretty dramatically shuts down when it is not in a bright sunny location. Or if the sky becomes overcast. Or your dog walks in front of it and her shadow covers it.
Here's my video on how the battery-less version reacts to the sun vs some shade:
Solar Powered Water Fountain Pump With Battery Backup
There is another type of solar-powered fountain that has a battery backup that will keep working on a cloudy day for a bit. The battery life is 4-6 hours, so it's not something that you could put on your covered back porch and expect it to consistently run, but if you don't want to be ruled by the sun then you might want to get this one.
Pro: This will at least run for a bit on an overcast day. And when the dog walks in front of it.
Con: Costs about $10 more than the battery-less variety.
About The Bowls
I am repurposing these old enamelware bowls from my "buy it and you'll find something to do with it eventually" stash. They have a distinctively cottage or farmhouse look.
I commonly run across these porcelain enamelware bowls when I'm out thrifting and estate sale shopping. Although not originally used for gardening, they're very sturdy and the occasional dings and rust spots just add to their charm.
The bottom bowl will be the planter section, which measures 16" wide x 5 ½" deep.
The smaller bowl is where the fountain will be and measures 12" wide by 5" deep.
Whatever bowls you use you will want the top bowl to be at least 12" wide to hold the fountain. And the bottom bowl should be 4-6" wider than the top to accommodate for the flowers and to catch any overspray from the fountain.
Other than that, use whatever bowls you want. Or of course, you could use a large diameter planter in place of the bottom bowl.
If you're interested in the history and collecting of vintage enamelware, Kelly from My Southful Home covers that nicely in her Enamelware Collector's Guide article.
Instructions
If your bottom bowl does not have drainage holes you will need to drill or punch some.
Add potting soil to the bottom bowl. I filled mine to within a few inches of the top.
Place your top bowl on top of the soil and press in slightly to make an indentation. You don't want to bury this top bowl in the soil, just make it sit flat.
Plant your flowers around the perimeter of the bottom bowl.
The flowers I chose were Cora® XDR Cascade Trailing Vinca. BTW, this is a cascading variety of vinca that will fill out nicely and will grow down the sides of the bowl. It also LOVES the sun!
Best of all it is not as susceptible to the Phytophthora blight that your typical vinca can get. If you've ever planted vinca and the plants just wither up and die all of a sudden, it's normally the blight that has gotten to them.
Add water to your top bowl. I filled it to within 2" of the top rim.
Add your solar fountain, stand back and enjoy!
Bonus: Since the water fountain bowl is just sitting on top of the planter section you can easily remove it to clean the bowl if it gets leaves in it or the chipmunks decide to use it as a bathtub.
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