Summer and the gardening is easy
Almost August and my interest in quilting has been taken over by the beauty of my gardens. Many quilters I know also enjoy gardening, I'm no exception. My studio has many windows and from them I have a perfect view of several of our garden beds.
We have a pie shaped lot and behind the white fence is our vegetable garden. This large bed is in the middle of our yard and has many perennials and a little space in front for annuals. I love the giant rocks and enjoy watching the birds and bees.
This bed next to our patio is the one directly outside two of the windows in my studio.
It gets sun all morning and then in early afternoon it's shaded by the house. I'm still figuring out the plants and since our house is only two years old and the first year we had nothing in this bed other than the Limelight hydrangea it's still pretty young as gardens go. I was going for a lime and pink theme.
Most of you that know me, know my love for pink and have seen it in many of my quilts over the years. This one from 2014 appeared in American Patchwork & Quilting and is one of my favorites.
But getting back to something fun....
I've wanted a water feature somewhere in my garden for years. I was not up for a major pond project, nor did I want the maintenance they require so my idea was to create a waterfall pond that I could do on the cheap and also maintain with little effort for the winter.
Here is the mostly completed rock fountain waterfall. I say mostly completed as I need to add a few more rocks and I also want to add a riser to the fountain pipe so I can set the pump on the bottom of the garden pot and not on the rocks.
So here is what you need:
- Rocks - from lemon to grapefruit size, mine were free from a friend
- Submersible Water Fountain Pump - I got mine at Menards for $16
- Replacement BBQ grate - also at Menards $6
- Large Saucer type plastic garden pot - mine was 22" and found on Amazon for $22 I found this size worked best with the spray pattern of my fountain pump and matched the size of the BBQ grate. This pot has a rubber plug in the drain hole, if your pot does not come with this, you will need to fill with either 100% silicone caulk or plumbers putty. Personally I'd go with the caulk and use the GE brand
- Nearby electrical outlet and possibly outdoor timer (I'm using the one we have for Christmas lights)
- Shovel to dig the hole for the garden pot
- 4 Tent stakes to hold down BBQ grate - also found at Menards $4
Pick your spot and dig a hole to fit your pot. You want the lip of the pot even with your dirt or mulch. You can see here that the pump pipe that holds the different spray nozzles is not very tall and I had to set the pump on rocks in order to make it tall enough for my rock pile. I plan to get a taller pipe and eliminate the rocks as I want it to sit lower in the water to be able to run longer without having to refill due to evaporation or wind blowing the water coming out of the fountain away from the pot. The waterfall pump comes with several types of spray nozzles - they are inserted after you push the grate down over the pipe.Fill the pot with water and test the pump. Here you can see I have one of the nozzles attached. I like this spray pattern.
Next attach the four tent stakes with them facing away from the pot just as you would a tent rope. I just put them through the grate into the ground at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock. This keeps the grate from moving. You can barely see them - little silver tabs in the pic above.
Start adding your rocks. Put bigger uglier ones on the bottom and save the prettier ones and smaller ones for the top. I placed some beyond the grate as I wanted to completely cover all the mechanics. I just want it to look like a rock fountain.
I need to add a few more rocks but I'm thrilled with the result and it makes a nice soothing sound. You may have to add water daily or whenever you run or depending on the sun and wind but I think it's worth it for the cost and the effort. Come fall all I have to do is lift the grate, remove the pump, pick up the pot and dump the water and bring that inside. Come spring reverse the process. I'll be adding plants to this garden bed but I like to take it slow and see what is happy and go from there. There will be more hostas for sure.
Hope your summer is going well and let me know if you try this out in your garden. Enjoy!
Blessings,
Linda
