How To Make A DIY Bubble Fountain Garden Water Feature (in An Afternoon & On A Budget!)

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by Ed

We’ve been looking to add a garden water feature to our yard for well over a year now.

We’ve kicked a few ideas around in that time. I liked ponds, for example. Robin pointed out that we have a dog who would spend all his time in said pond and we would never have a dry pet again.

I felt this was a good point.

We settled on a standalone bubble fountain water feature. We decided to build it ourselves because:

a) we like building things ourselves and

b) most store-bought water features look exactly like store-bought water features and cost a lot more than the individual parts that go into them. It’s a poorly kept secret that we’re a bit frugal.

We started planning.

Concept 1 – A Water Wall.

Sounds amazing right? It was going to be made with some glass shower doors we found at a Re-Store.

That plan was rejected after basically a year of thinking on it because I still couldn’t come up with a practical way to support the glass and have water run down it and have it not look hideous.

Concept 2 is what this post is about: A Simple Bubble Fountain Made with Pots.

There was a spot in near our deck silently begging for a water feature. It would be much more doable.

How to Make a DIY Bubble Fountain Garden Water Feature

Bubble Fountain Materials:

2 pots (one large, one smaller) – any material, but strong enough to hold water and rocks. Ours is glazed terra-cotta. More expensive than plastic, but still cheaper than a ready-made fountain.
1 fountain pump
- This one would work very well and gets great reviews.
- It should have enough vertical lift to pump water taller than your stacked pots (you can find this information in the specs of most fountain/pond pump kits)

UPDATE FOR 2023: You can now buy Solar Pumps with enough power and lift for a fountain – this solar pump would do the job and gets good reviews. (Note: solar pumps are much more expensive.)

1 plastic pail (I used an old wine kit bucket, but anything you don’t mind drilling holes in will do)
Automotive fibreglass material (This is what I used.)
Rocks (Some decorative and some large ones that take up a lot of space and are cheap/free)
1 piece of hose that fits the outlet on your fountain pump (most have adapters and can use garden hose, plumbing ‘PEX’ pipe or anything in between that you might already have)
Garden hose washers or similar waterproof item to fill gaps

NEW! ⇒ If a Video Tutorial is more your style scroll down – we’ve got a video there for you!

Assemble Bubble Fountain as below.

I have added some notes and thoughts in the images as appropriate.

plans for bubble fountain — I’m clearly a fine, fine artist.

My favourite parts are the swiss cheese pail and the potato rocks…😂

Step 1 – Seal the Pump into the Bottom Pot

I started by opening one of the drain holes enough for the plug to pass through and feeding most of the cord through. I kept enough on the pump side so we could position it as needed.

Next, using some heavy duty tape, I created some temporary patches over all the drain holes. These don’t have to hold water – just support the Bondo (automotive fibreglass repair material) in place till it sets.

Finally, I mixed the Bondo and troweled it into all the holes and around the pump wire. I let it cure and then painted the whole bottom of the pot to seal everything up.

Step 2 – Prep the bucket to cover the pump

Next, I cut down a pail that will serve to cover and protect the fountain pump from the heavy rocks and top pot and allow water to circulate.

It needs to be shorter than the depth of the large pot, but not much, otherwise the top pot will sit too low. We held the small pot in place and tried a few different heights till we found one that worked.

Cut the pail down and drill a hole in the top for the pump hose to pass through and a few holes in the side so water can get back to the pump after it flows down.

After the Bondo has cured and paint dried in the bottom pot, test fit the base pot and plastic pail together with the fountain and hose.

Fill with some water and run the fountain to see if you’ll need to adjust the stream volume. It is easier to do now than later when you have the whole thing stacked with heavy rocks.

Step 3 – Assemble in layers and try some test runs.

Now position the smaller pot on top of the pail and feed the hose through the drain hole.

If you want a ‘waterfall’ effect (like we did), be sure and seal the hole at the bottom. It doesn’t need to be a perfect fit, you just need to have the water flow out through the drain slower than it flows in through the fountain pump, thus creating an overflow cascade down the sides and into the larger pot.

I added a garden hose washer and put some water in the bottom of the pot to see if it stayed in.

Step 4 – Start filling with River Rocks and keep testing.

Last, test before you make this thing really heavy and immobile. Fill the top pot with whatever rocks you’re using. Add water and run it to see if it works how you want it to.

We ended up taking ours apart a couple of times to get the right effect/volume of fountain spray and overflow. You’ll have to look at this thing for the rest of the summer (and hopefully a few more years), so get it right.

We used some old bricks as filler in the bottom pot. Don’t worry, none of that ugly stuff will be visible. Carefully layer in everything finishing with a top layer of whatever stone you want to actually see, and you’re done!

The only thing left to do now is pouring yourself a glass of wine and relax next to your new fountain.

NEW! Here’s a Video of the bubble fountain project:

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Jill Lester

Sunday 31st of October 2021

Love your ideas!!

frugalfamilytimes

Thursday 4th of November 2021

Thanks so much, Jill!

Sherri

Sunday 14th of March 2021

Love this! My son and I are going to tackle this project together. Where is the video link?

Tuesday 16th of March 2021

Hi Sherri - I'm so sorry - the settings for the video were a bit messed up - you should be able to find it at the bottom of the post now! Let me know how your project goes! :) Robin

Hazel Kohler

Friday 22nd of January 2021

This is exactly what I've been looking for, for my tiny courtyard garden! All the shop-bought ones look, as you said, like shop-bought, and none of them gave the subtle, almost silent, water flow I wanted. I'm going to have a look around the rest of your projects, hoping that you've made a firepit!

Tuesday 2nd of February 2021

Thanks so much, Hazel! We love the sound it makes - so soothing. Sorry - we don't have a firepit project. :(

Julia Webb

Monday 3rd of August 2020

I can't wait to do this ,I have everything ,it to hot in AZ to do this now ,but at 77 I love gardening and something like this ,,plan semple .all I need is deferent pump . do you have a book ? I can buy ?

Wednesday 12th of August 2020

Hi Julia - sorry we don't have a book - but the tutorial above is very thorough and should help you make one of your own! :)

Unknown

Sunday 31st of May 2020

How does the pot sit flat on the ground if the pump cord is coming out from the bottom. My pmpp cord is fairly thick?

Kim

Wednesday 24th of June 2020

Here's a thought. If you didn't want the electric cord to go out through the bottom so that you could place the bottom pot flat on a surface and the cord wouldn't get in the way. Why not drill a hole just big enough for the cord to go through close to the bottom but on the side of the bottom pot. If you use a terracotta pot then soak the area you're going to put the cord through with water. You could get a cloth and get it soaking wet and place it on the spot and use some tape to hole the cloth in place. Then once the terracotta pot is soft in that spot then use a drill and you'll still need to be careful but drill the hole there in the soft stuff and insert the cord through there. Then to keep the hole from leaking patch it with silicone or with the bondo. Once dry you won't have to worry about it being toppsy turvy when sitting on your porch or whatever. But make sure you soak the terracotta really good. If you can put a wet cloth on both the inside and outside it'll help soak it right through and faster than trying to do it from one side.

Ed from Frugal Family Times

Great question; we have ours in a garden, where it sits in soft earth and mulch, so we just kind of twist it around till it sinks down and rests level.If we sat it on a deck or patio, I would be tempted to get those feet you can put under Terra cotta pots or use some brick pavers to create space under it. Hope this helps.