Easy To Make DIY Solar Powered Water Planter Feature
Learn how to create a beautiful DIY solar water fountain planter with my easy-to-follow tutorial. Combining water and gorgeous flowers is a great way to add beauty and tranquility to your outdoor space! This easy DIY project is cost-effective and comes together in less than 30 minutes. A little bonus, the birds love it, and it’s become their little bird bath in the mornings.
It has been HOT here in San Diego, it’s the first heat wave of the Summer, power outage and all. I feel bad to complain since our weather is usually perfect, some (my family) might say I was a little grumpy, lol. I’ve had my post written for a week and woke up early on Saturday so I could finish the project before the sun came out. Our upstairs AC is on its last leg and 90+ degrees on the second story, yuck. Thank goodness for the ugly window fans. We will be back to beautiful weather on Friday!
It’s our Thrift Store monthly post so make sure to check out all of the amazing makeovers at the end of this post!
I was lucky enough to be given this pot by a neighbor a while ago, it was still in perfect shape it just needed a little cleaning. I thought about spray painting it a different color, but it complemented the basin perfectly. For the basin, I used our catch-all outdoor pot placed at our front door, which I purchased a few years back.
I want to preface this tutorial that you need a sunny location for your DIY water fountain as this pump needs full sun for the fountain to work. You won’t be able to enjoy your solar powered fountain on cloudy days.
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Materials:
Solar Pump Kit
Medium to large Garden Planter
Smaller garden planter or basin. (with no drainage holes and needs to be a waterproof container)
Plants
Potting Soil
Step1: Choose Your Pots
You will need 2 pots, the bottom pot will be larger than your upper pot. There is no right or wrong on the size of your pots. The larger pot has to be able to fit your flowers and still have room in the middle for your smaller pot. The smaller pot also needs to be large enough to fit the pump. Since this pump allows you to adjust the water flow, with different nozzles, I could have used a larger top pot but I liked the way this little basin looked.
You can use a brand new large pot or you can repurpose a large planter that you already have on hand or purchased at a thrift store pot, no right or wrong way.
Step 2: Add Soil and plants
If your pot is extra large, you can add filler to your pot before adding the soil. Plastic water bottles, milk jugs, wood etc will all do the trick. Add your soil a little less than 3/4 way up. If needed, place your smaller basin or planter in the middle of the large pot so you know how much room you need. Plant your flowers all around the outer edge. Top with more soil.
Step 3: Fill the small planter with water and add a pump
Fill the small flower pot with water, about three-quarters full, and add your pump. The pump has different spray nozzle heads that affect the width and height of the spray, choose the one that works best with your design.
Step 4 – How To Keep The Solar Pump In Center Of Pot
If you don’t want the pump to move around you can add the tubes to the side of the pump. This will prevent water spray and you won’t have to constantly add more water.
Ignore the sticker, I couldn’t find the goo gone and I couldn’t get the sticker up, knowing it would be covered I left it. Blame it on the weather lol
Step 5: Tips
Arrange small river rocks or decorative stones around the pump.
Add water plants or aquatic plants
Ensure the flower pot fountain has direct sunlight, trees and buildings can create shadows, preventing your pump from working.
You could use an old galvanized tub as your planter, or a large bowl as your water container.
Maintenance:
Regularly check the water level and top it up as needed.
Clean the pump and basin periodically to prevent algae buildup and maintain proper flow.
I loved creating my diy water feature, my favorite part of my day is listening to the sound of the water first thing in the morning while drinking my coffee, well, before It was 100 degrees by 7 am. Temperatures are supposed to drop by Friday, woo hoo!!
Time to check out all of the amazing makeovers!
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Solar Powered Water Planter Feature My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
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Upcycling a Pair of Halloween Pillows Sadie Seasongoods
DIY Cheese Box Wreath For Fall House of Hawthornes
Bathroom Wall Cabinet Makeover My Repurposed Life
Lamp Makeover with Rub ‘n Buff Our Southern Home
Thank you so much for stopping in today! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below, I’m always happy to help.
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Wow, that’s ridiculously hot! It’s actually been sort of cool for September here in Ohio. Love the fountain. Very creative!
Thank you so much Pam, I am ready for cooler days 🙂
This is gorgeous! I love the scalloped planter. I have the white one you linked to on a patio table. They are fabulous containers. Nothing beats the sound of a little water movement. The solar aspect means you can put it anywhere!
Thank you so much Christy, it was a fun and easy project! I love the scalloped planter too, wish I bought more last year!
Kristin
My friend has one of those in her birdbath. I like it a lot better in the planter. I would love to have something like this at The Hideaway, but we have too much shade. 🙁
I love what you did, so pretty!
Pinned!
gail
Thank you so much Gail, I did think about putting it in the bird bath but then I would have to take out the succulents and they were too rooted in lol.