The fountain will be a great addition to the landscape compositions on the site. To create a reservoir, you can use the old bath, which will significantly save money on the structure. A decorative water corner is able to give your yard an unsurpassed design look. It can be supplemented with lighting, stone facing, adding sand, decorating with various plants and creating a cozy place for spending the whole family.
What is needed to build a fountain
To equip a simple fountain made of a bathtub on your personal plot, you will need the following materials and equipment:
- Old cast iron or plastic bath.
- Siphon and large stones.
- Trumpet.
- Hose and nozzle.
- Submersible pump.
- Crushed stone, cement, sand, gravel.
- Shovel, rake.
- Decorative elements.
- Wooden pegs.
- Building level.
Stages of creating a fountain
The main stages of arranging the fountain in an old bathtub on a personal plot:
- Dig a pit according to the size and shape of the bath, adding 10 cm additionally in depth, and leaving the same size allowance on each side.
- Arrange a drainage well of stones, sand and sealant in the place where the tank will be located to drain the water, while deepening by 0.5 m.
- To equip a drainage pillow with crushed stone, sand.
- Make a cement screed and let it dry for a week.
- Lower the bath into the pit, close the drain hole. If voids have formed around them, then they must be covered with gravel and sand, while watering them and tamping them well.
- At the bottom of the bath, place the pump station by attaching a nozzle to regulate the jet on top.
- Place containers with plants at the bottom, fill the structure with water so that it is above the level of the pump.
- Decorate the area around the pond to your liking with the help of plants, stones, decorative figures.
Did you know? The fountain of the Panpo Bridge in Seoul is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest in the world. The jets of the structure hit away from the bridge, while its total length is 1,140 m, and about 190 tons of water are poured from each of them per minute.
Seat selection
The fountain in the garden should fit into the surrounding landscape. Even if there is not so much free space, you can still equip it, because you will need a minimum area of 1 m². The choice of a place for a fountain must be approached correctly. After all, if you install it near trees and bushes, then there is the likelihood of leaves and other garbage getting into the pond. A fountain in a pond is always high humidity, and when it is located close to a house or other buildings, the walls of the structures will draw moisture, mold.
It is necessary to determine the place so that the flowing water does not undermine the foundation of the cottage. And with prolonged rains, the body of water can overflow the coast, so the water flow should be carried out in the direction opposite to the buildings. The platform should be flat, it is still advisable to take into account that even from a small wind, the spray scatters to impressive distances. Accordingly, choosing plants for decoration should be done correctly, given their separation into hygrophilous and those who like dry air.
How to dig a hole in the bath
Before directly tearing the foundation pit under the bath, it is necessary to mark it using pegs, given that the size of the pit is 10 cm larger on each side than the size of the bath itself. These allowances are used to equip the drainage system. If you do not take care of the construction of the drainage, the soil near the reservoir with each new rain will more and more soak.
It is necessary to pour 5 cm of small gravel on the bottom of the pit, then a layer of sand 10 cm thick. Level with a rake, check for surface deviations in the horizontal plane with the building level. Pour in some water for shrinkage.Then make a cement screed 3 cm thick so that groundwater does not erode the foundation. Allow the construction to dry completely. Next is a layer of crushed stone of 20 cm. On this, the drainage is ready and you can lower the bath into the prepared foundation pit. It is desirable that its edges are above ground level, because otherwise the pond will look too artificial. It remains to fill the voids between the walls of the bath and the pit, for this you need to fill in the gravel to the middle, then sand and tamp.
How to choose a pump
For the manufacture of fountains with their own hands, it is recommended to purchase a pumping station, which consists of a pump and a filter. The filter is necessary to protect the device for pumping and pumping liquid from contamination with sand, leaves, small stones. It must be periodically checked for blockage, because its operation depends on the degree of contamination and it can quickly fail.
Important! It is undesirable to install a fountain in an open sunny area. It is ideal to choose a partial shade, this will prevent blooming of water.
Pumps come in 2 types: submersible and ground. Ground is easier to care for. But they will have to be masked through decoration. The pump set includes various nozzles and with their help you can change the height and shape of the fountain jets. The power supply system of the pumping station can have a different device: standard from the network or from solar panels.
When choosing a pump, you should pay attention to such important aspects:
- Power shows how much water the pump pumps over in an hour.
- Uptime
- Overheat protection.
- Energy consumption.
How to do without sediment
The basic principle of a fountain without a pump is the principle of communicating vessels, known from the school physics course. Accordingly, the period of operation of such a fountain depends on the volume of containers used for its installation.
Necessary materials for work:
- two vessels of the same shape and size;
- bowl;
- glue;
- silicone tubes;
- decorative elements to decorate the fountain.
Algorithm for making a fountain without a pump:
- In each vessel cover, 2 holes must be drilled. Their diameter should be less than the thickness of the silicone tubes.
- Insert the tubes into the drilled openings, while one tube should touch the bottom of the vessel, the other should only reach the lid.
- Seal with special glue.
- Pour water into one container, raise it above an empty one.
- Drill a hole in the bowl, connect it with the tube to the lower vessel, treat them with glue-sealant.
Place a bowl of a fountain above the water tank and this will give a view where below is an empty tank, in the middle is full, and in the top is a bowl. The next step is decorating with various elements, such as: flowers in flowerpots, stones, pebbles, seashells.
Fountain decoration
To keep your fountain in the spotlight of the garden composition, you should take care of its design. To do this, you need to pick up the most vivid and catchy details to highlight the center figure, but just try not to overdo it. If a certain style has already been formed in your interior, then stick to it. However, it is worth paying attention that modern designers boldly combine classic and gothic together. The fountain bath can either be immersed in the ground or left on the surface..
Did you know? In 2019, the highest condensed condensed fountain was erected in Omsk in honor of the anniversary of the Lubinsky Dairy Plant. The height of the structure is almost 2 m, and almost 200 liters of condensed milk circulate in it.
By installing it on the ground, you already achieve maximum attention to the element, especially if the bathtub rises on beautiful old legs, has a non-standard shape and color. This will lead you to the English classics, which for all its existence has not yet had time to “bother” anyone and get bored. Additionally, it can be decorated with wooden planks, masonry, climbing plants, beaten flowerpots and pots, antique shabby furniture or clay garden figures in the form of marine life.It is recommended to follow the rule of “three colors”, so you can achieve harmony and tranquility in the design of the garden. Also, you can use broken tiles or multi-colored glass containers that will create a mosaic picture at the foot of the fountain. If the bath is immersed in the ground, then it can also be advantageously beaten. The mechanism of the fountain itself can be brought to its base, and not in the center, and decorate with an old-fashioned wind instrument. You can cover the edges of the fountain with fine stone and broken glass, diluting with juicy succulents or flowers.
Backlight
Lighting is the best way to highlight an object.. It is recommended to choose a soft light that will not irritate the eye. Basically, among all the possible colors for the lighting solution, yellow is the leader. Modern designers also use blue, green, pink, purple. Such a variety can be chosen at any store electricians in the form of a garland or small LED bulbs on sticky tape. The second option will look better.
LED adhesive tape is very small and invisible, so it will not give an extra volume of the structure, but only emphasizes the details of the composition with its backlight. At night, the use of blue light especially emphasizes the contours of the foot bath. It will visually expand the space, which will create the illusion of a small lake on your site. If the blue backlight is diluted with white, then the space around will seem light and airy.Green light is most often used for a built-in bath in the ground. The dark grass and soft green backlight will harmoniously look at night. You can dilute this composition with spotlights with yellow light, they can imitate fireflies that sit on water lilies every night and illuminate everything around. You can place the light in the bath, on the fountain or structures next to it.
Stone cladding
To indicate the accent of the composition, you need to use large elements of decor, such as stones. Using such elements in the decoration, you will achieve the appearance of an alpine hill or the effect of a small waterfall. The magnitude of natural material will create greatness and wealth.. Also in the bath lining you can use pebbles or small marble chips.
They will be able to fill the empty spaces of the installed fountain. The bath, standing on a support, can also be faced with stone. Onyx decor will look very stylish, because its unusual pattern is very advantageous in such compositions, and its fine structure will create the appearance of a protective shell. Turquoise zeolite is often used in decoration.
Planting plants
Plants will give freshness in creating the composition, they will become a bright, shading element. You can choose both demanding care, and not very. One of the unpretentious coastal plants is considered to be Kaluga. It can be grown near small ponds and lakes. It should not be planted deeply and already in April it will delight with unusual buds of a bright yellow color of a waxy structure with dark green leaves.
Important! In winter, it is recommended to drain the bath water to preserve bath shape. In the case of a stable ecosystem, in a mini-pond you can put a board, scrap iron or plastic bottles at the bottom, which will take on the pressure of frozen water when it does not merge.
The gander is also different in its appearance. It would be more suitable for standing baths, since its long triangular leaves can well emphasize the height and texture of the fountain on a hill. In the summer, you can see pink flowers, collected 20-30 pieces in inflorescences. Three types of irises can be used to decorate the territory of the fountain: smoothed, water and multi-colored. On store shelves there are varieties with yellow and variegated leaves.Daylily, astilbe and gubastka are also planted. The idea of a fountain from a bath is quite easy to realize, while such an undertaking will not be too costly for you. Using improvised materials, you can create a cozy oasis on your site. It is recommended to dilute the composition with beautiful elements, lighting and decorate with various decorative materials. Now you know how to do this without making a huge effort.