WATER FEATURE CHALLENGE - 1
No backyard is complete without a water feature - just the way I've always felt about it. But...a pond of any size seemed like too much work to maintain. I looked around for a small fountain but didn't find anything I liked for the price I was willing to pay. As the uncharacteristically cool weather continued in Southern California, I decided to take on the challenge of creating one by myself. But before I even got started, I had to make a few critical decisions.
LOCATION: Where should my water fountain go? The first possibility that came to my mind was the covered patio right outside my family room. I'd be able to see and hear the fountain from the outdoor sitting area as well as living room and there's an electrical outlet nearby for the water pump. On the other hand, the area is already occupied by the gas grill and several plants, which would need to be moved elsewhere. It is also a high-traffic area so the fountain would have to be really stable.
I also considered the opposite end of my backyard, right outside the dining room (where I put my home gym), between two palm trees and surrounded by Day Lilies. Also with an electrical outlet nearby, this could have been a nice setting for a water feature. However, it would be pretty far from the sitting areas inside and outside and I wouldn't be able to see or hear it sitting on the patio.
The third option seemed least likely at first. The back side of my backyard is terraced, and the sloped area above the terrace is a bit of wilderness. Soon after I moved into this house, I started imagining a water cascading down the slope. I knew it would be too much of a project for me to take on myself to build a water feature of that scope. But what if I
cleared a small part of that area facing the outdoor sitting area and put a self-contained fountain?
The advantages of this location was many - proximity to outdoor sitting area, raised positioning of the fountain at the eye level, possibility of landscaping around the fountain - but the problem was the distance from the electrical outlet. I did some research and discovered that there were affordable solar water pumps, some of which even had a built in battery. This finding was the deal breaker - I decided it was the best place for my fountain.
COST: I started on this DIY path because I didn't want to spend a small fortune on a water feature. What I found in local home improvement stores and online sources were either too expensive or not to my liking (hmmm, am I implying I have an expensive taste??). So, this project couldn't cost more than what I was initially willing to pay: $200 (more on materials I used and their costs in PART 2).
DESIGN: I wanted something simple - both mechanically and aesthetically. I googled "how to build a water feature" and found many helpful blogs and websites (list of resources forthcoming).
I was intrigued by the idea of using a stack of planters to make a fountain. It was simple enough to put together, but you can create different looks depending on the size, shape and material of the planters you choose. Again, I went browsing to see what kind of planter were readily available, and found several feasible options at a reasonable cost.
I also decided on the key design principle: To make the fountain as easy as possible to disassemble and clean. That meant keeping as many elements loose as possible, i.e., not glued together permanently. The challenge was, then, to ensure stability of modular components that are, basically, sitting on top of one another.
Once I decided on the overall structure, I did quick sketches to visualize how everything would come together. I share two of my sketches to show exactly how rudimentary they are, and also, how my thinking changed (got simpler) as I started put things together in my mind.
The first plan (Figure 1) came with an underground reservoir. Water would be pumped up to the top planter, flow out into the bottom planter, and finally cascade down into the reservoir.
By the time I started my shopping list (Figure 2), I was beginning to think the underwater reservoir would be too much and also go over-budget. Most importantly, the tubing threaded through two pots will seriously interfere with my "modular" design.
The trade-off for simplified design was that the bottom planter became the reservoir and therefore no water would cascade out of it. To compensate, I came up with the idea of tilting the top planter for increased visual interest.
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