How to Make Easy Outdoor Water Features

Easy

1). Purchase three terra cotta pots with center drainage holes. The pots should be in decreasing sizes so that one will fit into the other. Purchase two additional pots, one with a top opening that will fit upside down into the largest pot and one that will fit similarily into the second-largest pot. These are support pots. Use foam sealant to plug the hole in the largest pot.
2). Set up the pots so that the first support pot is upside down inside the largest pot, propped on the terra cotta feet, topped by the medium pot, which has the second support pot upside down inside of it and is topped with the smallest pot. Measure from the bottom of the largest pot to 6 inches past the bottom of the smallest pot and cut a piece of 1-inch tubing to this length. Take the tower apart again.
3). Insert one end of the tubing into the pump. Place the pump in the bottom of the largest pot. Place the terra cotta feet and feed the tubing through the top of the first support pot and up through its drainage hole. Place the first support pot upside down on the terra cotta feet. Continue to build the tower as before, feeding the tubing through the drainage holes until it is inside the smallest pot. Use foam sealant to secure the tubing and seal each drainage hole.
4). Add a control valve to the other end of the tubing and fill the feature with water until the middle and top pots are just overflowing and the bottom pot is full. Plug in the pump and adjust the rate of flow as necessary.

1). Purchase three terra cotta trays. You want the kind that fit underneath a pot. The trays should be in diminishing sizes, one large, one medium-sized and one small. Also purchase two small clear plastic pot trays.
2). Arrange the terra cotta trays in a stair-step pattern. Start with the large tray. Set the first plastic tray upside down inside it, near one edge. Set the medium terra cotta tray so that it is half on the edge of the large tray and half on the near edge of the plastic tray. Set the second plastic tray and the small tray in the same manner on the edge of the medium tray.
3). Fill the trays with water. This is a non-running water feature that will attract birds and beneficial insects to your garden. Rain will fill the trays and they may be set in the path of a sprinkler system or filled with a hose when needed.