DIY Bubble Fountain

 

I would be totally happy with this fountain.

It utilizes easy to find components and looks easy enough for me to put together.

The sound of a water fountain is so soothing and relaxing.  Gotta put one together this year!

Click here to go to the article.  Other examples are shown for inspiration.

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DIY Water Features

A water feature is something I've wanted to make for a long time.  

If you do too, click here for some inspiration and tutorials.

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DIY Pond Ideas

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted a water feature.  The sound of running water is so peaceful in a garden!

This article has a bunch of pond ideas and links to their tutorials.  You have to check it out if you need inspiration for a new project for your yard!

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Leaf Casting Water Feature

This is the most awesome water feature I have seen yet!

The leaf castings are made of concrete . . . there is no tutorial to go with this photo, but it should not be too difficult to figure out how the water feature part of it could work.

Use the photo as inspiration, as well as some of the websites listed below.  These concrete leaves are used for stepping stones in the garden, bird bath, decorations and water features.  You can also do a search on Pinterest for leaf castings for additional inspiration.

Here are some articles and tutorials on making concrete leaves . . .

Concrete Leaves for Garden or Fountain

How to Make a Concrete Leaf Casting

Casting Nature

Concrete Casting How To

Make A Concrete Leaf

How to Make Concrete Garden Fountain with Rhubarb Leaves

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DIY Garden Fountain

Can you imagine building your own garden fountain in one weekend?  I have wanted another water feature for the longest time . . . 

The tutorial shows you, step by step, how to make a garden fountain out of anything.

Click here to go to the tutorial.

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Make a Backyard Pond from a Tire!

This has got to be the most ingenious trash-to-treasure project for the garden I have seen yet!

The photos were found on Pinterest, unfortunately, they were linked to just a photo since the original blog it was posted to has been removed.  So . . . no instructions or tutorial . . . just awesome inspiration.

When we get around to making this pond, we will take lots of photos and make a tutorial for this project.

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Fabulous Water Features

This type of water feature is way on top of my wish list . . . and has been for many years.  

Water features can be a large, elaborate and expensive set up or can be very simple and inexpensive.  The possibilities are endless, but where do you start?

Cost has been a huge inhibitor since my ideas tend to be very elaborate.  We have a very large city property that used to be very wild and natural, yet well maintained that has grown into an urban jungle due to pesky health problems getting in the way, it seems to me that a larger water feature, once constructed, should prove to be just what we need.  Much research needs to be done and it isn't a project slated for this year, but the planning stage for the back yard needs to get started.

In the meantime, our front yard is a clean slate begging for something special.  A very simple and inexpensive water feature would be perfect, combined with raised beds with large paths.  The object of the project is awesome curb appeal with little maintenance.  

My plan is to document the before and after transformation on my website.  We are getting a late start this season, but it is never too late to transform a landscape in Florida.

This website, The Family Handyman, is where I am starting . . . it has lots of inspiration and instructions.

Click here for my photo source . . . more inspiration!

HGTV and DIY Network are excellent resources for ideas and instructions.

Feeling overwhelmed like me?  Start with a small project and work into the larger projects as you gain expertise. 

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Elegant Garden

The elegance of this garden immediately caught my attention when I was browsing through Fine Gardening's garden photo section for some garden inspiration.  

Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Nuffer via Fine Gardening

Since our property is so large and we really don't want to be a slave to the garden as I have been in the past, the general thinking has been to design raised beds around large paths.  Barbara's garden in upstate New York is exactly what has been going through my mind.  Click on the Fine Gardening link to read the entire article featuring her garden and more photos.

An excerpt from the article . . .

"This garden is a raised bed. The shape is a 20-foot-diameter circle with a gravel path at ground level leading to a fountain in the center of the circle, and continuing to a bench. The outer perimeter of the garden is a 2-foot-tall stone wall. The interior wall is pressure treated 1 x 6s cut into 3-foot lengths and sunk into the ground 12 inches. Since portions of this wall are curved, we used metal strapping nailed to the back of the pieces of wood to hold it in place. They are slanted slightly back towards the bed. The shape is really pretty in winter as the sun sets behind it. A natural stream is down the hill behind the garden so you hear running water as a backdrop.

We lined the bed with black plastic with some drainage holes punched in it. My soil mixture included 6 cubic foot bags of coarse texture vermiculite. We mixed this with potting soil that contained lots of peat. This was suitable because I was planning to use acid-loving plants. We also mixed in two parts of topsoil. The proportions were one part vermiculite to one part potting soil to two parts topsoil. The bed was well moistened and mulched with finely ground cedar bark."

Awesome inspiration!

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Leaf Stepping Stones

One of my favorite garden projects is creating with concrete!

I've been seeing these leaf creations lately and would 

love to make some  for my garden.

Here is my favorite . . . the leaf creations used in a water feature!

Click here for a tutorial on how to make them!

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