Back Yard Oasis for Less Than 40 Bucks!
9 Materials
$39
1 Week
Medium
Hello everybody! I made a small pond in my yard without breaking the bank! I want to show you how I did this
First, I started with a hollow concrete sphere. Now I know y'all have seen them all over Pinterest, but I did mine a little different. I started with one if those giant balls from Wal-Mart ($3)
Now, I know I screwed up because I didn't get any pictures of the process, but I'm gonna try to talk my way through this.
You mix your Portland cement with sand (about 50/50) and mix with water a little at a time till you get a thick slurry, like a thick batter. Now, this is the part I did differently, I used quilt batting! I propped up my ball, hole side down, on a bucket. Then I put the batting (which I had cut in roughly 5" strips) and put them in the concrete mix until completely saturated. Work it around in the mix really well, then drape over the ball. I did this, overlapping, until the ball was covered almost all the way down to where the ball meets the bucket. Then I left it, covered in a plastic bag, in a shady spot in my yard. I then used the remaining concrete and made these little pavers.
Then I dug my hole. I picked a spot in my yard that didn't get a whole lot of sun so I could put in some shade loving plants and some fish (eventually) that won't get cooked!
$11 Pond form
I used paver sand to make sure my hole was nice and level and secure. I inserted my form and I covered the sides with broken slate tiles which I glued in place. I filled the bottom of the pond with the remaining paver sand, which I rinsed clean in a pillow case as a make shift filter.
Filled pond with water and hooked up the pump. I used a clear piece of hose I found at orchard supply for .49 a foot. I got a couple plants at a local nursery for $1.49. The rest of them, the reeds and the moneywart, came from the river. That's it! I'm gonna let it run for a few days before I put any fish in there.
Clear hose
Little trickle has a lovely sound
Comments
Join the conversation
5 of 12 comments
-
Your rock rachel! Love your pool and love your answer to thea!
-
Love what you did Rachel and the way you explain things
Just so real
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Adorable! Would you have a video of this?
This is absolutely brilliant!!
How deep did you have to dig the hole for the pond? And do you know what size pump you used?