How to Make a Beautiful Small DIY Water Garden Pond in a Pot in 2 Hours

Sharing all my tips & tricks for how to make a simple & beautiful Small DIY Water Garden Pond in a Pot with a fountain to encourage wildlife in our backyard with in just 2 hours for less than $50 with a supply list, step by step instructions & pictures!

Our small DIY water garden pond is so simple & easy to make that even kids can do it!

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Small DIY Water Garden Pond in a Pot for the Backyard

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Sharing all my tips & tricks for how to make a simple & beautiful Small DIY Water Garden Pond in a Pot with a fountain to encourage wildlife in our backyard with in just 2 hours for less than $50 with a supply list, step by step instructions & pictures! #diywatergarden https:/lehmanlane.net

Supplies & Tools Needed to Make a Simple DIY Water Garden Pond

1 Round Plastic Pond (I found our round pond at Lowes HERE)
A Large Shovel
Rake
Solar Fountain with a Backup Battery (HERE)
Flagstone or Decorative Rocks
Various Garden Perennial Plants like Water Such as Hosta, Ferns & Hydrangeas

Step by Step Instructions for How to Make a Simple DIY Water Garden Pond

Step ONE – Pick your Location & Gather Your Supplies

We chose to place our DIY water garden pond in a part sun location just off our stone walkway & between our backyard patio & Fire pit pea gravel patio.

See my handy helper…

My youngest was all too eager to help dig a big hole in the backyard for this DIY water garden pond!!!

We wanted to be able to enjoy our small garden pond from either patio & the small water fountain helps minimize the street noise when we are in the backyard.

Step TWO – Dig Your Hole

Before digging make sure you know where any underground power lines are first!

We found out where our underground power lines were when we put in a cedar fence a few years ago.

I placed the small round plastic pond in the location I wanted it to go in my garden & traced the hole I needed to dig with the garden edger I normally use to divide perennials.

I then dug the hole down approximately 18-20 inches until it fit.

Make a Plan for What to Do with Your Dirt when Digging your DIY Water Garden Pond

Because I was adding my small DIY water garden pond to a sloped area in the backyard, I used the extra dirt from my hole to level the ground here a little better.

Step THREE – Add Your Small Round Plastic Pond to the Hole & Check the Level

Once my hole was large & deep enough for the small plastic pond to fit making sure my DIY water garden pond was level.

If the pond is not level the water would just pour out over one of the sides.

Step FOUR – Backfill the Area Around your Water Garden Pond & Level the Ground Around it

I then backfilled the area around the pot with the dirt from the hole using my garden glove covered hands & a rake.

Make sure to keep rocks out from around your DIY water garden pond so they don’t puncture any of the plastic sides.

Stamp down the dirt as you are adding it so the ground is firm around your small DIY water garden pond.

Step FIVE – Place Decorative Rocks Around Your DIY Water Garden Pond

We have lots of small leftover pieces of flagstone from the stone walkways around our farmhouse.

They are the perfect rock to make my small DIY water garden pond more natural & realistic.

I think it took me longer to decide on the placement of the flagstone rocks than it did to dig the hole, ha!

Step SIX – Landscape Around your DIY Water Garden

I divided a few perennials that don’t mind filtered sun & a little water to place around my new water garden pond like Hosta, Solomon Seal, Ferns & Hydrangea.

We do tend do get some massive rain storms here in Pa so I wanted the plants to be OK with extra watering if the DIY small water garden would ever overflow.

Also, the water from the solar fountain does splash outside of the pond when it floats near the edge so anything close to the pond will get a little water from time to time.

I have also been thinking of adding a few water garden plants to our small DIY water garden pond in the future.

Step SEVEN – Add the Water & Solar Fountain

*I did wash out the small plastic pond pot before filling it with any water so our new small DIY water garden pond in a pot didn’t look too dirty.

If adding water garden plants, you will want to use rainwater when filling your small DIY water garden pond.

Because I have not added any aquatic plants just yet, it was fine just to fill up our small garden pond with the backyard hose.

Lastly, I added our new solar fountain with a backup battery.

Because our DIY water garden is in the shade for some of the day, the fountain does not stay on all day long.

I have found that if I take it out & place it in the sun for an hour or so in the morning when I let out our chickens, it will go strong for most of the day even when in shade.

I hope this answers all your questions & inspires you to make a small DIY water garden in a pot for your backyard!