Plus Care Tips

STORY & PHOTOS BY SUE EYRE

A close-up of the author’s granite rock fountain.

Trickling water and birds softly chirping are two of nature’s most relaxing sounds. Here’s everything you’ll need to know to design, build and care for an above-ground, rock water feature in your yard or garden.

Most in-ground fountains require professional design, installation and maintenance. This DIY project was inspired by one of those fountains, a four-foot diameter rock fountain surrounded by boulders, at the riverboat port dock outside of Bamberg, Germany.

My husband, John, took that concept and downsized it into the above-ground rock fountain we now enjoy in our backyard. Our display has two water features, so we chose a large stock tank to accommodate two of everything as each feature needs its own pump and wiring.

Here are the basic plans to construct a single rock fountain using a rock approximately 12” x 12” x 18” (weight approx. 100 pounds or less) and a 90-gallon stock tank, preferably with a threaded drain plug for easier maintenance.

FINDING THE RIGHT ROCK

First, you will need to secure a proper rock. For us, Wisconsin’s State Rock, red granite was perfect. Any hard rock or boulder will do—agate, quartz, jasper or even limestone—just find a rock whose size and shape strikes your fancy.

You may already have the perfect rock in your yard, but if you need to find the centerpiece of this project, here are a few ideas on how to secure one. Never take a rock from private property without asking. State and National Parks are also off-limits, but many public beaches or rivers may have a nice, rounded specimen just right for the job. In northern farm country, rounded boulders are often pushed up by frost each winter. If you see a pile of rocks near a farm, you might ask at the farmhouse if you can help yourself or offer a small payment. If all else fails, you can purchase ‘the rock’ at a local quarry, landscape or garden center, but be prepared to pay anywhere from twenty cents to a dollar per pound.