How to Build a Garden Fountain

A garden fountain can add an attractive focal point to a variety of outdoor living spaces – and with Acheson & Glover’s Anchor Windsor Stone can now be built with the minimum of effort.

The following article details a step by step guide on how to build a garden fountain such as the one shown in the picture below. With a small amount of effort and some imagination you can create a feature that will add real character and value to your home.

The pond materials needed for this project can be sourced from any good DIY store, and the Anchor Windsor can be sourced from Acheson & Glover direct or from one of our stockists.

1). Place a stake in the ground at the centre of where you want your pond to be placed. From this centre attach a string line and measure out how large you want the outer diameter of the pond to be. As a rule of thumb there should be roughly 1½ metres between the outer ring of blocks and the inside pond container. Remember that the set back of the blocks will create a different diameter at the top of the fountain than the bottom as it will be slightly narrower.

2) You will need a large plastic inside container to hold the pump itself, and a good quality pond liner. Fit the pump inside the container as per the manufacturer’s instructions. We strongly recommend that you consult a fully qualified electrician for any electrical wiring work to get electricity to the pump itself. When the pump is working fully line the container with pond liner – this will facilitate planting later on and will also ensure that the container is water tight.

3) The estimating chart provided here will allow you to see how many blocks you will need – depending on the diameter of your pond.

4) Use the stake line to mark on the ground the outer diameter of your pond in a full circle. Dig a trench along the marked out line 450mm wide. The trench should be 100mm deep for this project as it will take four to six courses of blocks to build a suitable encasement for your garden fountain.

5) Firmly compact the soil in the bottom of the trench. Compact 25mm of clean, granular fill along the bottom of the trench, using a spirit level, ensure the compacted fill is level in both directions.

6) Wearing eye and hand protection, use a hammer and chisel to remove the rear lips from all the blocks that form the base course. Do not remove any other rear lips. Position the blocks side by side, carefully aligning the rear of the blocks. Ensure blocks are level in both directions with a spirit level.

7) Assemble additional courses by placing units in a staggered relationship to the course beneath, pulling each unit forward unit the rear lip is securely in contact with the unit below.

8) As the wall is being built backfill each course with free draining stone or quarry dust – leaving 6 to 8 inches at the top of your last course. E.g. Leave roughly 11/2 blocks worth of backfill material for topsoil which can be planted into as in the photograph.

9) Fill your pond with water, and add plants to the soil for a stunning garden fountain feature.