Patio or Garden Water Fountains • Farmhouse Magic Blog

Today I was out shopping and decided to stop in at my favorite store to pick up a few garden supplies.

I’ve always thought about adding a small garden water fountain to my patio or patio area and wanted to check out what was available. What could be more calming and comfortable than to sit on the patio and listen to the water bubbling over the rocks? Patio or garden fountains are great if you have children and don’t want an open source of water. All the photographs on this page were taken at the Merrifield Garden Center.

When shopping online there are a lot of pot or crock type garden water fountains available. The water overflows from one pot and then flows into the next pot and so forth. However, I really didn’t care for most of the online designs.

I also noticed online quite a few “Do It Yourself” type garden fountains kits made with everything from galvanized buckets, tea kettles, to whiskey barrels. There are also waterfall walls made with recycled glass patio table tops or shower doors. Many people add a fountain pump to their bird baths.

Some smaller fountains are made from painted resin but I think these are mainly for indoor use. Be careful where you place an indoor garden fountain because they will occasionally splash water on the floor.

This fish shaped fountain from Merrifield Gardens is set on an oval-shaped rock. The water comes out of the fish’s mouth and then flows gently down the angled rock. Blue river rocks were placed in a square base. They make the fish feature stand out.

The photographs below shows two tall fountains. The first fountain was made from a brown rectangle shape which almost looks like an old board. The water flows gently down from the top.

The second photograph looks like an elegant urn made out of small rocks. It is set in a round basin with river rocks placed on top of the large water reservoir. If you look carefully you can see the grid of the top of the water reservoir towards the front of this photograph. The gushing water pushes up about five inches or so from the base. The whole look is just “refreshing”.

The tall fountain’s large circular water reservoir is probably placed in the ground to hide the base.

Tall Rustic Looking Rectangular Fountains

How Do Garden or Patio Fountains Work?

Garden or patio fountains work by pumping water contained in an inground or above ground reservoir up to the water feature. The water then flows back into the reservoir and is recirculated again.

This is done by the use of an electric pump although I’ve seen kits online which use solar power. When deciding on the location of your garden fountain you will need an electrical power source to operate the pump.

I’m still thinking about adding a water fountain but now not sure I have the space to do it. More consideration is needed on my part.

I really like the selection of garden fountains I looked at today. They were well made and had large water reservoirs. Garden fountains–the coolest thing in your garden.

The photograph below, shows one of Merrifield Garden’s fish holding tanks. Although fish are not part of a fountain feature, I still like to check out the fish used to stock ponds.

I’m not sure if these are gold fish or koi but they were lively, colorful and interesting to look at.

I totally enjoyed checking out the fountains and the fish at the garden store.

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A Special Thank You to Merrifield Garden Center for giving us permission to take photographs of their wonderful store!

I recently noticed this large decorative fountain in front of one the Merrifield Garden Stores. It is different from the other fountains in this blog in that the water reservoir is open. A pump is also included with this fountain.

Update: 8-2-2021

I noticed this drinking birds fountain near the front of Merrifield Garden Center, (see below center photograph). I like the way it is a subtle water source. This fountain would look great on a small patio and would probably attract thirsty birds.

The photographs on the right and left of the drinking bird fountain shows some of the summer flowers still in bloom.