Buying or Building Your Own Water Fountain
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Article by: Mike Guista Things to Consider A great deal about fountains has changed over the last decade. Now there are really high class ones made of copper, , Let Your Venus Flytrap Frost Over bronze, concrete, , Getting Tulips to Bloom for Two Months in Your Garden and stone, , Guaranteed Gladioli, Summer Colour that Returns and some fairly nice ones made of resin and fiberglass. There are several things to consider, though. As a pump , Abatement and Consistency Philosophy wholesaler, I speak with fountain owners all the time and also look at lots of samples of fountains at trade shows and in magazines. Before purchasing a fountain, there are quite a few questions to ask. What looks good in a store might not look good at your home , Taking Care of Your Bonsai or business. Or it might look good for the first month or year but then you'll get tired of it. Fountains are usually around for a long time; in fact, concrete , Lawnmower Maintenance Tips That Help Produce The Best Lawns and stone , Mosquito Farms? Is That What Water Gardens Are? ones last centuries and are hard to remove once they're installed. Here are things to consider. Bronze Fountains These are at the high end of fountains, and can retail for ten to twenty thousand dollars. They are plain classy. But will one of these fit in where you want to put it? Do you have the right yard , The Gazebo Spa: One of 5 Creative Ways to Use Your Garden Gazebo or business or location , The Protea Family (Proteaceae) for such a classic kind of display? Also, do you like the aging process (the verdigris patina) that bronze undergoes. Can you afford one of these? If you answered yes to these questions, a bronze fountain might be right for you. It will last your lifetime, your kids' lifetimes, their kids' lifetimes, etc. And they are durable enough to be moved from house , The Perfect Yellow Roses for Your Home or Garden to house. , Garden Sheds: Wood Finishing and Weatherproofing Tips Copper , Home and Garden Decor Needs Fountains Like bronze fountains, these too tend to be classy, especially the name brand ones like Water , Rose Gardening: , Sun and Shade Wonders, which mix copper , The Protea Family (Proteaceae) with glass , Know Your Bird Feeders; Part 2 and slate. These make especially nice wall , The Garden As Healer fountains. We have been selling Water , Growing and Caring for Your Bamboo Wonders fountains for several years at Fountain Mountain. There are certain things to think about, though. Are you locating the fountain in a room , Volumetric Concrete Mixer with good acoustics? Some rooms , Tips On Growing And Caring For Orchids make the pump , Industrial Blowers noise really echo, especially small rooms , Landscaping With Boulders - Do your Neighbors look at your Yard and say WOW with walls , Volumetric Concrete Mixer that are close together. Do you know someone or can you hire an electrician to hide the cord in the wall? These fountains are a bit too expensive to buy if you're going to let the cord run outside , Guaranteed Gladioli, Summer Colour that Returns the wall , Choosing The Appropriate Tree For Your Garden for everyone to see. Finally, it is a good idea to go listen to them run at a store before purchasing. Some of them make little water , Rose Gardening: , Sun and Shade noise and some make a lot. To increase water , Teak Patio Furniture Will Dress Up Your Patio sound you might have to turn up the pump , Abatement and Consistency Philosophy to the point of there being slight splash. But if you are careful and go to a store with Water , Parsley: A Cook's Best Friend Wonders or other copper , Parsley: A Cook's Best Friend fountains on display before purchasing, and are happy with what you see and hear, these are great fountains. Concrete , Silk Palm Trees Fountains These still provide the most bang for the buck, primarily because concrete , Garden Sheds: Wood Finishing and Weatherproofing Tips is so inexpensive. In fact, a huge part of the cost of concrete , Industrial Blowers fountains is in transporting them to stores for sale and in the labor , Tips On Growing And Caring For Orchids of painting , Growing Great Asparagus them. The concrete , Outdoor Sports Lighting itself is the least expensive part of the fountains' manufacture. There are some differences in how they are made, though. Some companies, like Brandelli's, use a "light" mix: their fountains are not nearly as heavy as those produced by, say, Avila's. Also, some companies like Brandelli's, use a stain over concrete, , Industrial Blowers whereas others, like Avila's or Lomelli's, use paints , Winterizing Tips for Your Lawn and Garden (usually more than one at a time) or stains. Also, most concrete , Tips On Growing And Caring For Orchids companies (though not all) reinforce their fountains with steel. This makes them strong but also means the concrete , Rose Gardening: Water, Sun and Shade must be sealed. If not painted (as most fountains from Mexico are not), then they do need to have a clear sealant put on them. Otherwise the water , Seed Starting Tips will seep through to the steel, which will rust. Eventually, the fountain is likely to crack. One final word of advice , Tips for Preparing a Planting Bed on concrete, , Finding Garden Benches: Get the Perfect Look for Your Garden beware of "cute." Cute fountains (mama dogs with baby dogs, boys peeing) sometimes don't look so cute over time. Ask yourself , Growing Roses - The Guide for Fans of Roses if you'll still think the fountain is cute years later. Remember, concrete , The Protea Family (Proteaceae) fountains can last hundreds of years. And they are difficult to move so pick something that will stay put. The traditional Italian 3-tier fountain is always a safe , Growing Great Asparagus bet. Resin and Fiberglass Fountains The quality of these has gotten a lot better, and they have the clear advantage of being more easily handled than concrete , Getting Tulips to Bloom for Two Months in Your Garden ones. Some do look like concrete , Silk Palm Trees and stone, , The Gazebo Spa: One of 5 Creative Ways to Use Your Garden Gazebo though they tend to look much more realistic at first glance than they do after a week has passed. Then it is pretty clear that they are faux. These are also a lot easier on employees who work in tores, as they don't have to worry as much about their backs. We would sell these at our store but just don't like their looks as well as the real thing. Stone , Home and Garden Decor Needs Fountains These look incredibly good or mediocre. The handcrafted stone , Growing Roses - The Guide for Fans of Roses fountains out of Mexico and many of the large ones out of China are beautiful. , Mosquito Farms? Is That What Water Gardens Are? But there are also mass-produced stone , Silk Palm Trees fountains, which use crushed stone , Gardening - Growing Cacti At Home mixed with resin. These just don't look like real stone , Know Your Bird Feeders; Part 2 to us even though they are. Making Your Own Water , A Garden Bench: A Beautiful Addition To Any Garden Fountain There are lots of ways to make your own fountains. The easiest way, perhaps, is to place , Landscaping With Boulders - Do your Neighbors look at your Yard and say WOW a pump , Tips On Growing And Caring For Orchids in a small tub or on some liner. Then place , Landscaping With Boulders - Do your Neighbors look at your Yard and say WOW a wire or plastic , A Garden Bench: A Beautiful Addition To Any Garden grate on top of the tub or the liner, and layer pebbles, rocks, etc. over the wire or plastic , Backyard Landscaping grate. Your pump , Rose Gardening: Water, Sun and Shade and plumbing , Natural Algae Fighters That Work will be hidden! No one will no where your water , Outdoor Sports Lighting is coming from. You can then connect black PVC piping to the pump , Introduction to Botany (black sprinkler pipe is incredibly inexpensive yet professional looking) and let the water , How to Kill Poinsettia rise up seemingly out of rocks in your yard. , Know Your Bird Feeders; Part 2 You won't have to worry much about pets as the water , The Basics of Plant Growth; Part 1 Hormones source is covered with stones. , Tips for Preparing a Planting Bed Likewise, you won't have to worry about kids drowning. You can also build a little waterfall , Taking Care of Your Bonsai over such a pit if you want, just throwing in boulders to hide your electric , The Flower Drying Game - Part 1: Air, Sand, and Sources and tubing, etc. Some people use bamboo , Some Favorite Garden Bulbs for spouts. You can also drill holes through slate (we've found it's really easy if you soak the slate for a day first). Slate is so porous, however, you ought to seal it once you're done drilling. You can also find rocks in nature , The Perfect Yellow Roses for Your Home or Garden that already have holes in them. How Big of a Pump , Mower Safety - Blood On The Blade! do I need? Basically, if you buy a fountain at a store you should have instructions on the best size pump , Industrial Blowers for that particular piece of garden , Hibiscus Care art. If you are making your own fountain, here is a rule of thumb: for every inch of width you need to pump , Let Your Venus Flytrap Frost Over 100 gallons per hour. But note that a100 gallon per hour pump , Tips for Preparing a Planting Bed is not pumping the same volume at one foot head (elevation above the pump), two feet head, three feet, and so forth. If you are making your own fountain, it is likely you will have to guess which size to buy, and you might be wrong the first time you build one. Most pumps , Care and Repair of Garden Tools are adjustable but often can be adjusted down only a bit. However, magnetic-driven pumps, , Finding Garden Benches: Get the Perfect Look for Your Garden the most common kind, are inexpensive and durable. You can find them online , Gardening - Growing Cacti At Home at many wholesale pumps , Tips for Preparing a Planting Bed outlets.Mike Guista is president of Fountain Mountain, Inc. and has published two books (Houghton Mifflin and Fountain Mountain Press). For more information , Winterizing Tips for Your Lawn and Garden about Water , Planting Bare Root Roses Wonders or buying wholesale pumps , The Protea Family (Proteaceae) don't hesitate to contact us. |
  
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