Mini pond container gardens are easy to make. I built this small pond with an old bucket, a pond pump filter, and rocks!
I really love water features. I have a larger pond in my garden, but I would have a water feature everywhere if I could. I decided to build a small mini pond container garden for in front of my barn.
This will help provide additional soundproofing for my animal assisted therapy practice, as well as help make the area more attractive. It’s close to an electrical outlet which is important so I don’t need to run extension cords to run the pond pump.
Many thanks to POPOSOAP for providing the pond filter and sponsoring this post.
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DIY Mini Pond Container Garden
Project Supplies
- POPOSOAP Pond Filter with Pump Fountain Kits, 660GPH: https://amzn.to/3ROi3ti
- Old container without drainage holes: Horse troughs or muck buckets are excellent options and sometimes you can find them cheap or free.
- Pond plants
- Rocks: Collect these from around your yard for FREE.
The POPOSOAP Pond Filter with Pump Fountain Kit, 660GPH
I am using a 660 gallon per hour pond filter with pump which is overpowered for this size pond, but it works great and I like how it’s built. I believe this filter will get clogged less than some of the ones I’ve used in the past due to the exterior box surrounding it and the filtration pads.
You need a pond pump that can circulate about half your pond’s worth of water in an hour. I have absolutely no clue how many gallons of water this bucket holds, but I doubt it’s 1,320 gallons. This is definitely overkill, but overkill helps keep water clear and hopefully I won’t need to unclog it very frequently.
You want to oversize your pump and filter if you have fish or frogs in your pond.
This kit comes with filtration and a pump so you can both filter and create a waterfall or fountain effect. There are several nozzles to change the effect for the fountain, and the fountain should provide oxygen to the pond water if you plan to add fish. I would use a large trough if you want to add fish, however, as this is quite small for most pond fish.
The box that holds the pump is weighed down with stones to keep it from floating… this is easier than pumps that stand on their own as it’s harder to weigh them down. The box also has filter pads and filter balls to help prevent clogging.
If I need to clean it, I can remove the rocks, remove the whole box, and take the lid off, easily giving me full access to clean everything on the interior.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Clean out your container and get it prepared for setup.
Step 2: Setup your filter and pump. Add a couple of small rocks to help weigh it down. Make sure that the top is secured properly.
Step 3: Place the pond filter in the bottom of your container.
Step 4: Add water to above the box to test out your pump. Once you verify that everything is working correctly, start to build your miniature pond.
Step 5: Flip over a small container and place some flat rocks over it. The small container just reduces how many rocks you’ll need to fill the container and leaves lots of open area for extra water (I like to think this means that the container won’t dry up if I go on vacation for a week mid summer).
You can surround the pond box so that it’s hidden from view, but don’t block the spout.
Step 6: Continue to pile rocks, but leave spaces for plants to grow between.
Step 7: Add pond plants as desired. I added taller plants in the back and shorter plants in the front.
We have a large garden pond in… you guessed it… our garden. This houses all of our fish and plants, so I was able to steal some extra plants from that pond to help decorate this one. I am using creeping jenny (a favorite), either Sweet flag or Broadleaf Cattail, and some type of water lily root, I believe.
It’s only April here in Maryland so it will be some time before this will be in full bloom, but I’m eager to see how this looks in a few months!
Step 8: Fill your container to your desired height and plug it in.
That’s all there is to it! These small ponds are SO much easier to build than their larger counterparts… with no fish, they are also easier to care for and the rocks keep them from being a drowning risk for children and small animals. This size pond can create that trickling or bubbling noise that we all love, and bees, birds, and small wildlife can drink water from the pond as needed.
DIY Video
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