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A container water garden is a great way to create a miniature oasis for wildlife and to bring the sound of moving water to your landscape without needing the space, time, or energy required for an in-ground water feature. Containerized water gardens are easy to make and maintain. They are miniature water gardens that host plants, birds, frogs, and insects. You can even place a few small fish in them to add another element of interest. This article offers inspiring ideas for container water gardens, tips for maintaining them, and shares simple instructions for DIYing your own.
Creating a pond in a pot is a fun project that’s helpful to wildlife. Photo credit: Mark Dwyer
What is a container water garden?
A container water garden is basically a mini water garden. It’s a small pond that’s contained in a decorative vessel. Container gardeners know how growing in pots simplifies the gardening process and reduces the maintenance required of the gardener (no weeds!). It’s the same with water gardens in pots. They’re low maintenance and easy to set up. Within a couple of weeks, your mini water garden will become an established habitat for water-loving creatures, and you’ll come to look forward to spending evenings sipping wine with the sound of moving water from your mini-pond in the background.
A container water garden can be simple or complex. It can be large or small. There are only a few essential elements needed: a watertight container, a few aquatic plants, water, and the perfect location. Let’s talk about how to combine these four elements to make your own water garden in a pot.
There are lots of different container options for your water garden. This gardener used an old bathtub.
What kind of pot to use for a water garden
For containerized water gardens, my first choice is to use a glazed ceramic pot, but any water-tight container will do. In the project plans below, I tell you how to seal any drainage holes in the bottom of the pot before you use it. The other option is to select a pot that has no drainage holes in the first place.
Avoid porous pots, such as clay pots, because the water will quickly seep out through them unless you take the time to apply a spray sealant to the interior and exterior. If you want to build a water garden in a half whiskey barrel or another wooden container that may also slowly leach water, line the interior with a double layer of pond liner at least 10 mm thick before filling the container with water.
There are many types of decorative pots you could use for your container water garden. Avoid plastic containers if you plan to have fish in your mini pond because of the chemicals they might leach. And skip dark metal options if possible because the water housed inside of them can get very warm if the pot is kept in the sun.
This clever gardener used a stock tank to create a modern water garden filled with horsetail. Since this is an invasive plant, a contained environment is the perfect choice.