Flowing water adds grace notes of elegance to your garden

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Water features add interest to a garden. To make a rock fountain, you will need a base container, a flowerpot, a fountain pump, tubing, a few stones and a little imagination.Here are a few tips before you begin:When shopping for a submersible fountain pump, choose one powerful enough to pump the water to the height you need for your project. For most small fountains, a pump that works to a height of 24 inches is sufficient.Most pumps don't include the tubing to move the water from the base to the top of the fountain, so you will need to purchase that separately. Most pumps come with an adaptor so that they can handle various sizes of tubing. You can find pumps and tubing at fountain-supply shops, most hardware stores and some craft and garden shops.The container you choose can be anything that won't rust or leak. Galvanized metal tubs, ceramic bowls and glazed clay pots work great. The base container needs to be deep enough so that the pump will be completely covered by water. If you use a flowerpot with a hole in the bottom, you may need a sponge cork to fill the hole. You can find these corks at a fountain-supply shop. Take the pot with you when buy the cork so that you get the correct size.We filled the container with cobblestones from a building-supply store. A large bucket of cobblestones costs $4 or $5. Most supply stores will allow you to handpick the ones you want.Choose the location for your fountain carefully. You will need access to electrical power to run the pump. Make sure you assemble the fountain where it will be displayed. You won't want to move it once it is assembled.Using easy-to-find materials, a simple fountain is inexpensive and fun to make.Rock FountainCost: $20-$50Skill level: BeginnerMaterials-- Submersible fountain pump-- 2 feet of tubing, approximately, to fit pump outlet-- Base container deep enough to submerge the pump-- Clay pot for filler (it won't show)-- Flowerpot with a hole in the bottom-- Sponge cork to fill the hole in the flowerpot, optional-- Cobblestones-- Water plants such as an ornamental grass, optionalInstructionsPlace the base container where you want to build the fountain. Make sure it is level.Following the instructions that came with the pump, attach the tubing to the pump. Place the pump in the base container and fill the container with water. Plug in the pump and turn it on to make sure it is running correctly. Water should flow through the tube and out the end.Place the clay pot upside down in the bottom of the base container. This clay pot is filler so that you won't need many decorative stones. Note: The pump should be behind this filler pot, not under it.Fill the base container with cobblestones. If you are adding water plants, leave them in the plastic pots they come in. Place the plants in the base container where you want them and wedge them between the cobblestones to hold them in place.Place the flowerpot on its side so that the bottom of the pot is resting on the edge of the base container and the top of the pot points toward the middle of the base container. Run the tubing through the hole in the bottom of the flowerpot. Put cobblestones inside the flowerpot to balance it and hold it in place. Trim the tubing if it is too long. Adjust the cobblestones and tubing until you like how it looks and how the water flows.Note: If water leaks from the hole in the bottom of the flowerpot, you have several options. You can angle the flowerpot so that the bottom is higher than the top and the water flows forward instead of pooling in the pot. You can insert a sponge cork in the bottom of the pot. Or you can seal the hole around the tubing with clear caulk and allow it to dry completely before turning on the fountain.(Gwen Schoen can be reached at gschoen(at)sacbee.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)