Do you want to add a water feature to your small garden? If yes, then create a Pond in a Pot with our quick and easy guide.
If you know what you’re doing, a pond in a Pot can be the perfect lawn centerpiece or the most mesmerizing part of your balcony garden.
Scrolling down until the end will convince you that creating a miniature water garden with water lilies and irises blooming, fountains bubbling, and fishes swimming is pretty much possible.
Why Create a Potted Pond?
A DIY pond in a pot is a combination of potted aquatic plants. It is easy to maintain and needs little care. You can arrange plants whenever and wherever you like.
Having it in the garden is fun–it’s something you can enjoy without much work, and it’s a lovely experience growing new kinds of plants for your mini water garden in the container. What’s not to like?
How to Create a Pond in a Pot?
1. Choose a Container
Take as large as you can, a tub, bowl, or container, whichever you can use. Ceramic and Plastic containers of 10-15 gallons are best, or use your old wash tub, porcelain container, old wine box, or whiskey barrel.
Choose a pot painted with a dark color from the inside; this way, your pond will look more spacious and deep. If possible, make a pond in a pot that’s at least 16 inches wide and 10 inches deep.
2. Pick a Place for the Pond
Your container water garden will provide a serene ambiance, so place it wisely after deciding whether the source of water is near it or not, whether it receives sunshine for about six hours but shade in the afternoon, and so on.
Then, you will need to check how it looks from different angles. If placed well, it can become a beautiful focal point of your small garden.
3. Add the Plants
Choose three to five plants according to the size of your container; take different types of aquatic plants. Erect plants like ‘yellow flag iris,’ Umbrella grass, and cattail, floating plants like water hyacinth and pennywort, and broadleaf plants like the giant arrowhead, elephant ear, or calla lily.
For a nicer arrangement, keep tall plants at the back and short cascading plants near the edges. If you’re growing floating plants, keep them in the middle and be ready to thin them out occasionally to prevent overcrowding.
If your container is larger than the suggested 14-16 inches wide and 10 inches deep, you can grow deep-rooted water plants like lotus and water lilies, too.
These aquatic plants need at least 10 inches of water over their roots and a bit of space to spread their foliage.
4. Set up Your Container Water Garden
Once you’ve chosen a container, placed it in a suitable spot, and picked plants, you’re ready to set up your pond in a pot. Just fill the container with rainwater, or if you’re using tap water, make sure it’s chlorine-free, and dip the potted plants you’ve bought.
All you need to do is place them in specific depths of the container, which you can find out easily on the internet according to each plant.
For this, use bricks that vary in height to make a picturesque arrangement; see the diagram above for better insight. You can also install a water fountain and add fish to the pond.
Caring for Your Container Water Garden
Making a pond in a pot is easy, but caring for it is even easier. Here’s what you need to do.
Keep an eye on the water level. Add more water to keep the plants and fish happy if it gets too low. Your container water garden will thrive with this simple practice.
Algae will be a problem, too, and to prevent this — paint a dark color inside your container and occasionally drain the water when decomposed matter populates on the bottom.
Our recommendation is to add a handful of barley straw in breathable mesh and submerge it in pond water. The decomposition of the straw will prevent algae growth for 3-4 months, after which you should replace it again!
Mosquitoes can also be a challenge and can be the root cause of diseases for you and your children. Install a bubbler or fountain to avoid still water, you can also use mosquito dunk if you’re not adding goldfish or guppies to prevent their larvae from thriving.
Additional Tips
- To overwinter it in cool climates, bring it indoors as soon as the temperature reaches 50 F (10 C).
- Your indoor space should have a warm, stable room temperature and receive indirect sunlight.
- Using an aquarium heater is a great idea if you’re keeping fishes but ensure it’s not touching plant roots directly.
- Use diverse plants, but don’t overcrowd your mini pond in a pot.
- For a pond in a pot with fish, you need to de-chlorinate water using chlorine removal tablets.
That is all you need to create a beautiful pond in a pot for your small outdoor or indoor garden. Don’t forget to share your feedback in comments!
Y dont u share links of website from from we can buy plants and containers in RS and not dollars
Thank you for your feedback. We will definitely look into this.
Find a local source for water plants and more plant information, asking also about adding fish and how to feed them, as they can be a great, fun asset to the water plants! It’s not very expensive- get at least a bubbler and get one lotus, or more but if possible, but do not miss out on that experience!!
Do we need to buy the food 4 the fish or it´ll eat from algae from the pot?
Fish need to be fed a high quality fish food. They need space to swim and oxygen from the bubbles from a fountain. They will also eat algae and mosquito larvae, but do need supplementary feeding.
Absolutely, thanks for commenting here, as I was wondering why anyone would not learn that fish need to be fed, too! The bubbler was also an important part of the little pond and are not expensive.
Will a clear basin work.?
Not really, you’ll have an overgrowth of algae that way. It’s best for a very dark pot or liner. I had a “half-whiskey barrel” planter and a black liner that was made for that half barrel. (Lowe’s Home Improvement, lo these many years ago when they were ll the rage.) This was a few years ago, and I even got algae growth in that anyway. I never fed my gold fish, didn’t even know they were still in there!! They were, and one a big ol’ fella too! They overwintered, both fish and my lily, in 6b area temps (90 degrees down to -10 degrees), so when I moved and couldn’t keep it, I emptied it and found the fish still in there – total amazement!! I wouldn’t try clear unless it’s a table top size and you can empty and clean it often. Also, I’m wondering – maybe too hot for gold fish? They don’t care for too high a temp water which is why they don’t need an aquarium heater.
Hope this helps! (I’m not the author of this article…)
Very nice. I want to get it
These are so pretty and encourage people to start out with the basic hard shell, approximately 3’ diameter, available at Lowes. It’s a great thing to see a lotus blossoming outside your door. We live at our farm, zone 7 Piedmont of N. C., and definitely plan to have the “fancy-tailed” goldfish in addition, which do need feeding btw, don’t understand not doing so. Be sure to get a bubbler and now curious about a mini waterfall!