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DIY Water Feature

  1.  Choose the spot for your water feature.  I suggest putting it at the end of a gutter and downspout.

gutter and downspout at the back of a yellow farmhouse

2. Measure your piece of plastic.  Mine measures roughly 2 feet by 5 feet.  Make sure the plastic falls far behind the gutter so no 

    water can leak behind.

plastic placed near the downspout to make a water feature

3. Lay your plastic down and mark the borders with your shovel by lifting the plastic up.  Then remove the plastic and dig 3-    4 inches down to make your ditch.  Make sure the ditch allows water to drain away from the house.  You may need to       

    dig further down towards the end of your water feature.

a 4-5 inch canal dug into the soil at the end of a downspout. A large piece of black plastic lays above the canal and two shovels are rested next to the plastic

4.  Find some big rocks. We dug up and moved the rocks that were spread across our property. You could also look on Craigslist         or Marketplace.

A giant rock has been dug up from the yard. You can see the giant rock, the hole in the ground where the rock was and a shadow of the lady taking the picture
A giant rock is stuck int eground. The shovel is dug into the ground next to the giant rock and a shadow of a hang taking the picture is in the corner

5.  Line up the big rocks on the outside of your plastic. Then trim your plastic as close to the rocks as you can.

giant rocks and plastic placed near the downspout to make a water feature. The giant rocks are placed as a border

6. Head to your local hardware store to get river pebbles and river rocks. I used 5 bags of river pebbles and 3 bags of river 

   rocks.

a bag of river pebbles from Ace Hardward
A bag of river rocks from Ace Hardware

7. Dump the river rocks first. Make sure to spread them out as far as they will go. Then dump the river pebbles, getting them

    as close to the border as possible. Make sure you cover up the plastic with rocks.  Fill in the outside with sadust and soil to            give the grass a better chance of growing back.

Completed water feature make with little boulders, river pebbles, and river rocks. It is located at the downspout near the back of a yellow farmhouse next to the mud kitchen

Full story here.

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