Container water feature help?

elsien

I want to do a smallish fish free water container garden in my back garden. It's not suitable to run electricity down there, so it just needs to be either static, or maybe with a solar powered fountainy thing, coz I like the sound of running water.

My question is, what happens in the winter. I'm looking at a ceramic pot, and have borrowed a Charlie Dimmock book about how to seal it etc. But it says that I'll need to empty it each winter. What do I do about the plants to keep them stored over winter, and what about any wildlife that has taken up residence? Don't want to make anything homeless if I can possibly help it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. (Have decided against a half barrel, as I want something brighter, and the gardens not big enough to dig out a proper pond.)

mary43

I've got a half barrel container as a water feature. No running water and it stays as it is all year apart from thinning out the water plants a bit in spring. I'd have loved a pump of some kind but it would have been complicated so I bought an old fashioned pump from a junk shop, sat if on the side and as the barrels against the garage wall I tied the pump to the drainpipe with wire t secure it. So, it looks like the pump works though it doesn't. Loads of insect type creatures in it but nothing more than that. There's the small water lily plants in it, some bamboo and another reed type plant someone gave me.
We were going to paint the barrel to brighten it up but decided against it.
I think if you look for 'Charlie Dimmock water features' on google you might find a bit more.

WestonDave

A ceramic pot needs to be emptied in winter as it is rigid and won't give enough to survive the water in it freezing. A wooden barrel or plastic container will give just a little in frost conditions and won't split.

There's no reason why you couldn't go for a half barrel and then colour it with one of the modern outdoor timber treatments?

elsien

I bought my pot, and my charlie dimmock book from the charity shop, and have ground to a halt. The pot is ceramic glazed on the outside and unsealed inside. According to good old Charlie, I need clear resin or silicon to seal the insides, available from builders merchants.
The garden centre tried to sell a pot of something at £30. B&Q first suggested PVA, which is water resistant not water proof, then the tubes of silicon squirty stuff. The silicon is ok price wise, as it's in trade packs, but says on the side not suitable for aquaria. Is this because it's poisonous or what? I don't want to put any fish in, I just need to know what to use that will work, won't kill my plants and won't break the bank.
She made it sound so easy........and it's getting more complicated by the day..................help, anyone, please?

mary43

Sorry.........can't help as far as a water garden in a pot goes but I bought half a barrel for mine, lined it with pond liner, filled with water and popped plants in. It's been there four years now and is as good as ever.
Maybe a bit of pond liner would do the trick ?

elsien

I thought of that, but didn't think it would look as nice - the pot's quite light coloured, and white inside so a black liner would probably look out of place.
That's going to be plan B if all else fails.

mary43

Worth looking to see if there are any other kind of pond liners other than black.
I'm sure I saw something in a catalogue after we'd done out wildlife pond where the liner resembled shingle and would have looked much better than the black in pond.Might have been a lot more money though.
By the time you get plants in the pot you may not even notice the liner anyway.
Good luck with it. These projects are never as easy as they appear to be

Davesnave

This is all a bit puzzling!

I don't get your problem. Is the silicone just to seal the hole in the bottom, or to waterproof the entire inside of the container?

And Mary, how is OP to fit a flat liner into a 3D pot without it looking a total disaster area?

If you want to seal the entire interior, which isn't glazed, then I think glassfibre resin would do it cheaply + the cost of one brush per coat. Silicone isn't much good for wide areas and the stuff that cost £30 was probably pond sealant, which is expensive.

But do you have a problem at all? If the outside is glazed, there will only be a small area on the foot of the pot which isn't, and you could stand it on something non-porous to avoid marking.

Sorry if I have misunderstood any of this.

annie123

I am sure the silicone is to seal the hole at the bottom, would cost a lot to do the whole pot!!??
Should the rest of the inside need treating then what about yacht varnish? £5 for a small tub, easy to get, available in clear and waterproof.
I would put on at least 2 coats.

Or get another pot that is already waterproof

mary43

Yacht varnish could work......and certainly not that expensive.

dave - piece of pond liner was just an idea if no other solution could be found. Not the ideal thing I know but it works for my round barrel..........was just a thought

elsien

I was probably being a bit thick, but I presumed that as the inside wasn't glazed, the whole of the inside needed doing - never occurred to me that the outside glaze would do the trick.:o
Annie123 - spent enough on the one pot without looking for another - and it's really pretty. If I needed it, where would I get yacht varnish - bit far from the sea in these parts?
Thanks all for the helpful suggestions, one and all.
Might be back for more when I've actually planted the thing.