Converting a tiled water fountain to an above ground flower garden

by Steve
(Greeley, co)


I am converting an 8x8x1’ ceramic tile lined water fountain to an above ground flower garden. I live in Greeley co which is in hardiness zone 5b, and is a fairly dry climate.

Should I be worried about drainage in this kind of dry climate as I know it will require manual daily watering in the summer months? Should I drill a 3” hole in the side of the lowest corner and run some coiled drainage pipe on the bottom before adding container dirt mix?

This space is northeast facing and gets morning thru late afternoon sun.

Comments for Converting a tiled water fountain to an above ground flower garden

Click here to add your own comments

Jul 21, 2019
 It's more than just drainage
by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

To just fill this fountain with soil without any kind of drain hole will be disastrous. Don't waste your time on it if you can't drill a hole, or many holes.

What I would recommend instead (which will also save time and effort) is to fill the fountain with gravel or lava rock and then sink in individual pots with plants in so they can have soil tailored to their needs, and also be isolated from any chance of drowning in any water that collects in it. You could raise up certain areas with larger rocks to make sure this never happens, if you want to grow succulents which hate any hint of over watering.

This will be a much better solution than planting directly into the container mix - which may or may not be suited to all the types of plants you want to grow.

Best of luck with your project - please post again with the results.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Ask the Horticulturist.