[9/20/23 Note: Use underlayment under your pond liner. When I made this mini pond, I skipped putting a layer of underlayment between the ground and the pond liner. Now, about a year after building the pond, it has developed a leak. It shouldn’t be a huge problem to replace the liner, and it will give me an opportunity to make some other changes, but I wish I had used underlayment. It adds some cost but probably worth the expense.]
I made this little "bird pond" as a demonstration to show that it is possible to create an easy-to-build and inexpensive water feature for the birds in your yard. I hesitate to even call this a "water feature" because it certainly is not something designed as a garden or landscape feature. It is small and quiet, and will hardly be noticeable in your landscape. But ... the birds will notice it and enjoy it! And the birds coming and going from this little bird pond will definitely add activity and beauty to your landscape.
I made this in one day and the total cost of materials was under $50. This does use a small electric water pump, so you will need to chose a location that has an outlet nearby. I built mine on a terraced area next to my house and ran an extension cord from an outlet on the back deck.
It only took about three days for the birds to discover and start using this little pond. Some of the birds that visited were migrating warblers, which makes me think that, although it is quiet, the water makes enough sound for it to be discoverable by birds that are new to my yard.
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Supplies for this project:
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PULACO 95 GPH Mini Submersible Water Pump amzn.to/3Djgzku
Small pond liner - 4'x7' seems to be as small as they come. You'll need most of the four feet to line the reservoir and have plenty left at the top edges. amzn.to/3VLES1L
River Pebbles - I found 48lb bags of river pebbles at Lowes for under $6 a bag. I reused some pebbles from a previous project, so I just bought one bag. I probably would have needed two bags if I was using all new.
Berry Box - I have tried various containers to protect these mini pumps. This berry box is the best solution I've found yet! Since it's almost exactly the same height at the pump, the pump helps support the center of the box. And the box I had even has a nifty opening for the cord to pass through. The label on the box says it held 6 oz of berries.
If you have questions, please ask in the comments section. If you build one of these or something similar, please leave a comment and let me know how it works out for you.
#birdpond #diybirdbath #attractbirds #tinypond #birdbath #wildlifehabitat
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