For my project I decided to make a planter box with a built in fountain. Initially, I planned on doing this project in a natural aesthetic, but I soon changed my mind to do an industrial aesthetic. I decided upon this change as I felt it left more room for a more interesting design that I haven’t seen anywhere. The final design uses a water pump to power the fountain with spots for planting flowers/plants. I planned to use a basin to house the project with plaster to create the industrial aesthetic. I also planned to have the plants growing from cracks in the faux-concrete and the fountain covered by some air ducting. I hope that this will all come together to create a artifact that has a nice juxtaposition of the muted colors from the industrial aesthetic with the bright hues of the flowers to be planted.

So far, the progress I have made is primarily functional, with some aesthetic progress. I began by acquiring a box window planter, water pump, plaster, and clear tubing. I chose the window box planter as it came with a shelf that I could use to hide the internal workings, and act as a water basin. This gave me space to both hold the water, plants, and fountain components in one small, light weight package. This was important as it makes my design portable for moving. At first I planned to use a DIY solar fountain kit, but the units I found had too large of a footprint to fit comfortably in my purchased housing. I then pivoted to looking at aquarium pumps, as they are low cost, filter the water, and are small. I settled on a Sicce Micra Plus aquarium fountain, due to the adjustable flow rate and one foot of pump head, plenty for my application.
I began by filling the planter with water, and attaching the clear plastic tubing to the pump. I then laid out the general layout I wanted for this artifact, and passed the tubing through the plastic cover. Then I began running the pump at different speeds to see where the fountain would reenter the basin, allowing me to hollow a hole there.

For the aesthetic progress for this project I have been experimenting with plaster as a way to mimic concrete. I did an initial test were I mixed the plaster and covered the outside of the planter box with it. This did achieve the general texture I has hoping for, and allowed me the paint directly on the plaster. However, after the first test, the plaster fell off the planter due to the flexibility of the plastic when bonded to the plaster caused it to break off. I changed my mixing ratios for the plaster by adding more water, this has showed more promise, but I am still worried about the durability of the artifact. In the future I plan on optimizing the plaster mixture ratios, finding a suitable paint for the artifact, and possibly adding more texture. This could be achieved by imprinting a sidewalk like design on the wet plaster, or adding features such as rocks or chipped concrete scraps. I have a functional project as of now, but I hope to nail the aesthetic down in the future.
References
[Featured Image] https://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/solar-water-fountain/
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulkreefsupply.com%2Fsicce-micraplus-pump-158-gph.html&psig=AOvVaw2U-0g2yT1IpL9TmPxDcsTF&ust=1746664887665000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBcQjhxqFwoTCLjzw_OPkI0DFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE
4 Comments. Leave new
Hi Grant,
First off, really cool project. This seems genuinely really useful. I noticed you mentioned a lot of challenges using plaster as faux-concrete, I’m curious why you don’t just use concrete? Is it a weight issue? This seems like a more durable option for sitting outside.
Thanks Claire! I did initially plan on using concrete but as you mentioned I was worried about the weight. I thought that the plaster would also make it easier to achieve the broken concrete look rather than trying to break concrete in the desired patterns, though looking back on it, concrete might have been the right choice.
Your planter box with a built-in fountain is a unique project! I like the shift to an industrial aesthetic, and the functional elements are coming together well with the pump and tubing. The plaster texture looks promising, and adjusting the mix should help with durability.
Thanks Brenton! I had experimented with a ton of plaster mixing portions and I found one that works alright. I think either choosing a different material for the basin or something other than plaster would be great for future revisions.