!: Bamboo Fountains - Creating Your Own Tropical Paradise

While the thought of creating bamboo fountains may seem a bit challenging, doing so is surprisingly simple, and can requires only a few items available at any home improvement retailer like Home Depot or Lowe's. In no time, you can build strikingly attractive bamboo fountains to grace your home's interior for years.

Parts For Your Bamboo Fountains

Bamboo fountains can be built from parts easily obtained wither online or from a home garden or hardware supplier. The most important components of bamboo fountains, or any fountains, for that matter, are the fountain pumps. Look for the fountain pumps' gph, or gallon-per-hour-ratings on their boxes, and select one with a lower rating if you prefer a soothing flow of water to a more energetic one.

You should next look for half-inch tubing with which to connect the pumps for your bamboo fountains. Because tubing is so inexpensive, you should go ahead and buy twice what you think you will actually use, to be on the safe side.

Then find a waterproof container. You can get an inexpensive flower pot made of waterproof terra cotta, but try to find ones with no drainage holes; otherwise you will have to seal them. Terra cotta containers come in several sizes, so you will have plenty to work with.

Finally, choose your bamboo which is also available in several sizes. You should cet at least tow different sizes; three-quarter and two inch widths would be a good choice but whatever sizes you choose should be large enough to cover the water spouts on the pumps for your bamboo fountains. Get pieces of bamboo which are about three feet long, and make sure you have a hand saw to trim them as needed. You'll also need raffia, decorative gravel or rocks, and wire mesh screen.

Assembling Your Bamboo Fountains

To assemble your bamboo fountains, begin by sealing any drainage holes in your containers with cork covered with a waterproof adhesive. While that dries, trim your bamboo canes to lengths of about fifteen inches, and drill a hole into some of the canes so that they will hold the nozzles of your bamboo fountains' pumps. Next, use raffia to lash enough pieces of bamboo together so that they will completely conceal the pumps.

Then place pieces of your wire mesh over the bases of your pumps, by cutting it in circles the diameter of the bases of your containers. Place the pumps into the pots, covering them with the gravel or rocks, and inserting the nozzle of the pumps into the bamboo canes which you have drilled. By tipping that bamboo cane into another one, you will cause the water to cascade and produce a waterfall. Pour your water in, and as your bamboo fountains [http://www.topfountains.com/category/contemporary-fountains] come to life, you'll get the first glimpse of the lasting beauty they will add to your home!