You can have a water feature in your front or back yard, even if you don't have much space. Use any type of container, as long as it holds water! A pot that's 16" or larger is best.

In my sunny backyard, I used an old laundry tub which I saved when we installed a basement bathroom. It measures about 24" square, so I dug the hole a bit larger, sunk the tub, leveled it and packed soil around it. I purchased a small pump and an outdoor extension cord. I filled the tub with water, installed the pump, which needs a short length of hose (tubing) to reach above the water's level, plugged in the cord and it worked!                  

DO NOT plug in the cord until you have placed the pump in the container filled with water. You'll need to do some adjusting to the tubing, maybe cutting it shorter or setting it so that you can hear the water gurgling or you may need a rock or two or an upturned pot with a large hole, to hold the tubing in place.

After filling your container with water, leave for 24 hours, before setting in the plants.

Before winter sets in, remove and clean the pump, and empty the tub, which will be cleaned in the summer before it's used again. Your plants can be stored indoors in pots filled with water. An easy way to empty the tub is to let the pump do the work, just hang the plastic tubing over the edge of the tub and plug it in, however keep in mind that the pump must always remain submerged in water while this is being done.

If you have space for only one pot, you could purchase a miniature water lily and one oxygenating plant without a pump as lilies do not like moving water. 

It all sounds simple to set up and it is. Don't deny yourself the pleasure any longer!

Here are plants for your water garden:

Parrots feather, hornwort, a choice of hardy and tropical water lilies, varieties of rush, marsh marigold, mare's tail, water hyacinths and water lettuce lotus and papyrus.

Here's a link to search for the container that would be suitable for your outdoor space.

We have found the perfect pump for your container garden.

WaterGarden shows you, with diagrams, exactly how to set up a water garden.

The articles will teach you more and provide you with basic skills, tips, inspiration and success stores on container and other types of gardening.