Wading Pool Garden Basics

There are several ways to create a wading pool garden using the wick method.  This website will show you how to create an inexpensive wading pool garden using items you currently throw away or recycle.  Here is what you need:

  • a plastic wading pool 45" or 60" in diameter depending on the size of the planned location.  It is also possible to create one of these wick gardens in a 2.5' diameter plastic tub.  An illustration of this alternate will come later.
  • a can of spray paint which will adhere to plastic
  • a drill, ice pick, or sharp knife
  • an empty flower pot - the kind purchased plants come in
  • empty aluminum beverage cans 
  • old athletic socks or rags
  • wood mulch and/or grass clippings
  • garden or potting soil

The first step is the prepare the container.  


This photo taken at Dr. Martin Price's home in Ft. Myers, FL, illustrates how a wading pool garden can be placed in locations which normally would not easily sustain such a concentration of flowers like directly under a tree.  The flowers do not complete with the tree for water since their source is in the wading pool and the not the ground.