How to build a stone garden fountain with water circulation and plants

Hey, so I wanted to build a water fountain that would connect to a small solar panel that I had, and in my head I saw a pile of stones with concrete, and holes between them where plants grow from.
I had an old 12v aquarium pump I once ordered fromAliexpress, and it was perfect for what I needed.

So, on to the guide!

Shit you'll need

• A washtub, or otherwise a big enough tub for your project.
• Stones. I suggest going out to nature and finding nice ones, possibly ones with holes in them that I didn't find.
• Concrete powder, to make some concrete to fill the gaps.
• A small fountain water pump.

Setting it together

At first, circle your tub with stones, and than pile stones up (inside the tub too) one on top of the other, it leaves gaps, those are great for later. you can leave the "back" of your tub uncovered for easy access to the pump and all that.

Once it looks like what you had in mind, make concrete, depending on the compound you have, its mainly just adding water and mixing a lot. You want a thick, muddy concrete, not a watery one, as you will need to shape it.
Stick the concrete in between the stones, so the structure will be stronger, fill in the smaller gaps (but leave the big ones) .
On the first day of drying, the concrete needs to be watered every few hours so it doesn't crack.
On the top, stick the pipe of your pump out a big pile of concrete, and shape that pile into a small pond, where the water will gather.

Creating pockets for plants

Once the concrete has completely dried, we want to create pockets for planting or sowing seeds.
I used an old towel, cut into smaller pieces and created like cones from it, and inserted into the gaps , but you can use any means you want for holding the soil in, and just fill them with soil.

Now, plug the pump in and turn on the system, break a bit of the concrete of the pond on top, so that the water flow to all sides of your structure, and watch how they go.
If needed, using concrete, create trails for the water to go where you want them to, and make sure the water ends up dripping back into your tub, so that you won't need to re-fill it much.
once ready, plant or sow plants like spicey herbs or mint for your morning tea.

I will upload pictures in a few weeks when its all green of happy herbs :)

Hope you liked my guide :)

-Simba