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Want to add a little pool of water to your backyard as a landscaping feature, but don’t want to spend a lot of money on the materials or installation? One easy shortcut is just to use a large plastic storage tub. This project is ridiculously easy and can be customized to your heart’s content. Here are the basic steps:

1. Choose a location in your yard or garden. If you will be using a solar-powered fountain pump as part of the feature, make sure you pick an area that gets a lot of sunlight all year.

2. Dig a hole in the ground which is the right size and shape for your cheap plastic storage bin.

3. Insert the plastic container for storage into the ground.

4. If you want to add a water pump, place it in the bottom of the tub now.

5. Cover the bottom of the tub in large, attractive rocks. They will hold the pump steady, and will also disguise the bottom of the bin.

6. Hide the cord in whatever way is convenient. You can run it through dense plants, or you can bury it under the soil. Of course, if you skipped adding a pump, you can skip this step as well and go straight on to the next one.

7. Get some paving stones or flagstones and lay them over the edges of the plastic bin for gardening. This will conceal the edges of the bin. You will have some empty corners, but there are a ton of different ways you can fill those in using rocks or plants. Rocks may also work as an alternative to paving stones, so long as they are stable.

8. Add any water plants you want. If they are in black pots, the pots will be very hard to see (which is what you want).

9. Stabilize any pots you have added with more rocks, and arrange the rocks to further screen the pots. The more effort you put into this step, the better your pool will ultimately look.

10. Add your water and turn on your pump. Remember, the pump is optional. Use it if you want bubbling or a fountain.

11. Purchase an algae inhibitor and regularly treat you feature with it. Be prepared to clean the feature frequently just the same.

12. You can also consider purchasing solar-powered lights to go with your feature. That way it remains visible even after dark.

If you are clever about how you do this, and you work hard to hide the plastic bin and any plastic pots you insert inside, you should be able to make quite a convincing feature which will look at a glance like it is made entirely out of stone or concrete.

Experiment with different ideas in terms of the contents of the little pond and its edges, and you should be able to create a variety of different looks which are aesthetically pleasing and which can enhance any garden.