Transform A Dingy Tire Into A Stunning DIY Garden Pond

Outdoor living spaces are more popular now than ever before. According to Forbes, this surge in popularity was kicked into hyperdrive during the pandemic and has continued to swell since. At the same time, DIY home improvement has been gaining popularity as well, with many homeowners looking to undertake outdoor updates that add value to their homes as well as to their time spent outside. Concurrent to both of these trends, environmentalism has been pushed to the public forefront, with an emphasis on recycling and repurposing.

These three rising trends can all be combined into one project by transforming a dingy tire into a stunning DIY garden pond. A garden pond, used for birds, koi fish, or aquatic plants, is a great addition to any outdoor space. This project not only adds a nice element to your backyard, it helps repurpose an item destined for the dump and allows you to scratch that DIY itch.

The first step to creating a stunning DIY garden pond is to choose and get the materials you need. Since one of the primary benefits of this particular garden pond build is the opportunity to repurpose an old tire, number one on the list of supplies is an old tire. The thing about tires is they come in an almost infinite number of diameter and width combinations. In reality, anything from a standard truck tire to a tractor tire can be used. It really depends on how big of a pond you want to build. Additionally, you will need a shovel and jigsaw or reciprocating saw. Those three things -– tire, shovel, and saw –- are the essentials, the remainder of tools and supplies will depend on how you choose to build the pond.

Tire ponds can be sealed in one of two ways — lining it with a heavy plastic sheet or filling the center hole with concrete. If you choose plastic, you need a sheet of heavy plastic liner large enough to overlay the tire by at least one foot. If you choose concrete, you will need enough for the inner portion of the tire with about a two-inch layer. To prevent water from slowly seeping out through the concrete plug, you may want to take the additional step of sealing it with a brush-on water sealer. Finally, get any decorative stones or rocks you want lining or in the pond.

Another great thing about this DIY old tire garden pond project is it doesn't take a high level of skill to get amazing results. It is actually on par with building a budget friendly fire pit in terms of both cost and necessary skill — only minimal of each is needed. The pond can be as basic or complex as you wish.

The first step either way is to cut the sidewall portion off one side of the tire. Once that is done, the simplest of ponds would entail laying the plastic liner over the entire tire, placing rocks or bricks around the outside of the tire to hold the liner in place, and filling the pond with water. A slightly more advanced version of this build would be digging a hole slightly larger than the tire so the pond is in the ground rather than above. Then, place the liner and rocks in place.

If using concrete instead of plastic, place the tire where it needs to be — whether on the ground or in a hole. Mix the concrete, then fill the entire hole in the center of the bottom of the tire with concrete. Be sure to overlap the concrete into the bottom tire wall. Build the concrete up to a height of a couple inches. Once it is dry, coat with a water sealant if you so choose. Then, line the edges with decorative stones or bricks and fill with water.