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never_give_up

looking for creative ways to hide the well pipe

never-give-up
16 years ago

The well is in what will be the sunken garden. The garden is just now under construction and will eventually be surrounded by a stone retaining wall and stone paths. I am looking for a creative way to hide the well pipe. Perhaps some piece of farm junk. I grew up on a farm and want to keep the theme kind of like that with a cottage garden look combined.

Any one out there have any ideas? What did you use to hide yours?

Comments (19)

  • deedlesmom
    16 years ago

    If the well pipe is where your pump is then you won't want something permanent. I have a very large chimney top on mine with a gazing ball on top of that. The chimney top kinda looks like a lighthouse with the ball. DH keeps saying he's going to put a light inside of it.
    Sheree

  • Dottie B.
    16 years ago

    The old stand by around here is to put a wishing well over it. I'd love to do some landscaping around our well, but am worried about it interfering with the water in some way.

    You could also put a wagon wheel in front of it, or maybe build a little table to fit over it and have a plant or some other item sitting on the table.

  • jannoel_gw
    16 years ago

    You could mosaic the pipe.

  • msmarion
    16 years ago

    I've seen them done with what looks like a dog house.

  • never-give-up
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    The fact that it has to not block access to the well and I don't want to do anything either that would possibly contaminate the well, does make it a challenge to hide yet make it part of the garden.

    The miniature well house/dog houses are popular around here, but most homeowners just say to heck with it and leave the ugly thing as it is.

    You have come up with some interesting ideas already! I never would have thought of mosaic.

    deedlesmom what is your chimney top made of? Is it one of those clay english pot type or is it a salvage of an actual top of a chimney? Either way what imagination! Sounds like a really clever use of "rescued" material.

    With all the marvelous junk treasures out there there must be something we can use. It would be great if you would keep the ideas coming as this is a common problem. The table/plant idea does have a cottage garden feel. adina72 do you have theme or type of garden that you are shooting for? Maybe if it is different than mine you could get some ideas from this thread too, as could others.

    Thanks and please keep the ideas coming.

  • chris2u
    16 years ago

    I'm not sure what yours looks like. Another poster had a cap of some sort on hers and wanted to cover the cap. If it's just a pipe, maybe something like a small metal-type windmill would blend nicely. If you attached a small satellite dish (freecycle) to a piece of PVC pipe, you could slip it over the pipe and paint it like a big mushroom...depending on the height/proportion of the pipe, of course.

    anotherchris

  • never-give-up
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Mine is a pipe with a cap that measures approximately 7 1/2" across.

    A mushroom made from a satellite dish--Now that is imaginative! I just found this forum and I must say it is awesome just how creative you folks are.

    Is there another thread on this sort of thing? If so, does anyone know how to find it? I tried a search before I posted and didn't find anything.

  • lindasewandsew
    16 years ago

    Hi, Since I like to build birdhouses, I would build a great big birdhouse with no floor. Instead of cutting a hole in the front, just paint the hole on it with black paint. You could even build a miniature cottage type house or a small barn, which you could park old farm stuff in front of. Either make it easy to tip over, or build just a front and partial sides, like a movie set. Also, search for well cover on Google and Google Images and other search engines. Linda

  • Vangy
    16 years ago

    I gave a friend a "curb shopped" white wicker chair and she put it over her well pipe w/ a beautifull potted pink geranium graced it.
    Could make a yard lady, or scarecrow for it, or use large stuffed critter or........

    Vangy likes to play in the dirt

  • never-give-up
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Lindasewandsew gave me an idea. Oh, if only I had Calif. weather!!! I could put a train station over it and put in a train. The sunken garden is happening because of a large tapering hunk of ledge which makes the lay of the land awkward to use otherwise. But would make a great "mountain" for the train to climb. We could put in trestles. Bonsai the trees and shrubs to keep them in scale. We could build a village. Put a barn on the outskirts of the village with pasture for the minature cows and horses. A little tractor could be plowing the corn field, which could be graced with vangy's scarecrow. Oh, what possibilities! The train could pass by the farm on the way out of town then head up the "mountain".

    A water fall on the edge of the "mountain" could form the "lake" below at the other edge of town. The lake could have docks for boats and for a plane. Off the lake could be a river with a mill and working water wheel. Of course the farm would have to have chris2u's windmill. Boy, wouldn't that be a blast to build and to play with!

    All of that because of a well pipe. Who would have thought. lol

    Actually that sounds like such fun I may have to build it in the cellar!

  • never-give-up
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Sorry, Me Bad. Didn't mean to get off garden junk. It was early in the morning, got an idea and ran with it.

  • never-give-up
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks Amaqan for sharing the picture and the ideas. Your pond is beautiful, the landscaping around it is awesome! It looks so natural.

  • lwfrog
    15 years ago

    I was surfing looking for plans to hide our well pipe. I have some old cedar fence boards and thought I would build a mini outhouse to cover the pipe. I'll leave it open at the bottom so it can be lifted on and off. Ours sticks up about 3 feet and I hate looking at it.

  • flatbill
    14 years ago

    I put a pair of matching planter pots over my well pipe, with the bottom pot upside down, and the upper pot right side up. Then I put plants in it. When shopping for pots, set them up in the store to see if you like the look. I liked the pots with a bit of taper to them. Measure your pipe height first, it took some tall pots to cover mine. I also used construction glue between them, so that they don't move around.

  • joseywales
    10 years ago

    I've seen bird baths used to cover these well pipes. The pedestal type bird baths with a hollow pedestal that can slide over things. Some folks use hollowed out stumps for this application as well. Just make sure you're not covering anything with an electric motor in it that may overheat. And be sure to measure correctly if you end up ordering a decorative cover on-line. There are some measuring tips at the site I found below.

    Here is a link that might be useful: decorative well cover measuring tips

  • adrianagut
    9 years ago

    A neighbor of mine had custom covers made to look like little gnome houses. They are lined in aluminum for lightning protection and have an electrical connection for a low wattage bulb to keep the pump from freezing.

  • ravencajun Zone 8b TX
    9 years ago

    You could take a 5 gallon plastic bucket cover it with broken tiles and have a moasic stand to put a planter on or build a garden totem to put on top of it. Instead of tile you can use those glass pebble things that are used in flower vases. They come in all colors so you can make designs. I use them a lot to decorate my totems.
    If you are not familiar with garden totems do a search using the search function at the bottom of the forum page and Google that term to see images. I have made many. Just be sure to use the GE 2 clear silicon caulk for outdoor use.
    The bucket can look like this just much bigger and any colors.

  • ravencajun Zone 8b TX
    9 years ago

    Didn't realize how old this thread was!
    But I might as well offer another suggestion in case someone else can use it.
    Made with a bucket, a vase and either a large planter saucer or a serving tray. We use them to serve boiled crawfish in lol.

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