How to keep a bird bath from tipping over
One major issue to overcome when setting up what should of been a simple bird bath for your yard, soon turns into a nightmare when dealing with the littlest of wind.
How to keep a bird bath from tipping over would require a little invention on your part, with perhaps a little expense needed. To keep a lightweight, cheap plastic bird bath standing in wind, be sure to use stabilising pegs. Better still, why not fix a post to its base, used as an anchor embedded into the ground.
Nothing changes when using any type of bird bath in your backyard, in fact you'd be hard pressed to buy a bird bath that doesn't tip over at all.
Well, that can only apply to pedestal type bird baths, while getting started with a hanging or ground level bird bath would help you avoid these issues all together.
To keep a bird bath from tipping over would begin on a flat surface. Its then a matter of making life easier on the lawn, or a little more difficult if centering the bird bath on concrete, such as a patio.
Begin by using stabilizing pegs to thread through the base, buried deep into the ground; all at a drastic angle to prevent the pegs making their way out in due course.
Similarly, you'd want to do this if setting up on a patio of any kind, but you'd need to drill through the concrete by making sure this is a tight squeeze for the pegs to be inserted.
Its important to keep an eye on your bird bath as any movement would see your hard work go to waste if the bath can continue to move, so it must be stable at all times.
Little movement can be stopped if adding stones and an additional rock used as a perch within the water - but so too can an actual stone or cast iron bird bath on a pedestal help.
Insert pegs into ground
One of the best things you can do to help keep your bird bath from tipping over, is of course inserting stabilizing pegs into the ground.
Not a sound solution I grant you, but for lightweight plastic pedestal bird baths, this should certainly help a lot.
Up to four pegs would be needed but more is recommended as a backup, as one or two pegs will fail in high winds.
If the stabilizing pegs were indeed to be pulled out of the ground, the few remaining pegs won't be enough to remain imbedded in the ground.
Take 4-6 stabilizing pegs then but don't insert them into the ground on a 90 degree, or a vertical position even.
Instead, you'd need to follow the same rules of inserting pegs for setting up a tent for camping - to insert the pegs on a 45 degree angle.
Landscape over base
Once again this would apply to your lightweight pedestal bird bath but less so the more heavier stone bird baths.
What you would do here is load up gravel, stones or pebbles - whatever you want to call them - and pile on over the base of the pedestal bird bath.
Not a solid solution as the weight of stones or gravel used can cause more or less issues - but to use too much can look very unappealing, thus ruining the backyard decor or landscaping.
Weight of the stones or pebbles can be used in conjunction with stabilizing pegs, or why not insert the bird bath a little into the ground, with stones piled on top.
By landscaping over the base of the bird bath to stop it tipping over, would need more stones then you'd possible know - so do count for extra that would be needed.
Dig anchor deep into the ground
Of course you are going to want a solid, sound proof anti-tipping bird bath solution, so I promise this one would do the job.
Best solutions do come at cost though, as in this case it does come at greater difficulty; that I admit, so you may need assistance from anyone who is handy with tools.
What this dig a pole anchor into the ground entails is just that. Only you'd need to find a 2 feet long pole of some kind, that can indeed be fixed to the underside of the bird bath base - but herein really lies the trouble.
First, you can wield a flat piece of metal, but of course realistically you would have to fashion a piece of wood or a metal pole so it can then be screwed onto the base.
I recommend to use metal as its sure to last forever in the wet, harsh ground.
However, that is not to say you can create a 2 ft. anchor out of wood if you wanted too, providing its not soft wood or made in sheet material.
To insert an anchor up to 2 feet underground with the bird bath fixed on top, you'd never ever see the bird bath tip over again, that I can promise you.
Drill through if sat on patio
To anchor the bird bath to the ground would of course involve doing so into the lawn or a soft patch of soil - that doesn't really apply to a concrete or slab patio.
And while I understand you may want to make the bird bath the centerpiece of your backyard patio... let's find a solution to that.
Simple, it would involve drilling through the patio slab or concrete using a masonry drill bit, as too insert metal stabilizing pegs.
First, you'd need to make sure the masonry drill bit has the width to match the stabilizing pegs to hand before committing - all while making sure the length of the drill bit is substantial enough to drill in deep into the cement or through the slab.
Careful as you go through the slab as they do tend to crack if drilled into.
You'd want to make sure the bird bath is first positioned, before committing to drill in the concrete to make the pilot holes.
Solid as it gets this solution but do try to make the holes a tight fit for the corresponding stabilizing pegs - all while drilling at an angle for extra protection against high winds.
Heavy, ground or shorter option
I understand there's not much use me telling you to buy a bird bath that is simply heavier, shorter or a ground bird bath, but it must seriously be considered.
However, I will say it can help you a load to make the bird bath more practical by unintentionally making it heavier.
What that involves is adding the all important weight of stones to the water of the bird bath as to create better footing for the backyard birds that enter the water.
On top of that, you can center a rock or brick of some kind to create an additional, more safer to use perch that is actually located in the water.
All that I might say adds up to a lot of additional weight, which is vital for keeping the bird bath firmly pressed on the ground.
And of course to keep it replenished with water would add more weight.
Of course, all this fuss - yet its still vital to use pebbles and a rock for a perch - is to begin with a bird bath so short, its never going to tip over in wind.
Better still, a ground bird bath is the less fuss but more practical option, but so to is a pedestal stone bird bath if you want to set out with a solid, yet heavy bird bath.
Heavy, natural stone or cast bird baths require little attention when the weather conditions pick up, so once you've leveled your stone bird bath on the lawn or patio, you can leave it, and forget about it.
Conclusion
To know how to keep a bird bath from tipping over, you'd first need to assess what kind of bird bath you intend too use, or what you have setup in the backyard already.
Many people would opt for the lightweight, cheaper plastic bird bath on a pedestal, but unfortunately its this option that causes the must hassle.
Solution to making sure the plastic pedestal bird bath remains standing in any wind, is to insert stabilizing pegs through the base of the bird bath, by making use of any gaps available through the often decorative rounded base.
Not a solid solution but its important to use lengthy pegs that are inserted into the ground at a 45 degree angle - 4 pegs or more are needed to guarantee a safe insert.
I wouldn't personally, but you can cover the base with a weight of pebbles or stones to help keep it standing, but it can never fit in with the decor of the yard.
Instead, I would go for the way to keep your bird bath from toppling over in the wind, is in a way that remains out of sight.
Fix an anchor up to 2 feet long with use of a metal pole or wooden post that is fixed to the underside of the bird bath base - then hammered into the ground as the best possible solution.
You'd need to know how, but working with a wooden post is far easier then using metal.
Similarly, you might want to situate your bird bath on a patio, so following the rules of keeping a lightweight plastic pedestal bird bath standing - only you'd need to drill into concrete or a slab while using a masonry drill bit.
Make it a tight fit for the stabilizing pegs to thread through, as the wind is sure not to lift up the bird bath with pegs jammed through a patio slab.
Share this article:
