Create your own school of garden fish

04 Nov 2021

Just keep swimming with this splash-tastic DIY. Create a garden oasis with wood-stained fish that dip and dive around your plants. Sure to create movement and interest all year round, these garden fish are easily made with pine and a variety of rich Resene Woodsman stains that can be colour co-ordinated to your fence or home’s exterior. So scale up your garden game for summer and get staining!

You will need:

• Approximately 1.8m of H3 treated dressed pine 140mm wide x 18mm thick. The total amount that you need will depend on how long your fish are and how many you create.
• Computer printout of a fish or draw your own
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Jig saw or band saw
• Sandpaper
• Electric drill
• Cloth/rag
• Your choice of Resene Woodsman stain – Fleur used Resene Woodsman Skywater
• Your choice of Resene testpot – Fleur used Resene Black
• Small paintbrush
• 5 bamboo or metal stakes, allow 1 per fish (If you have more or less fish, adjust the number to suit)

Step 1: Start by printing out a picture or silhouette of a fish or draw your own. Use scissors to cut the fish out and a pencil to trace around it onto the wood.

Step 2: Use a jig saw or band saw to cut out the wooden fish. Sand any rough bits off with some sandpaper. Drill a hole in the bottom edge. Make this hole big enough to fit the end of a stake.

Step 3: Use a soft cloth to wipe on the Resene Woodsman stain – Fleur used the Resene Woodsman Skywater.

Step 4: With a small paint brush, paint on the details of the fish including the fins, eyes and mouth with your choice of colour – Fleur used Resene Black.

Step 5: Finish the details of the fish by painting on some contours and shading around the edge of the fish with your choice of colour – Fleur used Resene Black. 

Step 6: Insert a stake into the bottom of each fish and set them free into the wild oceans of your garden.

Project and images Fleur Thorpe

Published: 04 Nov 2021