Water Features

There are many water features available, from granite cascading fountains to contemporary rendered ponds. With so many choices you should consider the following questions to ensure you get the right feature for your garden:

1. What is your budget?
2. What is the water feature going to provide?
   1. Aesthetical value?
   2. Attraction of wildlife?
3. How much maintenance are you willing to carry out?
4. Do you want standing water such as a pond, or a raised pool?
5. Do you want a fountain or jet of water?
6. Is the feature required just to provide the sound of running water?
7. Do you want to light the water feature?
8. How many features do you have/want in your garden? And how will the desired water feature fit in with the surroundings?
9. Where do you want to place the feature?

Deciding on a budget will help to steer your decision; if you have a budget of around £500 then you will able to get something like a slate monolith (see the picture below) or a glazed ball or granite chimney. All of these create attractive features, the size having to be about 1 – 2.5 ft. This price is for the pump, liner (which holds the water) the feature itself and the labour to install it, not including the price to install the electrics.

If you want little or no maintenance then a fountain such as the slate monolith would be most appropriate, as anything with standing water requires a certain level of maintenance. If you are prepared to spend a bit of time on the feature occasionally, you will be paid back; standing water features can create a stunning element to a garden.

If you already have a few features in the garden be careful not to over do it; too many features in the garden will make the area look busy. If you have no main features than a large water feature such as a pond would be a great attraction. (Please see below for some ideas).