Water Features

I personally feel that no garden is complete without a water feature. Water is vital to life and whether your feature is functional as a habitat for fish, insects or plants or is strictly for its aesthetic appeal, the sound and movement it creates converts a dead space into one with soul.

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BEFORE INVESTING IN A WATER FEATURE,

HERE ARE TEN THINGS YOU OUGHT TO CONSIDER.

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1. TYPE. Most water features work the same way – they have a sump or reservoir which holds the bulk of the water, a pump to circulate the water, piping through which the water is pumped, and an aesthetically pleasing or quirky feature down which the water falls. There are of course exceptions to this rule – fountains or artificial streams work slightly differently. What type of feature are you considering?

2. SOUND. What are you wanting your feature to sound like? A soft, babbling brook type of sound or that of light rain will probably be soothing and relaxing. A louder sounding waterfall may be revitalising and refreshing, but not necessarily relaxing. A trickle or dripping sound might be annoying. Consider how loud you’re wanting it to be and the distance you’re wanting the sound to travel.

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Water features really do add so much to the aesthetical appeal of a garden, not to mention the elevated sense of tranquillity they can also offer.

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3. WATER SUPPLY. Are you going to need a constant water supply or is the feature going to be self-contained thereby only requiring the occasional top-up?

4. ELECTRICAL SUPPLY. Are you going to require a mains electrical connection requiring safe plug point and cabling, or is your feature able to be solar or battery powered?

5. MAINTENANCE. If your feature doesn’t have plants or fish living in it, you may consider chlorinating the water to minimise maintenance. Consider how often you’re prepared to clean out slime and whether or not this will require dismantling something complex or be a relatively straight forward and easy task. You will most likely need to drain the entire feature to clean it so consider its location and accessibility.

6. LOCATION. If your feature is going to live under a deciduous tree then expect it to get choked up with leaves in the winter. If its in a shady, moist location it may attract moss. If its in the full sun in a hot climate, the water will likely evaporate fast. Consider how the wind, rain, sun and surrounding vegetation will affect your feature.

7. STYLE. Choose a feature that suits the style of your home and garden. Its easy for a contemporary feature to look out of place in a traditional layout and for a cherub for instance to look silly in a contemporary layout. Are you wanting it to be a striking focal point or to blend in with the surrounds?

8. SIZE. You can generally get away with any size feature if it’s thoughtfully placed amongst plants, but a stand-alone feature will need to be proportional with its surrounds.

9. LIGHTING. Submersible lighting, up-lighting, down-lighting, party lighting, no lighting… Lighting will enable you to enjoy your feature just as much in the evenings as you do during the day. Some features even come with in-built lighting.

10. SAFETY. Any water feature, big or small, needs to be child-safe if there is any remote chance of a child being able to access it. Netting or webbing is a really good safety barrier for koi ponds and water features with an exposed sump / reservoir. The netting can be installed below the surface of the water thereby being almost inconspicuous. There’s a huge range of closed sump water features available on the market today, as well as options to cover sumps with steel grids covered with gauze onto which a layer of pebbles, or similar, is laid.

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