DoorFly.com: 5 Common Water Features Landscape Designers Recommend

Landscape designers know the value that water features add to a landscape. Water adds serenity and a calm coolness to any area, even on the hottest of days. There are five top water features that landscape designers like to incorporate into their designs. Each one has their own uniqueness and can be created in a variety of forms. Let’s explore what those are.

Waterfalls. This is one of the favorite features among designers. A waterfall could be water flowing over two or three rock slabs, down a gentle slope. Or, it be a wide granite wall with water pouring down the face of it. The falls might empty into a small pool or be the beginning of a stream. With the use of electrical pumps hidden water lines, waterfalls can be created in just about any spot in your landscape.
Ponds. This water feature provides a great backdrop for flowering plants. They can be a central focus of a large landscape or a small part of a much larger picture. Ponds can be inhabited by bright shiny goldfish or graced with a side or central fountain. Artificial ponds will require liners and pumps to keep the water moving and clean, but they can look as natural as anything nature would produce.
Streams. With the aid of a professional landscape designer, a stream can be added just about anywhere. It could run alongside your patio or underneath a walk bridge leading to your gazebo. It could be fed by a waterfall and end in a quiet pond. The gurgle of quiet brook is one of the most relaxing sounds that nature has produced.
Fountains. Fountains can be large and surrounded by a pool, or they can as small as a bird bath. They can be a large spray shooting up in the middle of a pond or a tiny bubble of water coming up from the center of a rock. Regardless of their size or placement, they are a great way to add the sound and beauty of running water to your outdoor living space.
Contained Water Features. These water features are sometimes referred to as pools or container ponds. Rather than being set into the ground and having the natural surroundings of grass and greenery, these water features are enclosed in concrete, stone or brick. They are generally smaller than a natural pond setting and make great additions to patios. They can still be inhabited by goldfish and are often surrounded by large potted plants or trees.

Regardless of your space or location, there is no reason why you can’t incorporate some form of water feature into your landscape. There is maintenance and upkeep needed to keep these manmade waterways functioning and clean, however. Your landscaper can provide you with those instructions or a maintenance contract to service those items for you as needed.

Take a look at few landscape pictures that really look inviting to you. You will see that there is almost always, some type of water feature incorporated into those peaceful looking landscapes.