Incorporating Water Features Into Your Landscaping
By Scott Rutherford
ater features have been steadily growing in popularity in recent years, and it’s easy to see why. Not only do they add a nice aesthetic touch to any yard, but they also provide a wonderful place to relax and destress, giving you the opportunity to get more use and enjoyment out of your yard. On top of that, most of them are surprisingly easy to maintain.
Water features are fantastic for adding definition to the landscape and can often be incorporated in corners that are otherwise unusable. If you want something as large as a pond, choose a spot away from trees and large vegetation. If you’re dealing with a smaller space, you might consider a pondless waterfall, a water wall, a bubbling rock fountain, a vase fountain, or even a simple garden fountain or bird bath. Regardless of the size of water feature you’re considering, choose a nice, sunny spot where you’ll be able to run electricity.
Speaking of electricity, you always want to be careful when using electricity and water in close proximity. While most aspects of water features are great for do-it-yourselfers, you’ll want to have a qualified electrician handle installation of anything more extravagant than the commercially available pumps and fountains.
Whether you go for something as substantial as a pond or something as small as a bird bath, adding a water feature to your landscaping offers a number of benefits above and beyond their curb appeal. The sound of a waterfall, a fountain, or gentle bubbling can help mask noise from the street or your neighbors. And there’s a reason why so many of the recordings used to promote relaxation feature water sounds – there are few sounds on earth more naturally soothing. It is widely believed that just sitting by the water can be relaxing enough to help regulate blood pressure and heart rate.
Large or small, water features attract birds and other wildlife – they’re a wonderful way to help promote a healthy ecosystem within the city. Of course, in our neck of the woods, there are some things we’d rather not attract – notably mosquitos and snakes. Mosquitos can be kept at bey by making sure your water features aren’t stagnant. There are several commercially available products to discourage snakes from checking out your water feature. If you prefer to keep things natural, plants such as marigolds and lemongrass are known to detract snakes without scaring off the birds that you want flocking to your yard.