Fabulous Features That Bring Watery Wow to Your Garden
Splash out on a water feature and inject some stylish ebb and flow into your outdoor space
Water brings a garden to life, creating beautiful reflections and adding movement to your outdoor scheme. And the good news is, we don’t all need huge back yards to work in a water feature. From a simple fish pond to a vertical cascade, today’s modern designs suit any space. So whether you want a home for aquatic wildlife, a complex waterfall or a simple spout, there are designs and ideas out there that will take your garden from green space to watery paradise. Dive in!
Be reflective
If you steer clear of splashy jets or bubbling waterfalls and instead create a large, simple pool, the still water will beautifully reflect the sky and trees nearby, and act like a living artwork.
If you steer clear of splashy jets or bubbling waterfalls and instead create a large, simple pool, the still water will beautifully reflect the sky and trees nearby, and act like a living artwork.
Pull up a pond
Gazing at fish swimming around is a soothing way to spend 10 minutes, so rather than tucking your fish pond away at the back of the garden, install it next to the house. This neat little pond butts right up to the back of this home, so that when the doors are folded back, it feels like part of the interior. A decked walkway leads you on into the garden beyond.
See how to create a chill-out area in your garden
Gazing at fish swimming around is a soothing way to spend 10 minutes, so rather than tucking your fish pond away at the back of the garden, install it next to the house. This neat little pond butts right up to the back of this home, so that when the doors are folded back, it feels like part of the interior. A decked walkway leads you on into the garden beyond.
See how to create a chill-out area in your garden
Borrow from nature
If space allows, be ambitious with your water feature, dropping it down levels, bisecting it with walkways and introducing small falls and weirs so you can hear the water flowing. Imagine a shallow stream tumbling over rocks and bending around meanders and use this as your model.
If space allows, be ambitious with your water feature, dropping it down levels, bisecting it with walkways and introducing small falls and weirs so you can hear the water flowing. Imagine a shallow stream tumbling over rocks and bending around meanders and use this as your model.
Go Zen
Be inspired by the pared-back simplicity of Japanese gardens and create a minimalist water feature. Here, a single spout produces a clear jet of water, while lighting illuminates the pool and bamboo, so this soothing space can be enjoyed after dark, too.
Uncover more world-inspired gardens.
Be inspired by the pared-back simplicity of Japanese gardens and create a minimalist water feature. Here, a single spout produces a clear jet of water, while lighting illuminates the pool and bamboo, so this soothing space can be enjoyed after dark, too.
Uncover more world-inspired gardens.
Keep it natural
If you have a large rural garden, there’s space for a well-proportioned water feature. Fancy contemporary designs don’t sit as well in a rambling rural plot. Instead, install a simple circular pond that can be home to goldfish and wildlife.
If you have a large rural garden, there’s space for a well-proportioned water feature. Fancy contemporary designs don’t sit as well in a rambling rural plot. Instead, install a simple circular pond that can be home to goldfish and wildlife.
Cook up some curves
Urban plots often suffer from being boring and linear, but you can create movement and interest with a curvy water feature. The soft lines of this design bring a wonderful wiggle to the garden, and encourage you to wander through it, following the course of the water.
Urban plots often suffer from being boring and linear, but you can create movement and interest with a curvy water feature. The soft lines of this design bring a wonderful wiggle to the garden, and encourage you to wander through it, following the course of the water.
Wrap it around
Creating a simple linear water feature that follows the shape of the house means the property will be neatly reflected in its surface. The sharp lines of this modernist house are found as a mirror image in the architectural pool that flanks the terrace.
Creating a simple linear water feature that follows the shape of the house means the property will be neatly reflected in its surface. The sharp lines of this modernist house are found as a mirror image in the architectural pool that flanks the terrace.
Light it for night
To enjoy your water feature 24/7 and prevent it from disappearing into the twilight, install underwater lights to illuminate it at night and send up a soft glow.
How to style for a garden party
To enjoy your water feature 24/7 and prevent it from disappearing into the twilight, install underwater lights to illuminate it at night and send up a soft glow.
How to style for a garden party
Create a focal point
We often position armchairs around a fireplace or coffee table in our living space. Outside, adopt the same idea, installing your water feature as a focal point around which garden chairs can be pulled up.
We often position armchairs around a fireplace or coffee table in our living space. Outside, adopt the same idea, installing your water feature as a focal point around which garden chairs can be pulled up.
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You do not actually need acres of land or a Versailles-style garden to fit in a waterfall. Instead of sending up jets of water, today’s modern designs allow it to cascade down a wall, and take up very little square footage. The feature can be made from reflective metal, such as stainless steel, or something more subtle, such as muted copper, to show off the flowing water beautifully.
See all the gardens with water features on Houzz.