Add the magic of water to you garden without breaking the budget or spending a lot of time on maintenance. The key is to keep it simple.
Even a small water feature can have a big impact.
Start simple
A simple water feature can be made out of a ceramic pot. Choose a style of container that reinforces the theme of your garden. Italian terra cotta will enhance a Mediterranean inspired garden, while an Asian or contemporary pot will set a different tone.
If your pot has a hole in it, plug it with a cork or epoxy a patch of plastic or metal over it. You may want to drain the pot in the winter and turn it over in a sharp freeze so expanding ice will not break it, or simply remove the cork.
Half-barrels make good water containers, too.
Add a pump, and you have a self-contained fountain. You need a power source near the fountain in which to plug the pump. Place the pump in the bottom of the container, and run a rigid pipe straight up from it so it breaks the surface. This will create a simple jet of water.
You can control the height of the jet by adding a valve to the pipe. A gentle splash works best in a small container, adding movement and sound to the garden.
Wall fountains are another simple easy-care solution. These are self- contained units that hang on a fence or wall. Add water, plug it in and away you go. Find wall fountains at garden centers.
In a friend’s garden, I admired an effective low-cost water garden. He recycled rigid children’s wading pools to make bog gardens.
The soil covered up the wildly colored patterns of the plastic, and the pools were plunged into the soil deeply enough so that the edges were covered, too. Depressions in the soil allowed space for water to give the effect of miniature lakes.
Pesky pests
Standing water in pools can offer breeding places for mosquitoes — definitely a concern with threats of West Nile virus, a mosquito-born disease. One solution for control is to use mosquito dunks, doughnut-shaped bacteria tablets. The bacteria toxin in these won’t hurt birds, pets or ornamental pond fish but will eliminate the mosquitoes.
Another solution is to put a few goldfish in the pond, which will eat the mosquito larvae. The fish may attract raccoons, even in urban neighborhoods, so provide hiding places for the fish with a few bricks stacked up to make voids where the fish can hang out when danger strikes.
Raccoons will also pull plants out of pools and water containers, looking for food, so you may increase wildlife activity — welcome or not — by adding water to your garden.
One example
You can create a simple above-ground pool that will allow seating around the edge. I built one in my garden by making a box out of 4-by-6 timbers stacked three high. I lined the inside with EPDM pool liner, overlapping it over the top.
Using 2-by-12 boards, I made a top cap, which covered up the liner and provided a low bench about 14 inches tall. The surface of the water is about 4 feet by 4 feet.
A pump provides water for a fountain made out of an old watering can. The water runs through plastic tubing from the pump up through the bottom of the watering can and out the spout.
I admired this in someone else’s garden and borrowed it — go ahead and use it in yours if you’d like.
One thing that would make my pool easier to take care of is a drain. Leaves fall in, and I need to siphon it out a couple times a year and bail the last few inches of water out. A drain with a valve would speed the task.
Start small
Enjoy the essential element of water in your garden. Keep it simple to start; you can always add bigger and more complex features if time, budget and interest allow.
PHIL WOOD is the owner of Phil Wood Garden Design in Seattle and is a widely published freelance writer.[[In-content Ad]]
