NATURAL GARDEN WATER FEATURES

Creating a Natural Garden Water Feature

By Maxina D Williams

Nature is irregular. She almost never does straight lines, so in designing a garden water feature, whether it be a pond or a stream, it is more aesthetically pleasing to go for an irregular shape with curves and bends and using round river rocks along the edges.

Creating a water course doesn't have to be an impossible task. One simple way of achieving it is to purchase a pre-formed pond base, a pump (which can be electric or solar) and a couple of bags of attractive medium sized stones and simply assemble. It isn't even necessary to bury the pond base. You can simply disguise the edges with suitable plants. This would give you a portable feature that you could even take with you if you decided to move house and couldn't bear to leave it behind. In one of our gardens we used a fibre glass water course from which water cascaded down over pebbles into a fibre glass pond which we had placed into a sunken area. That gave us the fall as well as the natural look because streams always cut a valley in nature. Native grasses and a mixture of rounded river stones disguised the edges and gave it a completely natural look. We added gold fish and aquatic plants to complete the scene and it looked terrific.

A stepped cascade water course is attractive and impressive but can only be achieved on a sloping block, unless you are prepared to engage in some earth works which cas be as extensive (and expensive) as you want to make them. A friend has used the natural slope of his garden to great effect by creating a water course cascading down the side of his house, using natural rocks and with a cement base holding them all in place. He has provided small pools on various levels with little water falls over the rocks and culminating in a larger pool where the pump is located. The water is pumped back up to the top and starts its journey all over again. He has used bromeliads and ferns to good effect in enhancing the edges and giving the whole thing a completely natural look.
Water cascading over uneven rocks is the ultimate look but it must be remembered that streams also need to come from somewhere and end up somewhere else. A volcano-like pile of rocks with water spouting out of it can look a bit artificial but a gentle trickle emerging from under a strategically placed rock can convince you that you that you have a natural spring in your very own garden.

Maxina Williams loves everything to do with gardening and outdoor living.

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