You look at your yard, front or back, and see it as pretty complete. You have beautiful plants. A small, productive garden. You have almost everything you need to enjoy your outdoor space. But something is missing.
For many outdoor spaces, that missing aspect to complete your yard is a outdoor water fountain.
It is some kind of water feature that can put a beautiful bow on a already beautiful front or back yard.
Why Install An Outdoor Fountain in Your Yard?
As mentioned above, a fountain can be that final touch that takes a yard from good to great.
- Show your personal style. Like flowers, there are almost an infinite amount of different types, styles, colors, and functions of fountains you could choose. Fountains offer a great way to show your unique style as a central element of your yard. Eyes cannot help but be drawn to well-designed and well-chosen outdoor fountain.
- Make your outdoor space more peaceful.Fountains can also provide your yard with an added sense of tranquility. The soothing rhythm of moving water can drown out distracting noise from the street or from the neighbors. Moving water also draws in more birds than still water, like with a standard bird house. Just by adding a fountain, your outdoor space can feel even more like the great outdoors.
How to Start Choosing a Style of Outdoor Fountain
- Explore the existing place. When deciding the size and style of your fountain, the first thing to do is to explore your yard. The chances are you did not buy or build your yard with a fountain in mind. In that case, you will need to adapt to the existing features of your yard.
- Answer some questions. How much space do you have? Do you want something modern, classical, or natural? Do you want something with a lot or a little regular maintenance? Will the outdoor fountain be something you built yourself or have a professional landscaping company install? Once you can answer these questions, then you can decide on the style of your outdoor fountain.
Types of Outdoor Fountains
- Modern fountains and floating fountains: If you want your fountain to stand out in a natural-looking garden or to blend in well with a more urban garden, you will want to explore modern fountains. A particular modern fountain is the floating fountain. These fountains feature very heavy stones that float with water pressure rotating a ring or sphere.
- A foliage fountain for understated charm: The simplest way to think about this would be to have a small creek in your front or back yard. These fountains are meant to look very natural and blend in with the other elements of your yard. You will simply build a series of pools or basins through which water will flow. A pump will then deliver the water back to the top, completing the cycle and keep the water flowing. Since this system is self contained, it is relatively inexpensive to build and will not require a plumber to install.You can plant ferns, flowers, or any type of plant along the sides of the flowing water. You now have a babbling brook in your own yard.
- Industrial, concrete fountains: Concrete is no longer limited to strictly utilitarian purposes. Concrete, with the right touch, can look strikingly beautiful. You can use the flat tones of concrete and metal to be a good contrast with the bright colors of your favorite flowers and the deep greens of your favorite plants. Additionally, since concrete can be poured into almost any shape, the potential designs are only limited by your own imagination.
- A pop of color: An outdoor water fountain is simple and inexpensive to install. And just like pots for plants, almost anything that can hold water can become a fountain. Use brightly-colored garden pots (with a simple water pump) to give bring natural sounds and a big splash of color to any outdoor space.
- Cascading fountain: A cascading fountain is more subtle. Instead of using a pipe to spray water, the fountain makes use of multiple levels so water gently overflows from one to the next. A traditional tiered fountain is an example of a cascading fountain, but you can also find smaller styles where water flows through a series of pots or other containers. Cascading fountains are usually self-contained, which means all of the necessary plumbing is housed inside the unit. This makes cascading fountains easy to add to your yard without having to hire a plumber or fountain specialist for the job.