Water Features in Garden Designs & Renovations
As designer John Brookes MBE said ‘Water is the source of life and one of the Four Elements: it must be that which makes its use so irresistible in the garden!’.
History of Water Features for Garden Designs
Water Features have had their place in gardens, modern or traditional for hundreds and hundreds of years, from the typical Islamic garden divided by 4 water channels, to create a quartered garden known as chahar bagh, or indeed the gardens inspired by the same religion at the Alhambra Palace in Spain through to the ornate fountains and pools of the Italian Renaissance influencing the gardens of Versailles. In Japan too water has played a key role with large ponds, pavilions and bridges creating tranquility in a secluded area of the Zen garden.
There are so many options available from formal ponds to narrow rills running down steps or across terraces, or small contemporary features made from stone or metals such as water walls, through to large ‘natural’ ponds in bigger gardens attracting wildlife and using water plants to filter and oxygenate, bringing the wow factor and a real feature and focal point.
How to Incorporate Water Features in your Garden
Water features need to be incorporated into the garden design process properly and not just dumped where there is space – i.e. the middle of the lawn. They need to contribute to the balance and flow of the design otherwise their purpose is vastly diminished. Likewise, they need to be proportionate and to scale with the remainder of the garden with a shape that connects rather than looks like an amoeba landed in the scheme.
If done properly, water features bring a calming quality to a garden and can create a delightful ambiance through sound and movement as well as reflecting the skies and plants around them. They can contribute to your garden at night through a subtle lighting design as well as the natural moonlight dancing off the still waters.
Specialist Garden Design Ideas in Hampshire
To find out more about water features, our garden design services and gardening services, please refer to our website and email on info@dpgardendesign.co.uk.
DP Garden Design is located near Alresford, Hampshire (near Winchester) and we are able to cover the rest of Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and West Sussex. Contact us today to find out more about your garden design packages.
