1 of38 Thomas J. Story
Party in the Front
A water feature can turn a front yardlike this from a place you pass through quickly into an oasis that invites lingering. Lush landscaping disguises the fact that this pond is little more than a concrete box dug into the ground.
2 of38 Rachel Weill
Over-Water Experience
Don't just look at your water feature—take full advantage by building an overhanging deckthat allows you to hover over it. Being on the water maximizes the feature's cooling effects, and gives a real sense of having escaped into a different realm.
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3 of38 Thomas J. Story
Playing It Koi
If you've gone to the trouble of installing a pond in your yard, why not make it a real attention-getter? Stocking your pool with koi is an affordable luxury that suggests the feel of an elegant Japanese garden without actually costing an arm and a leg.
4 of38 Jennifer Cheung
Useful Decoration
Water features don't have to be purely ornamental. The lilies here give the garden a dose of endless-summer languor, and the solid construction of the above-ground pond provides for casual seating.
5 of38 Linda Lamb Peters
Plumbing Optional
Water features don't necessarily involve running water, and this is a great idea for smaller spaces. A simple bowl serves much the same purpose as a fountain—thirsty birds may even like it better. You'll have to keep it clean and full of fresh H2O, but that's much less expensive than running pipes into your garden.
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Sounds about Right
Consider the soundscape of your garden—it's almost as important as the visual elements. A fountain, no matter how minimalist, will produce a soothing burble that drowns out traffic and city noise.
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Triple Duty
Is it a decorative fountain? Bench seating? Or just the coolest retaining wall ever? It's all three. We love how this water feature looks so good doing three jobs in this dramatically sloping yard.
8 of38 Rob D. Brodman
DIY Fountain
The soft splash of a fountain brings life and motion to the backyard. It attracts more birds than still water alone, and its soothing sound track transforms your space into a peaceful retreat.
We built the fountain pictured here for about $160 (not including stones), using two glazed pots (a shallow bowl nests snugly inside the larger pot), a bucket, and a small recirculating pump.
See how to make it
9 of38 Photo by Art Gray
Cool Water
This soothing bubbler is part of an entry garden for a home on the island of Oahu. Its 30-inch-wide glazed and sealed stoneware bowl (find similar ones for around $100) is fitted with a small bubbler pump (from $20; thehomedepot.com). Because the bubbler does little more than stir the water, there’s no need for a reservoir beneath the bowl. See more of this garden
10 of38 Rob D. Brodman
Private Spa Retreat
Well chosen accent pieces can help turn a tiny urban garden into a tranquil space. Here, a fountain acts as a visual transition between two areas of the yard. Its spherical shape is echoed by a trio of orbs on the deck.
11 of38 Steven Gunther
Mission-Style Stream
A shallow stream neatly bisects this San Luis Obispo backyard and cascades over a stone wall into a pool. Kangaroo paw adds a touch of drama to the palette of olive and gray-greens.
12 of38 Steven Gunther
Perfectly Simple
To give this small fountain more presence, the designer created a mini garden around it using billowy grasses, fleshy succulents, and showy orchids.
More ideas from this garden
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Spanish Details
A pistachio nut carved in stone creates the centerpiece on this otherwise simple fountain on a Santa Barbara balcony. Water runs into an urn below. This style of water feature is a great idea for enclosed porches or the side of a garage. See more of this house
14 of38 Norm Plate
Pathway Focal Point
A stone fountain adds interest to a gravel path through planting beds. In this garden, lady's-mantle with chartreuse blooms surrounds the fountain, while cape fuchsia (Phygelius) with orange-pink flowers spills into the path.
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Stylish Noise Muffler
This garden is about two blocks from a freeway, but the owners hardly notice the sound thanks to their burbling fountain.
16 of38 Steven Gunther
Urn of Stone
Water spills from an antique French stone urn into a rectangular pool and a narrow, 18-inch-deep channel in this San Clemente, Calif., garden. A pump recirculates the water.
The design, a joint effort of Larry Steinle, a Laguna Beach landscape architect, and Lew Whitney, chairman of Roger's Gardens in Corona del Mar, is the focal point of a garden corner that invites quiet contemplation. Scented geraniums and other foliage plants grow nearby.
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Small Wonder
A tiled fountain pool surrounded with foliage is just big enough to make a splash in this calm corner. Creative water feature ideas like this can transform even the tiniest spaces. More small-space lessons from this garden
18 of38 Deidra Walpole
Oil Jar Classic
This glazed blue oil-jar fountain sits on a tile-covered concrete pedestal framed by a 20-inch-deep pool in Hollywood, Calif. A submersible, recirculating pump housed within the pedestal pushes water through a galvanized pipe, which fits through a hole in the jar's bottom; the water then trickles over the jar's rim into the 3 1/2-foot-square, concrete-lined pool. Full story and diagram
19 of38 Steven Gunther
Big Bowl Fountain
This rough-textured pot would look as appropriate in an ancient village square in Italy, Greece, or Spain as it does in this garden owned by Robert and Carolyn Volk of San Marino, Calif.
Water recirculates through a pump placed in a fiberglass pond liner beneath the pot; stones cover the liner. The pot is from Al's Garden Art in South El Monte, California. Design by Mark Bartos, BEM Design Group, South
20 of38 Thomas J. Story
Steel Fountain
Heath ceramic tile and a green stucco wall mingle with a Cor-ten steel fountain and recycled-wood fencing in this eco-minded house in San Francisco.
Tour the house
21 of38 Thomas J. Story
Calming Wall Fountain
Tall Equisteum frame this sleek wall-mounted feature.Design: Stefan Thuilot with Joseph Huettl, Huettl Thuilot Associates, Berkeley (510/848-3200)
22 of38 Charles Mann
Splashy Wall Fountain
A two-level fountain adds a lively splash to the shady part of this Denver backyard. Water spouts from the mouth of a cast-stone ram's head into a shell-like bowl before spilling into the crescent-shaped basin below.
The fountain appears to extend from a 6-foot-tall dry-stacked stone wall. Actually, the stone is an artful façade that covers a conventional brick wall just behind.
Full story
23 of38 Thomas J. Story
Small-Scale Water Features
Rustic fountains help make Mediterranean-style plantings look at home among California's golden hills. Because water is a precious resource, using it respectfully in the garden is a tradition. Something lavish would have been out of character in this drought-tolerant landscape.
24 of38 Thomas J. Story
Scotts Valley, California: South of the Border
Against a rustic stucco wall, water trickles out of scalloped bowls into a colorful blue fountain bedecked with blazing bougainvillea.
Although it seems like a scene from a remote Mexican village, this 430-square-foot townhouse garden is actually located at the base of the mountains west of Silicon Valley.
More about this townhouse garden
25 of38 Steven Gunther
Fountain in Front
This fountain in a small front yard was designed to be enjoyed from the porch. "We love being out in the garden," says owner Marie De Lorenzo of Venice, Calif., "But looking out at it from indoors is almost as good."
26 of38 Steven Gunther
A Fountain Without Water
Water used to spill from the conch shell on this cherub's shoulders, splashing into the giant clamshell beneath his feet. But when Bill Anderson inherited the fountain and moved it to his home in Newport Beach, he and his wife, Dana, decided against the expense of added plumbing. Instead Dana planted a cascade. The main spiller is white-flowered bacopa. The froth under the cherub's toes is campanula and Alpine strawberries.
27 of38 Steven Gunther
Falling Water
Water spills from a turquoise Bauer oil jar in this whimsical, colorful fountain. The glass balls are Japanese fishing-net floats. More ideas from this yard
28 of38 Norm Plate
Water Wisdom
Water recirculates through a fountain in the back of this drought-tolerant garden in Clovis, Calif. Around its base are planted unthirsty plants like acacia, chitalpa, and redbud.
More tips from this garden
29 of38 Allan Mandell
Perfectly Crafted
A handmade Japanese-style tsukubai fountain is just one of the details that make this forested hillside garden such an experience. Everywhere you turn there's something new to see, and as you wander beneath the lush tree canopy, you can hear the soothing sound of water running through creeks and cascading in fountains and waterfalls. Design: John Pruden, Portland International Garden & Design, St. Helens, OR (503/780-3687)
30 of38 Claire Curran
Essential Element
Water is an essential element of a garden, says designer Maria del Carmen Calvo. "I've created a garden where I'm never far from its sound," she says.
Though Calvo's garden is not large, she has included seven fountains, most of her own design. Here, pots of purple fountain grass flank a gate leading to a cherub fountain in a charming outdoor room.
31 of38 Thomas J. Story
A Butterfly-Friendly Fountain
Multitiered raised beds and house walls protect this courtyard from breezes. The fountain in the center provides butterflies with a necessary supply of water. (After spilling down the column, it moistens the rocks below before disappearing underground; siphoning water from a puddle beneath wet rocks is a butterfly's preferred way to drink.)
Get three great ideas from this garden
32 of38 Steven Gunther
Water-Wise Patio
A large ceramic urn catches water pumped through a partition to create a simple trickle fountain. The inviting side yard acts as an outdoor extension of a family room.
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Mediterranean Accent
A cast limestone fountain with an antique finish adds a Mediterranean-inspired accent to this narrow front patio in Sacramento, Calif. The wall blocks the sight and sound of street traffic nearby.
Read more
34 of38 Steven Gunther
Square Fountain in Planting Bed
Eight of these custom-built squares are planters with drainage holes. The center square is a recirculating fountain. The squares, 30 inches square by 14 inches tall, were designed to complement a contemporary kitchen garden in Santa Monica, Calif. Full story
35 of38 Steven Gunther
Red Rocks
In this high desert Colorado garden, a concrete basin and copper fountainhead add a striking sculptural element to an otherwise naturalistic garden space that appears to emerge directly from a cliffside.
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Front-Yard Fountain
Transform a bland garden with clever reuse of on-site materials. The fountain in this courtyard was made of upcycled concrete.
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A Water Feature for Gold Country
Recalling gold-mining flumes, this runnel-like recirculating fountain uses water from a buried cistern. This whimsical idea for a water feature can be embellished with hunks of iron pyrite (fool's gold) for added flair. Tour this Tahoe house
38 of38 Thomas J. Story
Terrace Fountain
The glistening celadon green urn creates a cool, eye-catching fountain on a rear terrace. The glazed terra-cotta jar was adapted for use as a water feature -- a smart idea and modular approach to landscaping with water. See how to turn a pot into a fountain