Benefits of Water Features

Adding water to your home or office landscape adds the lovely and relaxing sounds of trickling or flowing water, but it brings so much more, too. The sounds of nature will become more recognizable and common. We all need water for survival–that includes the birds, dragonflies, bees and butterflies. Adding water helps the entire ecosystem (but if your water is moving/circulating, you won’t be adding mosquitoes) and we all know properties with mountain streams or ocean waves are more valuable. Let’s look at the benefits of adding water at your place.

When you add the sounds of falling water or a babbling brook to your landscaping, you add eye appeal, ear appeal, and depending on the choice of a natural look or a formal feature, you may be adding positives to the environment. A backyard wildlife habitat is not a waste of water (just the backflushing of a swimming pool uses more water than most self-contained water features) and it takes much less attention than one might imagine to keep a water feature operating smoothly.

Every yard seems to have a bird feeder these days, you can be unique by having a place for them to bathe in a stream, or get a drink from flowing water. Adding waterfalls and ponds also adds to the lovely appearance and ambiance of a yard if it’s done creatively with proper materials. Of course, a water feature begs for plants and flowers to dress it…adding all the more to a lovely landscape besides the musical sounds of rippling water.

Water features become focal points, attracting attention. Most choose a quiet backyard spot, but cute pondless waterfalls at the front door are also pretty popular, especially with the younger homeowner.

A good water feature always has constantly circulating water, this makes for a healthy eco-system pond or waterfall, and does not invite stagnant, green or stinking water. A pump that circulates all the water at least once per hour will keep mosquitoes from breeding in the water, too. I would caution that an Aquascapes contractor who throws together a pond and waterfall in four hours may not be your best bet for a healthy and natural pond (been there done that years ago myself). Quality pond pumps need not cost $700 as adequate energy efficient options for half that are available. Speaking of costs, landscapingnetwork.com has pricing posted for ponds….starting around $2,500 for a 4 x 6 pond and going to $12,000 or so for a 16 x 21 pond, and more for streams and plantings. Small fountains, preformed features with small pumps, squirting statuary, bubbling bowls or rocks and the like can be cheaper if the budget can’t do a top of the line pond or pondless water feature.

A waterfalls artist will not just put in a 8 x11 pond with a waterfall, but he will give it the care to make it unique and exceptional—provided, of course, you’ve allowed enough in the budget that your contractor can afford to spend the quality time to create a troublefree and natural looking and sounding waterfall, stream or pond.

In conclusion, you don’t have to move to a mountain stream (that might flood in heavy rain) or buy an ocean front house (that may blow away in a hurricane) to enjoy the roaring water and the relaxing affects water adds to your life. From the smallest lot to a sprawling acreage, adding water will enhance the enjoyment of your piece of the world, creating paradise at home.