Whether you choose a traditional sunken pool to enhance your garden, or want to relax to the gentle sound of a water fountain at the end a stressful day, we've got some great ideas and buys to suit every outdoor space.
What you need to know
Choose the best position
If you install a feature with running water, such as a fountain, stream or waterfall, you might need a reservoir tank, so bear this in mind when choosing the best spot. Fountains and running water also need access to electricity to operate a pump, unless they are solar powered.
If you want to install a pond, it will need to be in a spot that gets at least five hours of natural light a day- preferably sunshine - for the water to remain clear for fish and plants. Avoid overhanging trees and shrubs, as fallen leaves can choke a pond and poison the water.
Take care of your feature
Ponds and water features will benefit from an annual clean. The best time to do this is in spring, which will give aquatic plants time to re-establish themselves before summer.
A word of caution Safety is important, especially if you have young children, in which case it would be best to postpone a water feature until they are older. Use a qualified electrician to instal cabling. Look in Yellow PAges for registered NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting) electrician, or call 020 7564 2323.
Electrically-powered water features
Transform a terracotta pot
Nestling a beautiful pot or urn among your border palnts and then using it as a water feature will give your garden a restful feel. You can buy complete kits, such as the terracotta urn water feature, £449 from Crocus, or create something similar to the one pictured for yourself. Simply choose a suitable pot or urn from your local garden centre, find the perfect place for it in your garden and then ask a qualified electrician to install the cabling to run a water pump.
Make a focal point with a wall feature
For a timeless look to your patio, install a traditional wall fountain. You'll need an electrician to connect a water pump (from £20 at DIY stores) to the electricity mains indoors, which will feed water from a water reservoir through a pipe behind the wall to the mouth of the fountain. For a selection of wall fountains, try Arcadian.
Create a two-tier cascade
Give your garden an informal look by using recycled materials, such as old stone tubs and troughs - your best source will be local architectural salvage yards (check out http://www.salvo.co.uk for your nearest). Expect prices to start from around £40. To create this tiered water feature the water is pumped up through a hidden pipe from the reservoir trough to the tub at the top. The water then overflows naturally back down into the reservoir. Get a qualified electrician to install the cabling needed to run the pump.
Be different with a pebble design
If you would like something a little unusual, a pebble fountain is ideal. You'll need to install a small water reservoir under the pebbles and a pump, which will require electricity, to circulate the water. Use a qualified electrician to do the electrical work. Buy a bag of pebbles from somewhere like B&Q and let the water spill over them.
Solar-powered water features
Go solar for easy installation
A charming copper Solar Cascade fountain, from Greenfingers, is powered entirely by solar energy, so it's a lot more simple to install as there's no electrical work required. Either place it in a large pond or in a smaller water feature to make an attractive focal point. For similar solar features, have a look on Greenfingers' website.
Try a floating fountain
Add interest to your pond with a solar pond island fountain. It simply floats on the surface of the water to create a solar-powered water feature that operates in direct sunlight, so there's no installation or running costs.
Add interest to a sunny spot
A tiered solar cascade fountain is the perfect feature for a sunny spot on a patio. As long as it's in direct sunlight, the water will gently trickle from one tier to another. A mains adapter is included in the price, so you could move it indoors for winter.
Ponds
Build a kit-form raised pond
If you'd like a garden pond, but don't want to go to the trouble of digging a hole, you can buy a charming raised pond in kit form, complete with liner and pump. Try Garden Oasis for a range of pond options.
Turn a tub into a pool
For a small space, tubs and half-barrels (available from DIY shops and garden centres) are ideal for a creating a mini pond. Ready-to-use water-tight barrels cost around £20, but you can recycle an old one by lining it with pond liner, which sells for around £3 per sq m. Secure the liner in place with a flexible metal strip from Screwfix - an 81cm length costs £1.99.
How to create a traditional pond
Ensure that the site for your pond is level and then mark out its shape on the ground. So wildlife can hop in and out safely, choose a design that has ledges at the edges of the pond, no more than 15cm deep.
If you are using a flexible liner, dig a hole the size and shape you want or if you have chosen a preformed, rigid liner dig a hole to match its shape. No matter how tough your pond liner appears to be, it will need to be protected from sharp stones underneath, so add a layer of damp builder's sand before positioning the liner.
For a flexible liner, allow an overlap of arounf 15cm all round and hold the edges in place with bricks. For a rigid liner, place in the hole and check it is level, and then weigh it down with 5cm of water. Fill up any holes between the edge of the liner and ground with a builder's sand or crumbly soil.
Fill your pond with water - smooth out wrinkles in a flexible liner as the the water runs in. Trim away any surplus flexible liner from the edges, leaving sufficient to secure underneath your chosen edging material: use paving stones or pebbles, for a natural look.
Six easy-to-grow aquatic plants
Introduce plants between April and September - waiting a few days after filling a new pond with tap water to allow time for the chlorine to disperse. Put your plants in lined plastic planting baskets, using a special pond compost such as Westland Aquatic Compost, which costs around £2.49 for 10ltr from garden centres. Top with pea gravel to weight the basket down and to stop the compost washing into the water. Place the basket in the pond to the required depth after reading the growers' instructions on the labels attached to the plants.
o Canna lilies: Few plants can match the spectacular appearance of canna lilies, which have gladiola-like blooms from mid-summer to early autumn, and can grow up to 1.8m in a season. Canna thrive in full sun and rich soil and are ideal plants for the edge of your pond.
o Rushes: To make the most of space in a tiny pond, plant tall slender plants such as slim soft rushes.
o Water lettuce: Water lettuce, which prefers sun with some shade, will add an exotic feel to your pond. It has fine feathery roots that turn from white to purple, and then black.
o Water lilies: These are a must for any pond - we like the pygmy water lily, which has tiny, star-shaped, yellow flowers, and the many different mildly scented varieties.
o Taro: Known for its large, heart-shaped leaves, Taro can be grown at the edges of a pond. It likes sun or partial shade and prefers rich moist soil. Larger varieties can grow up to 1.8m tall.
o Flame or painted nettle: Painted nettle will add intense, hot colour to the edges of a pond and is ideal for partially shady spots. It can grow up to 90cm tall, and its highly coloured nettle-like leaves come in a range of shades, from lime green and yellow, to bright red and aubergine
