Water Features for Your Garden: Ponds, Fountains, and Waterfalls

Add the Magic of Water to Your Landscape

Ponds, fountains, and waterfalls suit any residential garden — infinitely customizable, large or small, intricate or simple. They attract wildlife (songbirds to foxes), provide water sources, and add auditory delight. Ponds host frogs, dragonflies, fish. Here are five inspirational water features.

1. Pretty Patio Collection: Container Water Garden

Invite water plants onto your patio with watertight pots. Lotus star here — beloved for round leaves and scented flowers, but rampant in small ponds. Containers control their spread. This collection: lotus, taros, water lettuce, water canna, creeping Jenny. Overwinter in cool, non-freezing location. See more top plants for patio water gardens.

2. Ring Around a Fountain: Shade Garden Accent

Brighten a shade garden with a terra-cotta pot fountain and annuals (impatiens, polka-dot plant). Care: water plants every other day, top off fountain. DIY fountain: coat large clay pot with deck sealant, add small pump, feed cord through drainage hole, seal with caulk, conceal cord under mulch, cure 2 days, fill, enjoy. Discover more fun annuals for shade.

3. Bubbling Sphere: Terra-Cotta Elegance

Natural terra-cotta with soft water sounds — perfect anywhere. Place in garden bed, on stone pedestal, or table. Sphere weathers to mossy patina. Choose high-fired terra-cotta for water durability. Click here to learn how to make a bubbling sphere fountain.

4. Simple Bell Fountain: Safe In-Ground Design

Easy-to-install inground fountain with underground reservoir capturing water and housing pump. Safe for homes with small children. Customize with any fountainhead — bell, geyser, multi-tiered, or run tubing through an urn. Get step-by-step directions for building this fountain.

5. Build-in-a-Weekend Pond: Wildlife Haven

Cozy up to a patio, haven for wildlife/plants/people. Bamboo fountain adds gentle stream. Great first inground project, supports fish (shubunkins, comets). Cold climates: add deicer for winter fish survival. Get more inspiration for adding a water feature to your yard.