Water Feature Ideas For Your Garden
Whether you are looking for a wall water feature, a DIY birdbath or to make your own fountain, you’ll find lots of inspiration for easy and inexpensive water feature ideas for your garden.
Our gardens have a calming, restful feeling partly because they simultaneously please so many senses — sight, smell and sound.
There is nothing more soothing than the sound of water trickling onto pebbles, or the sight of birds bathing in a fountain, so I make sure I have water features both in my back and front gardens.
These water features do not need to be elaborate or expensive to create that relaxing vibe.
Read on to find easy water feature ideas to add to your garden.
Add a bird bath
The simplest way to add a water feature to your garden is with a bird bath. No pump or electricity required…just fill it with the hose!
I like my blue ceramic bath for its gorgeous jolt of color and its ease of cleaning.
Birds like fresh water to bathe in and to drink so the water needs to be changed regularly.
Placing the bird bath close to bushes that provide some cover makes sure the birds will use it.
Unfortunately, the raccoons like it too and tip it over regularly!
A DIY hanging bird bath is one way to get around this.
They are easy to make by placing a shallow glass bowl in a wire hanging basket and filling it with water.
Or fill a pie pan with water and place it somewhere that the cats can’t get to.
A rock in the middle helps to weigh it down and gives the birds a place to perch.
When a bird bath starts to leak or breaks, it is easy to transform into a planter.
Add some plants or another container (or both as we did with this one) and it becomes its own focal point.
Finally, add some landscape lighting to make sure your bird bath stands out at night.
Find out how to install low-voltage landscape lighting HERE.
Build a water feature wall
A water feature wall is beautiful on a deck as a backdrop for a collection of plants in containers.
The water is pumped to a conduit with holes in it at the top that allows the liquid to flow down a wall into a container.
To get the splashing sound you need to have rocks at the base of the wall.
These units can be purchased ready made or you can build your own.
Click here to follow the easy instructions on how to build your own from HGTV.
I used glass tiles for mine and it has held up well for many winters here in Canada.
DIY waterfall feature
An in-ground water feature adds lots of interest to your garden.
It takes more planning and sweat equity than the others mentioned, but once it is built it is a low-maintenance option.
If you want to go all out, you can find detailed instructions on how to do this at The Family Handyman.
Or you can take the easy way out, and do what I did (which is much simpler).
In my mini waterfall, the water runs from the clay pot at the back through the rocks into the small pond.
Click HERE to find out how to make my mini waterfall.
Make a wall sculpture fountain
Another very simple way to introduce water is to create your own wall fountain.
Made from a wall sculpture, a galvanized tub and a pump, they’re inexpnsive, easy to install and don’t take up a lot of space.
Perfect for a small garden, deck or patio!
Find out how to make this DIY wall water fountain HERE.
Get creative
As you have probably noticed by now, regardless of what type of running water feature you choose, they all use the same principles.
So if you feel like getting creative, you can create any kind of fountain you like with the same basic steps…like this teapot fountain from hometalk.com (click here to see the instructions).
Or drill a hole in a rock and have it be the fountain.
Running the water down a piece of driftwood is another way to create a fountain, like the one in this Japanese-inspired garden.
Install a ready-made fountain
Of course, if you don’t want the work of a DIY project, the easiest way to add running water to your garden is to purchase a fountain that is already assembled with the pump.
Some basic assembly may be required to join the pump by a hose to the water outlet, but it’s only a few minutes of setup.
These are available in many different styles and materials from cement, composite, ceramic, and metal.
They can be traditional or contemporary so there is lots of opportunity to satisfy your individual preferences.
This tiered metal fountain is one of my favorites.
Birds love to drink or bathe in it and I like to hear the gentle splash of running water.
I hope you have found some water feature ideas you can use in your garden!
Other gardening ideas you might like
Have comments or questions on our water feature ideas? Tell us in the section below.
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This post was originally published on September 29, 2016 but was updated with new content on August 8, 2022.
Hello Wanda,,,, just wanted to thank for talking about rain chains,,,,, never heard of them . What a great idea, I just adore fixing up my home. Inside And out. I plan on buying the copper ones, I love the green color it turns into. Thank you again. Sincerely PATRICIA
Thanks, Patricia! Rain chains are one of my favorite things 🙂 I think they look so much better than downspouts!
You are so crafty and innovative. I have none of that. In hope I can learn from you. Thank you.
Hello Chris, Sometimes innovation is duplicating what one reads or sees and adding one’s own slant. I definitely have learned from others and am happy to pass on my experiences. Glad to have you on board at From House to Home.
The tip of placing a bowl inside a plant hanger is the most ingenious quick fix ever! I have a stray cat I feed, but she has attacked birds who visit the bird bath. I decided to search pinterest for a DIY hanging bird bath. I literally cannot wait to do this tomorrow! Thanks so much for posting!
I’m glad you found it useful, Kee Kee 🙂
We have lots of mosquitos in our partially wooded yard. In this area, we’ve been advised not to have any areas of standing water so that mosquitos don’t lay eggs.
How do you handle this with your birdbaths and other containers of water ?
Hello Faith, I do not think mosquitoes will develop if the water is moving — as in fountains with pumps or aerators. For bird baths, I change the water daily and rinse out the bowl before filling with fresh water. Hope this helps.