Water Gardens

If you love gardens and gardening, the chances are you love water gardens too. There is nothing more essential to plant life than water, so it is only natural to want to incorporate an area of water gardens when planning your garden design.

The scope of your water gardens will depend, of course, on the size of the garden and the terrain.

Having a natural slope will be a big advantage, especially if, like me, you love waterfalls and moving water. If you live on totally flat land, then it will be a matter of sticking to a flat water garden or shifting some soil, rocks and stones.

Having visited many fine gardens in England, the elements I remember the most are usually the meandering streams with ornamental bridges, surrounded by lush plant life and mature trees. Many of these make use of natural terrain and water sources, but there is usually a man made element too.

You are unlikely to have the luxury of a vast English country garden, but there is no reason why you should not learn from their water garden features, and then try to reproduce some in miniature.

If you have time, and the budget, it is worth visiting a few well known gardens before designing your own, just to get the feel and the atmosphere of the water gardens, and to see what plants go together well in such an environment.

For me, planning a garden, or even a part of a garden, is an important part of the overall pleasure of gardening. Now that I live in a tropical country, with rainforest and mountains nearby, what I visualize for my own garden will include similar features to those in the tropical garden picture at the top.

For a small garden in a cooler climate, you can make an equally attractive feature, though it may be more difficult to keep it as attractive all year.

Nevertheless, a summer's afternoon in a garden like that pictured centre, and the burst of flower as a lily pond comes to life (above) all make it worthwhile, even if it is only in miniature compared to an English stately home