Bring your compound to life with water features

If you have ever gone to hangout next to a water body especially a river or stream or any that has moving water, one thing you can attest to, is the beauty and relaxing sound of moving water. Not to mention the vegetation that grows there.
How about you chip this beauty into your home garden, terrace or among other things? Water features can definitely transform the ambiance of your garden when placed in the right place.
Water features can be added to even the smallest of spaces—all you need is some sort of vessel or bowl. If you have an outlet nearby, a small pump can circulate the water. Or, you can simply have a still water feature with a couple of aquatic plants and a goldfish to keep the mosquito larvae at bay and you are good to go. Sounds simple, right! But there is some work and things to consider before jumping in headfirst.
Before anything you may want to answer the following questions.

Where will the feature be?
Full sun and eddying winds can have a dramatically negative effect on maintaining regular water levels in a pond or water feature. A site not too hot and one where the wind does not billow are ideal.

Electricity and water
These are two things that should never be taken for granted, especially when combined, so always employ a skilled tradesperson to undertake the installation for you or opt for a solar powered feature. How easy is it to connect water and elctricity to this point?
Will the feature be a stand-alone creation? A bold keystone of the garden as a whole, or will it gently enhance the scheme in a more naturalistic manner?

What are materials?
Can you take any reference for this from the immediate surroundings? Metal, slate, stone or simply just water?

How much maintenance is involved?
Unfortunately, this is usually more that you think – water is not maintenance-free and often not even low maintenance, but an automated top-up that regulates the water level over the pump is a useful item, and means that manual topping up of water levels isn’t required quite so often.

How much space do I have? This will determine the size of your installation amongst other things.

Here are some ideas to consider

Water falls
Waterfalls are one of the most beautiful things one can admire. The way the water falls on rocks and the beautiful sound it makes could keep you fascinated for some time. Imagine how wonderful it could be to have such a gorgeous thing on your property and placing it wherever you want and dictating how it will look like.
Ethel Namono, a landscaper with Iconic Hedges Ltd says: “The choice of a waterfall depends on the size of a compound or space available.” She adds that to make it beautiful, one needs to throw in ornaments and well decorated stones to make it look beautiful.”
However, she notes that waterfalls require the touch of a profession landscaper or plumber to install the system in order to avoid mistakes. Because how the water flows and how it is recycled is also critical and should not be under looked. Installation of a waterfall costs Shs 16m

Traditional water fountains
These come in different forms depending on the person’s interests. From those that jet water into the air to those that pour water in vessels name it. There is a wide range of options to choose from.
The critical elements of a fountain are a water pump and reservoir which cost up to Shs3m. But how the final product will appear depends on one’s idea which is charged separately.
A lot comes with the fountain, says Namono. For example, which mold do you need, the types of rocks name it. The bottom line is the customer’s preference but the cost is between Shs16m and Shs20m.

Ponds
There is one thing that will definitely give life to your backyard both in terms of looks and sound. And that, of course, is a pond.
Water from the pond will bring your backyard or garden to life by adding a really natural and fresh look to it. Whether still or moving.
Like the waterfall you will need a pump to help in changing the water. However, Namono cautions people want to venture in to this idea that a lot is needed to ensure that the pond is safe.

“If you have to keep the water clean and ensuring it is changed timely to keep a way things like frogs among others.”
She also recommends adding fish to the pond. Installing a pond costs Shs2m.

Enhancements

Arguably the reason homeowners invest in water features is to enhance the beauty of the surrounding areas. But it would be even more beautiful if one adds flowers like roses and orchids to bring out the color of the compound.
Other things such as the gold fish and stones add that striking visual effect to the water features whilst keeping hazards such as mosquitoes and weeds at bay respectively.

[email protected]