Choosing your Water Feature

The soothing sound of water in the garden is a wonderful antidote to life’s stresses. Not only can it lower blood pressure, but it also acts as a useful screen against other environmental noises. Visually exciting, a water feature forms a sensory punctuation mark in the landscape but offers practical benefits too - improving air quality by releasing negative ions into the air, increasing humidity in dry weather, and attracting valuable wildlife into the garden. With a plethora of choice when it comes to water features, here are some of our favourites:

The patina of this steel drum has a twofold appeal- it can look as if it has been part of the landscape forever, or it can act as a bold industrial statement in a contemporary space. Regardless of its placement, it is the hypnotic water circles that draw the eye - the gentle, rhythmic movement creating a calm and relaxing ambience in the garden.

With seven spouts and an imposing height, Veneto delivers large scale impact, but its clean lines and understated style issue it an elegance belying its size. With seven identical moving chains of water, this is a natural work of art, providing a wonderful focal point in the garden.

This is a hard one to choose as all the water features bear different intensities of sound (most features have flow regulators allowing you to change the volume and sound of the water) but we like Double Arcadian. This classical, stone fountain has a double bowl, offering the height and flow to create the typical splash we all know and love.

Tall, imposing and minimalist in design, Arno Tall Zinc adds impact to the garden, its large letterbox-style spout releasing a pane of falling water. The clean lines and simplicity of this boxy shape sit well in a contemporary design scheme, where it would work well paired with the structure of box or lavender.

It’s incredibly difficult not to reach out and touch the intricate leaves of this zinc ball, with its rounded curve also adding to the tactile appeal. Whether acting as a water feature or without any flow, this ball adds a distinctive decorative feature to any setting.

Low level and self-contained, this frost proof cast stone fountain suits any space- sitting comfortably on a terrace or in a garden setting. The Romanesque coin moulding is influenced by Western Roman and Byzantine buildings, adding a decorative embellishment to the simple bowl.

The curved lines of this classically designed feature allow it to stand as a statement piece in any outdoor environment. Positioned against a wall it forms a wonderful backdrop, the water flow from its spout transporting you back to a simpler age. As the years pass, the zinc will take on an antiqued patina, looking as if it has always been there.

This is a big, impressive feature, ideal for a courtyard or driveway where it can be admired from all aspects. With its four spouts, the intensity of sound is hugely relaxing, the heritage design leaning heavily on 19th century Belgian architecture, bringing a sense of European taste and history to the setting.

The zinc Luna water feature has a wide and low, rounded shape, sitting snug in any garden and emitting a soft, gurgling sound as the water ripples across the top. This is a very popular piece, admired for its simplicity of style and self-contained nature.

The burnt orange patina of weathered steel adds an industrial edge to the outdoors, and this water feature showcases this texture to great effect with its raised steel bed. While its exterior may seem raw and rough, the water gurgles gently, forming a hypnotic water ripple effect on its surface.

This freestanding water trough is made from zinc, cast in slim, straight lines, offering a discreet feature for any garden. Suitable for a contemporary or traditional garden scheme, its minimalist design offers subtlety and elegance, sitting quietly, its three jets bubbling with the sound of running water.