FOUNTAINS - THE 3rd DIMENSION OF WATERGARDENING

For artists and designers alike, it is the fountain that has really gripped the imagination. Art and artistry abounds with ideas and gimmicks that demand your attention; one minute amazing you, the next, you are tittering with laughter. Amusement comes from deliberate leaking taps, to wild wicker women, even gushing computers and swirling birdbaths. Stunning effects come from how the water is sprayed and the way that this can be picked up by underwater lighting. This has come within a sensible budget in recent years particularly in the safe 12volt ranges. This form of lighting is as easy to place and fit as the submersible pump; the magic comes from its discreet positioning. But here is a warning: when you are fitting it to the mains supply, make sure the power supply is from a separately fused source to your domestic supply and also everything else in the garden, since their reliability is still not up to the standard of the other power consuming products you might use in and around the water garden and garden itself.

PRACTICAL REASONS FOR HAVING A FOUNTAIN

Otterbine make fountains that oxygenate and munch up algae at the same time.•    If your pool is heavily stocked with fish then a fountain is almost essential. They help to provide a supply of oxygenated water at times when any plant life has ceased to release any or enough. Dark sultry hot summer days and humid summer evenings with fish metabolism high and oxygen dependent bacteria exceedingly active in the bottom of the pool, oxygen is more in demand than at any other time. And what is worse, the oxygenating plants are doing less than providing oxygen; at night they absorb it.
•    There are some fountains that not only oxygenate but also munch up and damage algae (the type that causes green water) in their dramatic spray action. They tend to be like those big ones in golf course lagoons.
•    The noise of a cascade fountain provides a pleasant blanket for background noise like traffic or other people talking. It enables you to talk in private in a relatively crowded place because your voice will not carry very far over the sound of splashing water.
•    Water in the air provides a cooling effect that is most easily appreciated in the precincts and courtyards of Spain, where for centuries the fountain has provided a social point at which to relax and refresh your self.
•    The fountain lifts any small pond to a more significant status, giving it life (in more than one sense) making it an energetic focal point. They work best from a design point of view in formal gardens. Placed at a central point or duplicated across a garden scene, they help to define a formal design.

FOUNTAIN ORNAMENTS

A fountain ornament in a formal pool gives the pool purpose, especially if it is raised. One can hardly think of why the pool should be there otherwise.
Traditional materials have been stone, concrete, cast iron, lead or bronze. Depending on your budget the choice is yours, although metal ornaments had a more delicate and refined look. Nowadays the choice has This withy woman fountain appeared in a Hampton Court Flower Show garden by Paul Dyer back in the 90sexpanded with resin-moulded ornaments that are frost resistant and look almost unnaturally finely detailed.

Paul Toms is always capable of injecting humour into the garden. This was for Chenies, Hampton Court 2001

A superb Humphrey Bowden copper fountain

A Ben Pike fountain in a Garden Guy's garden at the 2000 Bristol Flower Show

Oase showing just what can be done with fountains, water and light

"Eton College Fountain" reconstituted stone fountain from Haddonstone, the UK's premier garden ornament manufacturer    Heavy stone ornaments in pools are best erected on a pedestal that brings their base up to water level. This can be created with brick or blocks treated with silglaze for their lime content. This will double as a fishThe "Bayeaux Fountain", also from Haddonstone, this one is 'self-contained'. hide and a place to hide the pump.
These things never seem such a good idea as they did in the shop while you struggle with them to the edge of your pool before you put them on top of what seems now to be a gossamer thin liner. It is more like a recipe for disaster. It doesn’t help that in the panic caused by the weight and wetness, things just dont seem to go together like they ought to. So be mentally prepared to dismantle the project if everything seems on the kilter after all the efforts, or that essential clamp is not threaded onto the hose at the right point, then perhaps things wont seem so bad.
Start from the very base ensuring everything is level as far as you can. If the ornament is in-pool, start with a large concrete slab (as large as you can get) on a cushion of underlay on the liner. Arm yourself with some wedges of plastic - loose change or credit cards in an emergency. Pull up plenty of tubing up through the ornament as it goes together.
Ensure maximum flow by having the pump as close to the ornament as possible and the pipe-work to a minimum.  

If the ornament has big bowls, get plenty of help and allow yourself plenty of time to get it right. If they are made from concrete, they come from rubber moulds and every one is different and each presents a unique challenge to get it looking right and flowing right. A small triangular file, felt tip pens and nail varnish have been known to be useful for making  minute but essential adjustments.

PEBBLE FOUNTAINS

 
A Ben Pike 'pebble fountain': It is easy to maintain because the reservoir and pump are not immediately below the ornament, therefore servicing does not involve moving the ornamentPebble fountains are my generic term for the huge plethora of ornaments and gushing water objects that sit on a layer of pebbles spouting water from dawn to dusk. Evolving from a modest spring style fountain from a circle of pebbles, the development of this style of feature is constant, fitting in with a modern life style and following the fads and fashions as they arrive. The pebble pool is an important focal point in a small garden and it is usually child safe. Children do love them because they have movement and make noise and this is where their real purpose lies. They are in fact the vestiges of the water garden concept, fitting into the modern, small, enclosed garden, that functions more as an outdoor room rather than an area to commune with nature. Everything therefore needs to be safe and easy to maintain.

MATERIALS for make pebble fountain water features

The main requirements are a reasonable sized sump that can carry a good volume of water to keep a small pump supplied with water. The pump will need as safe an electricity supply as would be involved in a larger pool construction, with the relevant trip-switch and connection boxes (see “Choosing pumps for moving water features. http://www.watergardenermagazine.com/node/2562). If there is an ornament involved then the manufacturer of the ornament may have a pump that he recommends for the desired effect. For something that has a moderate spurt of water less than a metre high, a 1500 litres per hour or 300 gallons supply should be more than enough. For a straight fountain effect directly from the ground or for a small fountain ornament then 900 litres per hour or 180 gallons per hour is adequate. For a very small gentle fountain ornaments even less is required. For the jets from pebble fountains there is an estimate by one manufacturer that states that you should estimate 1 litre/min per centimetre diameter of the pebble fountain ornament i.e. 60 litres per hour. When you get up to a boulder 40cm across the pump will need to deliver 2,400 litres per hour. This would only be possible with a good wide hose through the ornament, ideally not less than 25mm (3/4 inch).
For small ornaments there are several manufacturers that supply excellent robust sumps or pebble pool reservoirs. Look for one with a good large reservoir and a lid that allows you access to service the pump with the minimum upheaval to the surface pebbles. If the ornament is concrete it may be heavy enough to cave in many of the cheaper reservoirs, so ask for one that actually states what weight of ornament it will support.

A pebble fountain reservoir especially designed to collect water from a large surface area.

The excavation for a more typical pebble pool reservoir is 10cm (4ins) below the surrounding soil and is cushioned with sand.

Lay a concrete screed that reinforces the slope down from where the fountain stone or obelisk will be placed to the reservoir.

Place a good piece of pond liner over the reservoir and the concrete.: Cut out a hole in the liner for the water to drain into the reservoir. Fit the pump in the reservoir with as large a diameter hose as the pump will take.

This reservoir will have a water level indicator made from a fishing float, a plastic tube and two 'o' rings to hold it in place

If the ornament is tall or you wish to have a high fountain of water you must expect to have quite a bit of splashing and subsequent water loss. It is therefore important to have as large a reservoir as possible. To collect the water and divert it back to the reservoir can be done by extending the collection tray by means of a liner. This lies over the reservoir and has a hole in it so that it can drain back into the reservoir, also to allowing access to the reservoir. The surrounding land, which the liner covers, should have a gentle fall down to the reservoir.
If there are several ornaments (for instance spouting boulders) especially if they are too heavy to move once they are in place, they can share the water supply from a single sump to which the water supply drains back to the reservoir along a liner (see below).

 
How to Make a LUXURY PEBBLE POOL or Pebble Fountain

The site near the house is chosen.
The soil is excavated to 10cm below the level of the surrounding paving i.e. proposed finished level of the display. A pebble fountain reservoir is placed in a fairly central position. A line is scribed in the soil that marks the position of the base and also describes a shape around the outside edge of the unit.
A hole for the base of the unit is dug out, and an area within the line around the reservoir is carefully excavated that is 10cm below soil level at the edge of the reservoir and very nearly rises up to the level of the surrounding soil. The bubbling boulders are intended to sit at the higher end of this excavation and the water flows out of them will drain back down into the reservoir. Ensure the reservoir is level within the excavation. Make sure the unit is well supported by an inch of sand but will still lie low in the excavation.

A water resistant plug is fitted to the pump cable

The stones are cemented into place

Plants are planted and a mulch of pebbles is added.

The final scene. Spot the water level indicator

•  Layout everything in place to see how it might look.

• Drill out the boulder with a stone hammer drill. Drill a ‘pilot’ hole with a thin drill bit first and work up to a bit large enough to make a hole that will take at least a 12mm hose.A large statue as a pebble fountain at the Bristol Water Saving Garden designed by Peter May in Bristol

• Lay a concrete scree that effectively reinforces the slope in the soil down to the reservoir ensuring the fall is adequate and that the slope is dished towards the centre. As the concrete ‘goes off’, brush it smooth.

• Place a good piece of liner over the concrete and the reservoir and cut away a hole for the water to drain into the reservoir. Fit the pump in the reservoir with as large a diameter hose as the pump will take. A triple hosetail that will supply water to three drilled boulders is also fitted.

•   A water resistant plug is fitted to the pump cable and this will be hidden under the pebble mulch. The picture shows the order of fitting to be slid onto the cable before the wires of the cable are fitted to the plug itself. Everything is then screwed into place using the waterproofing cap to the plug.

• This pebble pool will have an added accessory: a water level indicator for the sump. A hole is drilled into the plastic lid. Into this is inserted a clear plastic tube obtained from an aquatic store and in that is a thin fisherman’s float obtained from the store next door. Two rubber ‘O’ rings from a garage hold the tube in place. 12mm tubing is inserted into the stones and they are tested with a hose connected to a tap to see if the water will flow down the liner into the sump.

• The stones are cemented into place ensuring the thin pipes are virtually in position for connection to the big pipe by the triple hosetail. The pipes need to be as short as possible to ensure maximum water flow.

• The sump is filled with water and the pump is connected to a power supply that has been inserted in the pointing of the paving. Test the system with the utmost scrutiny.

• Lay out the plants and plant them.

• Paddle stones, washed and tumbled slate, were laid in the central wet area along with a few bigger pebbles and a mix of smaller river washed pebbles provided the infill.

if you want to see anotehr way of creating a pebble pool, pebble fountain or monolith fountain - whatever you may wish to call it, go to SETTING UP A MONOLITH   www.watergardenermagazine.com:node:753.webloc