Hello again! It’s great to see you back here at Westwood-Ground-Maintenance.co.uk for another of our monthly advice columns. This month we’re thinking about water, and how you can use it to make your garden look incredible. A stylish water feature can be the centrepiece of any garden, and adds a wonderful sense of tranquility to your home – not only visually, but also sonically. What could be more relaxing that the sound of a quietly flowing stream or gentle bubbling of a fountain?

Westwood is here this month with practical tips about adding a water feature to your garden without the added hassle of making mistakes.

Let’s get started!

1. Keep Slopes to a Minimum

A gentle incline is fine, but make sure you steer clear of using steep slopes around any free-running water feature. Steep slopes have a large potential for runoff and erosion, and should therefore be avoided around free running water which will greatly exacerbate the problem. Subtle gradients are the way to go here.

If a steep slope is unavoidable, make sure that stabilising elements such as deep rooting shrubs and plants are placed near. They’ll help reduce the amount of runoff and erosion that occurs.

2. Make use of hydrozones when planning your plant layouts

Different plants need different amounts of water to stay healthy, so, make sure you group similarly-fed plants together. This will save you both effort and money, and will reduce the risk of over- or under-watering your plants. Using a water feature to help feed plants which need a lot of water is a great idea, and can also lead to beautiful design points.

3. Use real organic materials to decorate your water feature spaces

Plastic looks cheap, and even the slightest knock or dink can reveal the ugly material underneath the paintwork. Use real stone for wet areas, and wood in the dry areas around a water feature, for a much more expensive-looking effect that can withstand a few knocks and kicks and still look fantastic.

Make sure you don’t use wood in wet areas, however, as wet wood warps and rots, leaving your garden looking old and badly cared for.

4. Invest in the best

It’s always wise to buy the best you can afford. Even if it means saving up for a few months to buy the right materials and equipment, the end result will be worth the wait. Make sure to invest in a heavy-duty water pump which can withstand extremes of weather, and make sure all insulation / waterproofing is done by an experienced professional.

Of course, these tips are just for starters – everyone’s home and garden is different, so why not contact the experts at Westwood Ground Maintenance today? We’ll help you figure out how to make the best of your living space.

That’s it for now – we hope to see you again next month for more landscaping tips and advice!