Having a backyard fire pit is an idea that has been around for years. Backyard fire pits have definitely evolved from the original hole in the ground type. They are now decorative accessories that create an outdoor living area that you can share with family and friends. There are many options available for you to choose from and produce the ultimate warming glow of firelight in your backyard.

Metal Fire Pits

The basic model for a metal fire pit is a large steel ring with decorative cutouts for ventilation and flame viewing. The steel rings can be purchased at most home and garden centers for less than $100. The ring is placed on the ground or in an area that has either sand or stone and the fire is built in the center of the ring. The ring is designed to contain the fire. You could also choose a metal bowl that sets on legs. The bowls are approximately 2 to 3 feet in diameter and are made from copper, steel or aluminum. A metal bowl backyard fire pit ranges from $100 to $500 and can be set anywhere on the patio or lawn. Be aware that the metal bowls will get extremely hot and models with shorter legs could pose a fire hazard if set on a surface that is flammable, such as a wood deck or dry grass. Some of the metal bowl models will come with grills for cooking or wire mesh screens to keep the burning embers from flying around and inside the bowl.

Masonry and Stone

If you want a more permanent, formal backyard fire pit than you might want to consider going with a stone or masonry pit. These fire pits can be as small or as large as you desire or what your backyard area can comfortably support. The fires that you have in these fire pits should never be more than 3 feet in diameter and 2 feet high. You’ll want to check and see if there are any specific building or fire codes that you need to conform to prior to building a permanent fire pit. Because brick, concrete block, slate or sandstone is a porous material they can get hot enough for moisture inside the material to cause them to crack or even in extreme cases, explode. You can prevent this from happening by using granite or other nonporous rock to construct stone backyard fire pits or make an inner ring of firebrick that is several feet inside the brick or masonry outer ring.

Gas Fire Pits

You should consider a gas fire pit, which is like a gas barbeque or grill, and runs on either propane or natural gas. Most gas backyard fire pit kits will come with faux logs, lava rocks and sometimes even decorative colored glass. You should avoid inexpensive backyard fire pit gas models that have nothing more than metal tubes with holes for the flames. Typically these types of gas fire pits are not UL-approved and could cause you problems. The nice thing about gas fire pits is that they don’t need as much clearance from flammable surfaces as the open flame fire pits and they can usually be used in suburban or urban areas where wood fire are restricted. Backyard fire pits that are gas can be turn on and off instantly. Clean up is also minimal because gas fire pits don’t produce ash or embers. There are so many different styles to choose from that you surely can find one model that fits into the backyard fire pit design you have in mind. The disadvantages of a gas fire pit is that you can’t cook on them, you typically have to have quite a bit of gas to get the same affect as a wood fire and they are generally more expensive. A gas backyard fire pit can cost between several hundred to several thousand dollars and doesn’t quite have the same effect or smell as a wood fire.

Regardless of which style of backyard fire pit you decide to go with, there is no denying the effect of a crackling fire in the great outdoors. It is not only beautiful but there is no way to wind down from a long day than to gaze into a glowing ember, cozy within the warmth of a backyard fire pit.

Jayme Hanson operates an information site about Best Landscaping Ideas. Articles include information on Container Plant Ideas, Small Backyard Designs and Patio Deck Ideas.

It has been said that growing roses is a labor of love, because we all put a great deal of effort into their cultivation.

It takes a lot of time and energy to grow the perfect rose!

We should all be proud of the roses we grow, proud to share them with others and proud to display them for our family and friends. So how do you show off your skills?

Here are three different ways to become a “show-off” and share your rose garden treasures.

1. Display your blooms half open.

Cutting buds that are just half open allows them to continue slowly opening for the next few days. They must have started to open, the tiny, thin green leaves below the bud should have started to curl back, or the process will not continue. This pristine, slowly opening bud can easily become an intriguing talking point.

Cut them with a short stem and one clean leaf and use them as individual place settings for your dinner guests, perhaps a different, single color for each place setting. Or use empty votive candle glasses (without the candle that is!) and float a half open miniature rose bud in each glass. This makes a great centerpiece for a dining table especially outside. Or how about floating a large bloom, about two-thirds open, in a large brandy glass? (…with water not brandy of course!) One of the most stunning displays I ever saw was of five pink blooms, not fully open, floating on an almost flat, white smoked glass dish…and the scent wasn’t bad either!

2. Photograph your blooms.

Try taking close-up pictures of your open rose blooms. Morning light is best, and remember to remove any damaged petals first. Two dramatic methods of displaying your rose pictures require fairly large scale prints of, preferably, single booms, which could be printed directly from your computer.

One way is to print the picture on to a cloth backing and stretch it across an artists picture frame to make a border-less wall hanging.

The second is to print a large version of your photo but in black and white. This is very dramatic especially in a black frame. Try a Sepia copy for the old historic look.

3. Don’t forget your roses at party time.

You have worked hard in your rose garden, and the results were stunning. What better better way to share your success than to “ eat them”!

There are recipes for making rose-water which is used in cake-making and punches. There are recipes for rose-jam and rose-hip marmalade as well as rose-hip syrup and tea. All great additions to a Mothers Day tea, by the way!

And what about party time gift giving? Dried petals and dried rosebuds make excellent pot-pouri, petals can enhance paper making and candle making. You can even use your rose petals in making “bath bombs” or moisturizer cremes: and how about making rosary beads? Some great gift ideas and a marvelous way to share your roses.

Why don’t you show-off your roses to your friends and relatives. Display them, photograph them, use them for gift giving or even to eat! Share your roses with others. We can show you how to achieve all this. You can do it, we can help.

David LeAche is author of http://www.rose-works.com, where you can find out all about rose growing, photographing roses, crafts with roses and using petals, hips and rose-water. FREE monthly newsletter. Find out how this site came to be so popular at Rose-Works/About-Us

For many people, their garden is their paradise. They dedicate many, many hours of hard work. They do it all on their own, from weeding to potting, designing and planning, attempting to turn their garden into their own place of sanctuary and peace. Garden decor not only sets the tone of your garden; it also gives your home awesome curb appeal. Your hard work may very well pay off too; landscaping often adds value to your home. It’s one of the first things that potential visitors notice, so why not let everyone into the enchanting world you’ve created?!

Garden decorations give gardens a customized theme. With the numerous options available regarding garden statues and outdoor water features, the garden is able to be altered and added to each year if desired. Putting together your garden’s current look doesn’t stop when the weather is getting cold either—it’s a creative adventure for many, and some of the most entertaining and fulfilling of times can be spent planning exactly where everything will go, and how it will coordinate. Will a Zen garden be built this year? Or just a simple scenic water garden? The beauty of it is that all the choices are yours.

Over the years numerous tips and tricks of gardening have surfaced. It’s great to have something to build upon. There is a ton of information available on the placement of garden waterfalls, caring for your garden statues and ponds, and everything else.

You do not have to be wealthy to create the garden of your dreams. It does take considerable time to plan, organize, and put those plans in motion, but it doesn’t necessarily take a ton of money—you just have to get creative.

Water features are one of the best ways to improve the look and feel of a garden. Incorporating tranquil sounds of nature along with planning placement of various decorations certainly help to relax you after a long day. It’s also very rewarding because you get to see the results of all your hard work.

Garden fountains for example, are meant to allow for a calming and soothing ambiance. It’s great to think that you can experience these sounds at any time of the day. There is also the option of therapeutic wading pools, providing a relief from hot, swollen feet on a hot summertime day. Depending on what you desire, you can find a water feature to match any idea you want in your garden.

There are numerous water features that can incorporate nicely into the design of your garden landscape. Do not worry too much about investing a whole lot into your garden; but at the same time, keep in mind that a well-landscaped garden can increase value of your home. If you’re willing to invest effort, time, and funds into these features, they will have the ability to completely alter the appearance of your garden.

Garden Waterfalls have become increasingly desirable when it comes to garden landscaping. These types of garden accessories add to the appeal of your garden while providing a place children, adults, and even animals can frolic and play. Waterfalls are often associated with wealth due to their high operational costs. They can, however, really set off a garden, especially a pool area. Each aspect of the garden is in harmony with the other, and is, in a sense, a beautiful symphony. All in all, various outdoor water features are one of the most striking features when gardens are concerned and can change a backyard from boring to fantastic!

Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in travel, leisure, home improvement, and life insurance. For an amazing selection of garden fountains and outdoor decor, please visit http://www.garden-fountains.com.

If you want to start do-it-yourself designing your own landscaping on a budget, you may not like to spend big bucks on landscape software for designing your outdoor design. Some companies out there offer free landscaping design software to help you pick your favorite plants with their specific colors and sizes to get the most beauty out of your exterior space. The software may include different kind of plants in different sizes and colors, including seasonal and perennials and capable of altering the size of images for a more precise design of backyard and how will be when completed.

There is a weakness of using free landscaping software. It doesn’t allow you to change the style of garden or the design of the flowerbeds or other plants. To access this feature, you need to pay and upgrade to full version. In fact the free landscaping software is a demo version. It can be used only for selecting the proper sizes and colors of plants and flowers to see how the combination of them will look like.

There are different type of deal and strategy in market, Some companies offer the free landscaping software to sell their products include flowers, flower seeds, plants, trees online in return. Of course they don’t offer high level professional software which cost couple hundred dollar. They trade a basic version software around $100 fee which is still good deal for individuals who like to start. You can use the free landscaping software to choose and locate your favorite flowers and plants on layout and ask the company send you those plants in return.

Full version of gardening software generally is more capable and includes interesting extra features like adding stones, rocks, lumber etc for making your garden more beautiful and eye catching while most free landscaping software lack these features. Different companies offer different free landscaping software which more and less may includes or eliminates extra functionalities. They may change features for different customers. If the company realize the customer would constantly purchase products, may let permanent customers have more access to cool features.

One of the cool things about most of the online offered free landscaping software is that you don’t need to register and enter your personal information. Just a click and download the whole thing in few seconds. Once you figure out software doesn’t fit your needs, easily by a click, delete the whole thing again. Entire process doesn’t take more than few minutes of your time, but at least you won’t pay a penny.

Always keep in mind you get what you pay for. Totally you can’t expect a free landscaping software same as a paid one. The producer doesn’t support any help and the major cool features. you get software as it is. But at least, is a good spot to start for you who want to do-it-yourself. It gives you an idea, how the system works and if working with program interests you.

If you need more information about landscaping design, you may want to have a look at my landscaping blog.

Interested in growing organic? For many, it’s the only way to grow.

When starting an organic vegetable garden you must start from the ground up. Compost is the key to a lush, bountiful organic garden. If you don’t already have your own compost, check with your local municipality. Most give away leaf compost for free. Some even deliver by the truckload to your home!

Leaf compost is very rich in organic matter; however, it still needs a few amendments. Lime added to your compost will balance the Ph and Gypsum added (about 5lbs. per 100 sq. ft.) will keep the soil nice and loose, it also adds trace minerals such as calcium which is great for the soil. Adding these will also help plants intake the nutrients they need to thrive. Work this into the top 4”-6” of soil.

Another important key to growing organic veggies is sunlight. Take some time to watch the sun as it moves across your property throughout the day. Start your garden where it will get the maximum amount of sun and plant your rows from NE to SW. It is also important to water your garden in the early morning between the hours of 6 and 10 am. The will allow for good water absorption and any water left on the leaves will evaporate before the heat of mid-day. Watering in the middle of the day is not recommended because the water will evaporate before it has a chance to really soak in (or you will have to water longer to get the same effect). The leaves of the plants may also burn as the water on the leaves heats up. Never, ever water your garden in the evening unless you want a tough battle with the evil fungus! Let me explain. When you water in the evening it is cooler and dark. The ground will absorb the water well, however, the round will only suck up so much, and then the garden is left with water on the leaves and puddles (even small ones) around the stems. There is no sun to gently evaporate the excess. Water and air can carry fungus spores naturally. The water laying on the leaves and around the stems acts as a fertilizer to the evil fungus and it grows literally overnight. Before you know it you have black spots on your tomato and pepper plant and curling leaves on your cucumbers!

Ok, once you have chosen your location, prepared the soil, and have placed your plants in rows, use your recycled newspaper as a weed preventer between the rows. Once the newspaper is wet, no weed can penetrate it.

It’s not very pretty, do like I do and give it a covering of mulch. Newspaper and mulch also serve a dual purpose…they help retain moisture around the plants. Just try to keep them away from the stems of your plants.

Pretty simple so far, huh? There is a great misnomer about the word ORGANIC. Many people think that organic means work. It’s just the opposite. Working with nature, and using simple principles is always easier and more successful than working against nature with harmful chemical based fertilizers and control products.

Beneficial insects in your garden are a must. Lady bugs and Preying Mantis will eat many unwanted insects. Bats are also great insect eaters. And no, they will not get stuck in your hair! Install a bat box up in a tree and you will have less garden pests and mosquitoes in your yard. Bats are nocturnal so they won’t bother you at all. They are actually great fun to watch at dusk, dancing in the moonlight.

If you do find yourself with a garden invasion of nasty little critters, there are a few easy tricks. If you only see a few insects, pick them off, put in a refuse bag and throw in the trash. If you have more than a few, a solution of soapy water generally will do the trick. Using recycled bath or dishwater works great. It also saves precious water. If your garden is too large to bucket the water from your sink or tub, pour some liquid dish soap in a hose end sprayer and spray the garden. A good soak of the plants is what you want. You can do this weekly all the way until harvest.

As for fertilizing your veggies, there is nothing better than Merrill’s! When I find a product that works this well, I have to spread the word. Merrill’s Compost Fertilizer or Compost Tea (a water soluble fertilizer) is an All Natural Certified Organic Fertilizer. Your plants will love it! They will grow bigger, and yield more veggies than any other fertilizer I’ve ever used.

Ok, now let me tell you how to rid your garden of the EVIL FUNGUS. If you come across a plant (particularly tomatoes) that is curling or wilting with no other apparent signs of disease, (and it’s been getting adequate water) pull it our and dispose of it immediately. Throw it in the garbage… do not put it in your compost bin!

Do not replant in that spot again this season? It could have Fusarium Wilt or some other disease that attacks the root system of the plant and can travel quickly from plant to plant. If you have Black Spot or Powdery Mildew, make sure you are only watering in the morning, and you can get an organic fungus control at greennationgardens.com or your local garden center.

Now that the gardening season is over, when breaking down your garden… COMPOST IT! Any newspaper and mulch can be placed in your compost to break down naturally to be added back into your garden next year. Plant stems unfortunately have to go into the garbage. They are fibrous and difficult to break down. You do not want any disease spores wintering over in your compost bin. Make sure to test the Ph and amend your soil yearly to replace the nutrients and trace minerals your veggies took from the soil. After all, the organic vegetables you’ll be growing the following growing season will be looking for those very same nutrients. They’ll thank you for it with a bountiful array of fresh organic produce, and your family will thank you for all the wonderful goodness you have provided them with no chemicals, and that is a wonderful thing!

HAPPY “ORGANIC” GARDENING!

This article may be reproduced and/or distributed. Written by Vera Pappas, Owner of Green Nation Gardens , suppliers of unique and eco-friendly garden supplies. Visit GreenNationGardens.com , Today!

Valentine’s Day sees the sales of flowers, predominately roses, exceed ten million in one day. It is estimated that over one million British men and women spent in excess of thirty million pounds on Valentine flowers. Men purchase the majority, however, it is becoming increasingly popular for women to buy and send flowers to men. Strong vibrant colours from exotics and sculptured sturdy shapes, with berries and foliage, as well as roses, are becoming ever more popular for women to purchase and send to men.

Many people use Valentines flowers to send hidden meanings and messages. The tradition of this dates back to Victorian times when suitors would use flowers to send coded messages to their lovers. Roses are undoubtedly the most popular choice of flower to send on Valentine’s Day, folklore says that sending ten roses means ‘you are perfect’, a dozen roses sent ‘be mine’ and for those who push the boat out and buy two dozen roses are saying ‘forever yours’. It is also believed by many that roses sent without their thorns and leaves say ‘there is nothing to hope or fear’ while a rose given with its thorns removed, but still with its leaves say ‘I am no longer afraid to reveal my feelings; I live in hope.’

The colour of the roses sent also has hidden meanings, chose carefully to send the right message! Red roses are a sign of true love, moss rose means that you love someone from afar, purple roses represent everlasting love, beware sending yellow roses as they give the message that you are jealous while white roses say ‘I love you not’!

Roses are renowned for the sensuality of their silken petals, their fragrance heightens ‘falling in love’. Scientific researches have begun to discover that roses have specific chemicals which give us a happy feeling and many aromatherapists use rose oil to reduce stress and tension.

People do send flowers other than roses on Valentines Day. There are a variety of spring flowers which also come in various shades of reds and pinks if the traditional Valentine’s colours are to be adhered to, however, it has recently become very trendy to send huge bouquets of spring flowers with a variety of vibrant colours or a posy of highly scented seasonal flowers including narcissus, lilac and lily-of-the-valley.

For the more adventurous an antirrhinum shaped like a giant love-heart is available in white, pink and lime green and a ‘saucy’ glossy lip-stick red coloured . The flower surrounds a phallic shaped creamy coloured beacon and should certainly let your Valentine exactly how you are feeling!

The exotic and rarely seen orchids such as Oncidium with a mass of small butterfly shaped flowers or Paphiopedilum, the slipper orchid, have become the most glamorous flowers for celebrities to be seen giving and receiving this season. Other exotics and tropical flowers, Bird of Paradise with its unmistakable large blue and orange flowers or the tall, highly perfumed Tuberose make a real statement of individualism and uniqueness sent as Valentine’s flowers.

Flowers direct are UK flower delivery experts, specialising in flowers for all occasions. Funeral flowers, birthday flowers, calla lilys, all for UK flower delivery.

Traditional UK flowers incorporate a whole host of flowers grown in the UK. Fragrant arrangements packed with an abundance of freesias and dappled with fern leaves displayed in pretty wicker baskets are a very popular choice which is ideal for sending to people of all ages and give a true English ambience as the room fills with enchanting scents. A modern approach florists use to capture these charming traditional UK flowers include designs which utilise the dexterity of freesias by displaying them in contemporary vases with chunky bases which offers an interesting contrast which compliments modern homes.

In the spring the traditional UK flowers include the ever popular daffodil, highly scented narcissi and tulips. Individual hand-tied bunches of daffodils of the same variety, most commonly the bright yellow trumpet daffodil, bring a real sense of warmth and cheerfulness to any room in the house. Vibrant tulips and gerbera awaken the senses looking absolutely delightful when packed tightly into a vase or jug. For a more contemporary look to these traditional UK flowers, single tulips placed in three identical vases gives a trendy and fashionable appeal.

Cornwall growers provide a diversity of traditional flowers which are traditionally associated with woodlands in spring, they are commercially growing flowers such as bluebells to bring a protected species into homes across the country. Themed arrangements depicting peaceful strolls through the leafy glades of the English countryside are becoming increasingly popular in the choice of traditional UK flowers to send or display.

Dainty posies arranged with subtle pink roses, stephanotis, chrysanthemums, carnations highlighted with lilac peonies all provided by UK flower growers are typical arrangements sent as ‘Thank you’ or ‘Get well’ flowers which are predominantly aimed for women who appreciate the sheer beauty of traditional UK flowers.

Elegant vases holding tall flowers have a real English cottage garden appeal, creating dramatic displays using seasonal UK summer flowers such as larkspur, delphiniums, lilies, aquilegias, phlox and of course English roses all in the most subtle tones of cool blues and pretty pinks. Local florists will amalgamate any UK summer flower to add interest and individualism to your design.

Traditional quintessential UK flowers are roses with their many varieties and colours. Florists can create designs which incorporate roses or use them on their own to construct the most striking displays. Large headed cream or pale pink roses teamed with dark green hedgerow foliage arranged in low vases or baskets are a fabulous choice of flower to send on birthdays and Mother’s Day.

Romantic red English roses are undoubtedly the most traditional UK flower to send on Valentine’s Day. Single long stemmed blooms with a bow strategically tied onto the stem are an extremely popular choice for women to send to men, while huge bunches of deep or crimson red roses make a real statement of love.

Traditional UK flowers used in hand-tied bouquets, comprising of vibrant oranges and striking yellow provide a blaze of colour to brighten the senses in Autumn, with chrysanthemums, lilies and carnations all grown in the UK.

Flowers direct are UK flowers experts, specialising in flowers for all occasions. Funeral flowers, birthday flowers, calla lilys, all for UK flower delivery

You are lucky enough if your house have a backyard hence you will need to think of few backyard landscaping ideas to readjust your backyard space so your guest or visitor will envy you. It does not matter how much budget you will need to design your backyard since there are so many things you can do with it. However, there are certain things you will need to bear in mind before you perform any renovation on your backyard.

First of all, before designing your backyard with your, you will need to know how much space does your backyard can be used and know what are you planning to do with it. If your backyard has a long and narrow space, then playing with lines will be a good idea to make the area more spacious than it is before. However, if your backyard has flat elevation, you might want to consider on applying backyard landscaping ideas that has few curls or curves in them.

Moreover, you will need to know what type of backyard you need exactly. Do you want it to be colorful or green and what about seating arrangements for your family members or guest? If you have lots of space, you might want to install a patio for your backyard floors.

You can either design your backyard yourself or hiring any gardening experts to design your backyard landscape ideas. Of course, you must be realistic when planning your backyard landscaping ideas and it is important to be cautious and limit yourself from taking more than what you can handle. Although hiring backyard landscaping experts are quite expensive and pricy, the results definitely will be satisfying but it will depends on how much you can spend for your backyard landscaping ideas.

There are many backyard landscaping ideas that you can perform which you can handle them without much hassle on your own. You can add few planted flowers and lots of different shaped shrubs on your backyard. Or you might also want to add a water feature or few benches to be your eye-catching weapon for your future guests where these features will definitely be envy by them especially for a barbecue session or many other things.

You have probably seen in various gardening centers large pots that contain groups of colorful flowers. These make for wonderful backyard landscaping ideas, because you can place these pots in a variety of different places. Start in the pool area, and place a pot in each corner. Then, place a pot or two in various areas of the backyard so that there can be flowers everywhere!

Nowadays, you can find many backyard landscaping ideas that you can find through magazines or internet. Either you want your personal backyard landscaping experts to make realize of your dream backyard into modern styles, oriental styles or English garden, there are few choices that are always open if your prefer to design your backyard landscaping ideas yourself.

If you looking for more information about backyard landscaping ideas, you may want to stop by at my landscaping site and have a look.

So what is organic gardening? It is gardening using materials and or matter that comes from compost, manure and other living matter. It is also a way to garden without using pesticides, insecticides and other ingredients that are harmful to the earths environment. It is primarily used for health and environmental issues.

Organic gardening is an excellent way to grow your trees, shrubs, flowers, vegetables and plants. Many plants, trees, shrubs and vegetables benefit greatly with organic materials. Farmers are now turning to this type of farming due to the bad effects of poisonous insecticides and pesticides.

Organic composting comes from worms, food waste, grass clippings and old leaves. If left alone in some type of tumbler or rotating container it will eventually be consumed by bacteria. You can then use this type of “Compost” to amend your soil for your gardening needs. Humus comes from composted vegetable matter. You can make your own organic compost using a Compost Tumbler. Visit your local greenhouse or plant nursery and ask for such a product.

Mulching is another form of organic gardening. Mulch is added to the top layer of any gardening bed, tree, or plant thus keeping moisture in and suppressing weeds from growing. This helps in eliminating harmful herbicides and or insecticides into the environment. Another added benefit is that mulching will make the root system grow faster and in turn take in more natural ingredients from the earths soils.

Organic fertilizers are cottonseed meal, blood meal, Fish Emulsion, manure and sewage sludge. Many of these type of fertilizers are high or low on the three types of nutrients needed for your plants such as nitrogen, phosphorus, or potash.

Be sure to read labels before purchasing. In my opinion fish emulsion is the best and easiest to apply. You should also be aware that some organic fertilizers may burn the plants.

Manure the fresher the better over time this type of fertilizer will weaken, but do not overuse as it can burn plants. Yea I know it stinks but it works. Farmers now sell organic matter but you can also purchase organic compost at your local garden nursery. Just be sure to ask for “Organic compost” or “Organic Potting Soil”.

Cottonseed oil is the safest but is normally used for acid loving plants.

Blood meal comes from cattle blood after they have been slaughtered. Be careful not to overuse blood meal as it can also burn plants. It is high in nitrogen and good for green foliage.

You can also make your own organic compost. Leaves, tree and shrub cuttings make excellent compost. You will need to purchase a compost bin or tumbler that can help speed up the process. Be sure to add a compost maker material this can also be added to the compost bin for a good organic compost soil.

If you are concerned about the environment then “Organic Gardening” is the way to go or should I say grow.

Paul Guzman is the author of this article. You can checkout his website about southwestern gardening at: Southwestern Garden Tips

It is well known that running water can help you to relax. A garden fountain can help to add beauty to your backyard and provide a centerpiece to your gardening and landscaping. It will also enhance the peace and tranquility in your garden.

Choosing a fountain isn’t always easy. There is a wide range of fountains available, from inexpensive molded plastic fountains to expensive carved stone garden fountains. With such a wide range, it can be difficult to find one to fit your garden and your budget. You’ll want to choose a fountain that enhances your garden and backyard, and will last for many years.

The low-end molded plastic fountains simply will not last for a long time. Plastic fountains are difficult to clean when dirty, and they will crack over time. They are inexpensive options for a garden fountains, but you will find yourself replacing a cheap plastic fountain every few years when they break. A plastic fountain won’t give you a long lasting centerpiece to your garden.

The more expensive carved stone fountains will last a long time, and make a stunning centerpiece to your yard. However, they are expensive, and may not fit your budget. Some also need a lot of maintainence, and they are heavy and hard to move.

A good choice for a garden fountain would be a mid-range fountain. These fountains are often made of poly resin, or a stone and resin mix. They are affordable, and will stand up to the weather very well. These fountains are also much lighter, and easier to handle than stone, while retaining the look and feel of stone.

Be sure to choose a water feature that fits your environment. If you live in a climate with drastic changes in the weather from season to season, you’ll want a fountain that can withstand the weather, or that you can store easily in the winter. Stone fountains are not easy to move, due to their weight, and the changes in weather may cause them to crack.

When you choose your fountain, you’ll also want to consider the pump and the water capacity. Low-end fountains may not hold very much water, or pump very much water. The more expensive fountains will have a stronger pump which can move more water, which will look much better. A fountain that pumps 5 gallons per minute should be sufficient to provide an appealing stream of water. A weaker pump will not pump enough water to provide a visually appealing fountain.

You need to consider where you are going to place your fountain. You’ll need electricity to run the pump, so it should be close enough to an electrical outlet. Fountains equipped with a standard 120v connection can simply be plugged into a standard outlet. Your fountain should also be close enough to a water supply, so you can top it off easily as the water evaporates.

Another consideration as far as location, is the visual impact of the fountain. Do you want to see it from your patio, or do you want it tucked into a remote corner. Sometimes placing a fountain at the end of a garden path, tucked into a remote corner of the garden will help to add to the relaxing effect of the fountain. You may also want to consider placing several small fountains throughout the garden, to provide accents here and there.

The proper fountain, properly placed will help to enhance the tranquility of your backyard, as well as adding a nice visual accent to your garden.

Visit Water Gardens & Fountains for more tips and resources on building and installing your own backyard water feature.