Home Works

Water and Fire Features

The Final Touches in the Yard

By Anne Yankus

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past year, it’s that there’s no time like the present to make our homes and gardens beautiful and comfortable places to be. With the weather finally warming, now is the perfect time to add some finishing touches to your yard’s landscaping. Have you considered a water or fire feature to take your yard from pleasant to delightful?

Installing one or more water features is a great way to stimulate visual interest and add a sense of peace and calm to your yard. Aside from just looking pretty, water features can increase the natural beauty of your landscape by attracting local wildlife like birds and butterflies. Features like fountains, waterfalls, and winding creeks are seeing a rise in popularity.

Fountains may sound large and expensive, but they come in shapes and sizes that will accommodate any budget and complement whatever yard space you choose. If you like the sound of running water that a fountain brings but are looking for something that looks more natural, consider installing a small waterfall. Home and garden retailers have many prebuilt waterfall models to choose from. If none of them strike your fancy, you can hire a pro to design one that contours with the natural slope of your yard.

For a less splashy alternative, consider a winding garden creek. Given their shape and size, creeks cannot typically be purchased pre-built. With the guidance of a landscape designer or architect, you can design your own to add a completely unique water feature to your garden.

What goes into having a water feature built and installed? Once you’ve created or contracted your design, you’ll want to look into whether you need a permit to build it. In some municipalities, water features that are deeper than 18 inches or that require any electrical or plumbing work will require a building permit. If you plan to have anything with running water, it will probably require a pump and filter, which will definitely require an electrical permit. Depending on what you’re having built, you’ll need to contact electricians, plumbers, and landscapers. If you’re planning something large and complicated, consider hiring a contractor to oversee the other specialists.

Once everything is built, it’s time to turn an eye to yearly maintenance. As this last winter proved, it can freeze just about anywhere in the country, so winterizing your water feature is a must. You can do this by shutting down your water pump and storing it submerged in a bucket of water in a frost-free location.

If you’d prefer to keep your feature running through the winter, you can accomplish this by purchasing a floating de-icer, which is controlled by a thermostat and only runs when the water is at or below freezing. Just like a natural river, any waterfall you wish to keep running through the winter will need to be regularly checked to keep ice dams from forming.

Your water features aren’t the only things you’ll want to keep from freezing in your yard—what about keeping people warm? This is where fire pits and outdoor fireplaces come in.

Fire pits come in a variety of styles and are powered by a number of different fuels. A freestanding, wood-burning fire pit can be purchased relatively cheaply at your local home and garden center. A more elaborate, built-in, above-ground or in-ground pit can be powered by wood, propane, or natural gas.

Built-in fire pits are commonly constructed with bricks, stones, or concrete, and can even include matching benches or tables. Wood-burning pits are the simplest to build and are great for generating heat. Propane and natural gas pits are less portable and will require installation of piping and ignition parts, but what you lose in mobility you’ll make up in safety and ease of use.

In contrast to the campfire-like ambience that a fire pit provides, outdoor fireplaces bring more of an outdoor room vibe. Unlike fire pits, fireplaces will direct heat toward you and smoke away through the chimney. They can take up less room on a patio and are generally safer, with less risk of fire spreading where you don’t want it. Depending on your city’s building codes, you may need a permit to build an outdoor fireplace. Like fire pits, they can be designed to burn wood or gas. With all the rules and regulations that come with building a fireplace, it’s important to hire a professional mason or fireplace expert.

This year is the perfect time to add the finishing touches on your landscaping that will make it absolutely gorgeous and a comfortable place to be!

Sources for this story include businesswire.com, bobvila.com, loveyourlandscape. org, and learn.compactappliance.com.