There are lots of days that I wish I could just sit on my back porch all day and enjoy the sights, smells and sounds that come from the garden. It never ceases to amaze me that each time I gaze into the garden, that I see something that I have never noticed before. I suppose that is what makes a garden so enjoyable. The garden is constantly changing as plants mature, bloom, lose their blooms and begin the cycle anew almost on a daily basis. Even though the plants remain the same, there is something about the new blooms that make the plants seem somewhat different each time they bloom. In this way, our garden water fountain is like one of the plants. Even though the water starts and finishes in the same place each time, it somehow seems different with each cycle.

I must admit I was skeptical about installing the water fountain. My wife has always desired some type of water feature in our yard and I always felt like it would be much more trouble to install and maintain than it would be worth. Well, do not tell her I said this, but I could not be happier that we added the water fountain. I truly enjoy the sight and sound of the water as it falls back into the little garden pond. There is definitely something about the effects of the fountain that soothes my senses and allows me to immediately feel more relaxed when the garden comes into view.

The installation was also really not a major issue. It took some time to dig the hole for the pond, place the liner and haul in and place the stones I used to hold the liner in place. But, the actual installation of the pump for the fountain was quite a simple process once the electrical was in place. The adding of an electrical receptacle near the pond was no big hassle for me as I hired an electrician to complete this part of the project. At first, I considered a solar powered fountain, but decided against it as I wanted lighting for the fountain and other areas of the garden anyway and was concerned that the solar units would not adequately run the fountain and lights all night.

As far as the maintenance goes, it is no great burden either. The pump recirculates the water and mother nature usually provides for the additional water that needs to be added to the pond to overcome evaporation. While the removal of the pump in the winter time is probably not necessary as the temperature only falls below freezing occasionally and rarely stays below the freezing mark, I remove it any way just to be sure. All in all, the garden water fountain is a wonderful addition to our back yard and I am glad everyday that I made the effort to put it there.