Ponds, fountains, and waterfalls are all at home in a residential garden. Infinitely customizable, these features can be large or small and intricate or simple in design.

Create a unique water garden and enjoy a host of backyard benefits. All water features beckon wildlife—from songbirds to foxes—to your landscape and provide a valuable water source for the creatures. Add a fountain to your garden and you'll enjoy the music of moving water. A pond will quickly become home to frogs, dragonflies, and other creatures. Stock it with fish and enjoy their graceful movements.

Ready to get started? Check out these five inspirational water features for your garden.

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Pretty Patio Collection

Invite water plants onto your patio or into your garden with containers. Lotus star in this easy-to-grow water feature. Beloved for their near-perfect round leaves and sweet-scented flowers, lotus are challenging to grow in small ponds because they tend to overtake the water feature. Container gardens are a great solution to their rampant growth.

Watertight pots house the collection of lotus, taros, water lettuce, water canna, and creeping Jenny growing in this garden. Overwinter the container garden in a cool location that doesn't freeze.
See more top plants to grow in patio water gardens.

Ring Around a Fountain

Lighten a shade garden with an easy-care fountain and annuals. Impatiens and polka-dot plant dazzle with splashes of cream and pink, while the terra-cotta pot fountain provides a focal point. Caring for this pocket garden is as easy as watering the plants every other day or so and topping off the fountain when the water level drops.

Make a fountain by coating a large clay pot with deck sealant and adding a small pump. Feed the pump's cord through the drainage hole and seal the hole with caulk. Conceal the cord under mulch. Allow the caulk to cure for two days, fill the pot with water, turn on the pump, and enjoy!
Discover more fun annuals to grow in the shade.

Bubbling Sphere

The natural good looks of terra-cotta combined with the soft sounds of water make this easy-to-build feature perfect for any area of the garden. Set the self-contained fountain in a garden bed, on top of a pretty stone pedestal, or on a table. The sphere will gradually acquire a weathered mossy coat. Be sure to choose a high-fired terra-cotta sphere that can withstand prolonged exposure to water.
Click here to learn how to make a bubbling sphere fountain. 

Simple Bell Fountain

Add the sound of water to your garden with this easy-to-install, inground  fountain. An underground reservoir captures the water and houses the pump and components that make this pretty fountain function. A safe water feature for homes with small children, the fountain and its covered reservoir reduces safety concerns while still offering the joy of moving water in the landscape.

Personalize your fountain by using any fountainhead you like. A bell-shape fountainhead is used here, but the step-by-step process is the same for any fountainhead you choose. Create more splash and drama with a geyser or multitiered sprayhead. If you would like to turn an urn or other decorative object into a fountain, simply run the vinyl tubing through the vessel rather than attaching a fountainhead.
Get step-by-step directions for building this fountain.

Build-in-a-Weekend Pond

Small enough to cozy up to a patio in a modest backyard, this simple pond is a haven for wildlife, plants, and people. A gentle stream of water falls into the pond every few minutes from the bamboo fountain. A great pond for your first inground water garden project, it can be built in a weekend and is large enough to support fish. Goldfish, such as shubunkins and comets, are good candidates. In cold climates, add a simple deicer to the feature in winter to safely overwinter fish in the pond.
Get more inspiration for adding a water feature to your yard.