Garden Fountains and Waterfalls - Benefits and Styles

When you purchase a garden fountain or garden waterfall you are not only enhancing the look of your garden but providing other benefits for yourself and your visitors. Some benefits a garden fountain will bring, that are often overlooked, include stress relief, alleviation of sound and a source of drinking water for your pets. If you place a fountain in your home it will also help to keep the air humid.

Decorative Effects

Fountains and waterfalls can be used both in the garden and inside your home. A fountain can be especially welcoming in the foyer of an office, doctor's office or other waiting room. In your home it can serve as a lovely piece of art and a center piece for your entrance hall or room.

Stress Relief

When you are stressed there is nothing better than to sit in the garden and listen to the peaceful sounds of running water. If you practice meditation a higher sense of calm and peace can be achieved by listening to these lovely sounds. When you are choosing a suitable fountain choose one that gives a soft sound of running water rather than harsh sounds of splashing. You will need to look for fountain that has an even flow and only a short fall of water. If it has an adjustable pump this can be used to tune the water flow to the desired speed and sounds.

Sound Alleviation

Many people forget that if you live in an area that has harsh outside noises the soft sounds of running water can help to cover up these annoying sounds. Close to a busy street the noise from traffic can be masked by these soft sounds and placing a waterfall in a busy waiting room can cover up distracting noise.

Humidification

If your home is dry a fountain or waterfall can act as a natural humidifier and add moisture to the atmosphere. Mechanical humidifiers are noisy from the constant movement of the fan and they also encourage molds and mildew use. A water fountain or waterfall is not subject to the growth of these organisms and the sound of running water is much more pleasing than the sound of a noisy fan. In addition to making the home more pleasant for you it also is good for your indoor plants, especially moisture loving plants like ferns.

Drinking Source for Pets

Your pets will love the constant source running water and will much prefer drinking from the fountain than from their own bowls. Just make sure you do not add any chemicals to the water if you have pets.

Choosing A Garden Fountain or Waterfall

Garden fountains and waterfalls can be purchased as wall fountains, tabletop fountains and outdoor floor fountains.

Wall Fountains

Wall fountains can be purchased in horizontal and vertical designs. You will need to decide which one will suit the dimensions of your room. A tall vertical fountain will look better in a room with a high ceiling but a horizontal fountain will look better in a room with a long wide wall. If you place a horizontal fountain in a room with a high ceiling it will look much smaller than it really is. You also need to look at the width especially if you are placing the fountain in a corridor or walkway.
To see how fountain will look once it is placed on the wall find out the size of the fountain you're thinking of purchasing then measure is out on the wall where you intend to hang in. You could do this by placing tape or tracing the outlines on the wall or stick thumb tacks where the corners would be. Stand back and see how it looks.

Tabletop Fountains

When you are buying a tabletop fountain decide where it will go before you buy to make sure you do not purchase one that is too big. You could place an object of the same size as the intended fountain to see if it looks good in the chosen location. Some tabletop fountains can vary in height as they use natural stones that are not all the same size so make sure you allow for this randomness when you are purchasing your fountain.

Outdoor Floor Fountains

When you are buying an outdoor fountain made sure that the width is suitable for where you are intending to place it. If it will be placed on a patio or under an arbor you would need to make sure that the high is suitable. You could try stacking boxes in the chosen location to make sure there is a comfortable fit and it will look good.

Conclusion
A fountain is a lovely addition to your garden or to your home. As long as you do your homework before you purchase your fountain and make sure that the one you buy is suitable for your chosen location you cannot fail to be pleased with your purchase.

Seed Newsvine

Bookmark this article in your preferred program

Comments

Mon, 4 May 2009 at 3:52 PM, by Vanessa
There sure is a lot of different kinds of fountains to pick from. I'd really like to get a mounted wall fountain, but I haven't figured out exactly how to install it just yet.

Add Comment

Popular Articles in this cathegory

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.