Running water opens up many possibilities for adding a whole new dimension to your garden. Water can add a sense of serenity that would be hard to achieve otherwise. Do you have an eye for the possibilities?
Walk around your garden and close your eyes. Open your senses. Get yourself tuned into the expansiveness that running water can give. And it does not have to be running water.
Standing water like a small pond or fountain gives so many opportunities for additional life. Birds and other animals will come. A small bird bath can bring so much life. So even if you do not have natural water sources, it is easy to tap into this new dimension.
It really does not take an extensive garden with loads of flowers to tap into the new sensations water can bring to your garden. Even with a passive “bird bath” you can easily achieve dramatic success.
If you have a passively designed birdbath, you may feel that you will not be able to keep water in it. That is perfectly okay. Even dry, it will become a new item in your garden for the animals to explore. And when it rains or you fill it while watering your garden, it will come alive. It will happen almost instantly, like when you are digging in the yard and the robins show up to feast on the worms and insects. They come almost like they had an advanced invitation.
Bridges for more Dramatic Effects
If you are lucky enough to have a small stream or brook, you automatically have lots to work with to enhance your garden. It is almost like having a bridge over water is an automatic invitation to walk across it.
Bridges are self-inviting for people to cross. Look a bridge. There must be something interesting on the other side.
A bridge could be as simple as a single flat round that is high enough to keep one’s feet dry. This rock should be stable and have a flat top big enough for someone to comfortably stand on. Such a rock with it will draw people to it. Of course, it should be uber stable as you do not want it to surprise the walker and have them question whether or not they might get wet.
Of course, your bridge should match the feeling of your garden. If you have a very formal garden, a very clean bridge will fit in naturally. The babbling brook could be just a few well-placed rocks that don’t even give away that they have been designed into the landscape.
Are you lucky enough to have running water in your backyard? Perhaps down the hill, under some heavy tree cover to a small stream. A rough path leading to the shaded bridge will bring a sense of calm to the walker like they know they are welcome there to explore the bridge to see what is on the other side.
The variety of gardens is quite wide. Perhaps you have gone for the bright open yard with beds of bright flowers.
I envy those with a nice running brook that meanders through their backyard. There is so much peace to be found in any garden. The bridge can just add another dimension that will naturally broaden the appeal of the garden.
