Providing a Little Oasis in the Garden
Water features have always been a very popular item in garden themes and they seem to be even more so today. With all the choices you can find at most any garden center, it isn’t necessary to have a lot of space in your garden, patio, deck, or porch to include them and you won’t have to break the bank either. You will be able to find water features in most any size and price point you desire.
My husband and I want to attract birds into our yard and garden so we have tried a couple of ways to add small inexpensive water sources that birds love. This little pond cost us less than $50 to install and is a wonderful focal point in our backyard. I got the inspiration for this simple design from one of my gardening magazines. Although their setting was much more formal, I was able to take their basic ideas and adapted them to our more casual style. With that in mind, we easily found the items needed to put it all together.
For starters we purchased the liner, pump, and a couple of bags of small rocks in the garden section of a home improvement store. The larger stones were found locally during our hikes and visits to my sister’s house. She and her husband have many rocks of various sizes that are just lying around their yard and property. (They encourage me to take all I need or can carry!)
Before we dug the hole, we chose a shade dappled location in the garden that could be seen from our kitchen window, patio, and screened porch. Then we looked around our gardens and garage to see what we already had that could be used in our new niche. When you have been gardening for years it is amazing what you collect over time! We arranged the various pots and plants to make a casual woodland-like setting that brings us daily pleasure year-round.
Our pets enjoy drinking from the pond as well. We have an outside cat and an inside cat that both love to hide under the plants and observe birds, squirrels, and other small creatures as they take a drink and bathe in our little pond. Fortunately our cats are well-fed and too mature to be seriously interested in doing any backyard hunting.
This copper birdbath was purchased several years ago at a discount store for about $15 and is perfect for smaller birds. (You can click on the picture to get a larger view.) Best of all, this little birdbath is almost effortless to move to any garden location and it is easy to keep clean. I love to tuck it in our woodland garden next to the tall fern and Sum and Substance hostas. In this early springtime picture you can see the copper birdbath has turned that lovely verdigris color and the fern and hostas are just starting to emerge. In summer the long fern fronds and large leaves of the Sum and Substance hostas give the birds a sense of protection as they hide to drink and bathe.
These little water sources create an oasis for the wildlife, and not so wild life, that enter our gardens. Water features that are suitable for birds are needed not only during the hot summer months but also in the winter when both food and water sources are scarce. With spring just around the corner you can readily find water features and birdbaths to suit your garden and budget too!
We would love for you to share your thoughts and ideas on how you provide an oasis in your backyard. Your ideas and comments are welcome here!
